Page 16 of The Cornish Cream Tea Bookshop
The woman who had spoken was in her seventies, Ollie guessed, with a smart grey bob and sharp eyes. She was slender, neatly put together, and looked particularly tiny next to the man whose arm she clutched. But that was because Max was tall and wide-shouldered, and his curls gave him extra height.
‘I didn’t realise you were coming,’ she blurted, and the woman gave her a curious look.
‘You must be Ollie Spencer,’ she said, letting go of Max and striding forward with her arm outstretched. ‘I’ve been hearing all about you.’
‘All scandalous I hope,’ Ollie said with a grin, which faded quickly when the other woman raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you Sylvia?’
‘Of course I am. Thea told you I was coming, didn’t she?’
‘You’re our VIP,’ Ollie said. ‘Come and have a seat. Would you prefer the sofa, or a chair?’
‘Sofa,’ Sylvia said. ‘God forbid you make me sit in one of those things.’ She flung a hand at a beanbag, and Finn got off the sofa, kissed Sylvia on the cheek, then moved to one of the chairs.
‘Would you like a scone with cream and jam?’ Ollie asked. ‘A glass of wine?’
‘If you’re offering,’ Sylvia said. ‘Red wine, and don’t scrimp on the cream. There’s nothing worse than a scone with a paltry amount of cream.’
‘And make sure the jam’s on top,’ Finn added.
‘If she gets that wrong,’ Sylvia said, ‘then I don’t care what Max has told me. She doesn’t belong here.’
Ollie’s step faltered as she walked to the table. She felt a hand gently cup her elbow.
‘Don’t worry,’ Max whispered into her ear, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine, ‘I’ll make sure you get it right.’
‘This is supposed to be friendly and informal,’ Ollie murmured back. ‘But I get a feeling my first event for A New Chapter is going to be a bit of a challenge.’
‘Nothing wrong with a baptism of fire,’ Max said, sounding amused. ‘And if you can handle Lizzy and Sylvia in the same room for a whole evening, then you’re set for anything.’
Ollie exhaled, blowing a strand of hair off her face. ‘I’d better get this scone perfect, then: start off on the right foot. Finn said I should put the jam on the top?’
‘Which is one of the reasons you should take anything Finn Becker says with a pinch of salt.’
‘He’s messing with me?’ Ollie tried to keep the outrage out of her voice.
‘He’s a joker,’ Max said. ‘Stick with me, and you’ll be fine.’
‘I might hold you to that. So jam first, cream on top?’
‘And be extra generous with the cream, remember. You do that, and I’ll pour the wine.’
By the time they were all settled, Ollie and Max – as the last two to sit down – on the beanbags, she was feeling ever so slightly frazzled. But, she reasoned, this was her first event here, it had been mostly spontaneous, and if there weren’t any challenges then it wasn’t the right job for her. Her last one, at Grady Books, had plummeted from the dizzy heights of a dream role into days of abject misery, and she wasn’t going to let that happen here. That meant she had to be positive, and stay in control. Alongside understanding what Thea wanted, if she also got to know the locals – especially the prominent ones who had a voice in the town – she could find out what would work for them, too.
‘Good evening, everyone,’ she said. ‘I’m Ollie Spencer, and welcome to the introductory session of A New Chapter’s book club. This is our first, informal event, and I hope that, together, we’ll be able to come up with a book list we can use for future sessions. In my experience, nothing works better than getting a mixture of people together, finding out their favourite books, and going from there. If our initial selection isn’t varied enough, we can adapt it as we go.’
‘Book clubs can get rowdy with too many people,’ Lizzy pointed out.
‘That’s true,’ Ollie said. ‘But not everyone will be able to make it here for the monthly sessions. My plan is to promote our book club to the whole town, then have the discussion online as well as in person, so whoever wants to join in is able to.’
‘That does sound grand.’ Lizzy treated Ollie to a warm smile.
‘What are the rules?’ Finn asked. He was holdingRivers of London, the first book in the Ben Aaronovitch series. It was a good choice: popular and imaginative.
‘They’ll be guidelines more than rules, I hope. This is supposed to be fun, after all. And of course, whatever the book list is, we’ll make sure we have enough copies here so that anyone who wants can buy one. I was thinking, Thea,’ she continued, ‘that we could get stickers. They could say something like:A New Chapter Book Club Pick. We can pop them on the copies, so that anyone who buys one has that sense of belonging. They’re not too expensive if you order in bulk.’
‘That’s a brilliant idea.’ Thea scribbled in her notebook.
‘Max says you’re from London,’ Sylvia said, then took a dainty bite of her scone.
