Page 72 of The Cornish Cream Tea Bookshop
‘Is your Max coming round again tonight?’ she asked.
‘Oh. Yes, I hope so. He’s meeting Beryan, planning the schedule of café treats for the next two weeks, then he’ll come here.’
‘He’s getting to be a permanent fixture,’ Marion observed.
‘I hope so,’ Ollie said again. ‘The barn, the bookshop – all my walks searching for legends – everything’s better now he’s in my life. Permanent fixture sounds good to me.’
‘Is it all a bit fast, though?’ Marion reached up to dust a higher shelf, sending a sprinkling of fluff – snow, Ollie thought, trying to turn it festive – raining down.
‘Not to me.’
‘Leave her be,’ Liam said gently, his nose still in his book. The cover was dark red, an old-fashioned hardback, and Ollie couldn’t read the white lettering down the spine. ‘Max is one of the most genial people in Port Karadow: I can’t think of a better pairing.’
‘Thank you,’ Ollie said. ‘That means a lot.’
Liam waved a dismissive hand. ‘You don’t need my approval: it’s entirely up to you what you do with your life, though I’m very glad to have you next door, and doing my typing. Not to mention that I get to see this rascal.’ He rubbed Henry between his silky ears. The dog stirred, but didn’t wake from his nap.
‘I’m not saying I dislike Max,’ Marion went on, ‘far from it! It’s good to be cautious, that’s all.’
‘About what?’ Ollie asked. ‘Relationships? Life?Underwear?’
The older woman turned to her with wide eyes. ‘I don’t … I just—’
‘Sorry, Marion.’ Ollie sighed. ‘I shouldn’t have said that. But the man I was with before Max, when I was living inLondon, was completely different – and not in a good way. By the time we broke up, I didn’t understand why I’d ever thought I loved him. He wasn’t that great to me.’
Marion got off the stepped stool she’d been dusting from, and Liam put his book down. Even Henry woke up, looking at Ollie as if, even though he couldn’t understand her words, he could sense the feelings associated with them.
‘I don’t want any sympathy,’ she said, swallowing. ‘I’m just trying to explain why me and Max – why, even though it might seem fast to some people – feels right. Why wait, when we’ve been honest with each other? I just want to embrace it.’
Marion squeezed her shoulder. ‘In that case, I’m glad. And perhaps it’s time foryouto treat yourself to some new underwear: it can work wonders for your self-confidence, you know.’ She waggled her eyebrows and Ollie laughed.
‘Wasn’t it me who toldyouthat? Right now, I’m not sure there’s room for improvement.’
Marion chuckled. ‘Aren’t you the lucky one.’
‘We’re both lucky, Marion,’ Ollie said seriously. ‘MeandMax.’
‘Would someone like to explain what’s going on?’ Liam’s brows were lowered in confusion.
‘Absolutely not,’ Marion chided. ‘When Ollie mentioned underwear, you should have realised it wasn’t a discussion that included you.’
Liam flung his arms in the air. ‘You’re being incredibly cryptic, and I’m bamboozled. Not to mention that we’re inmystudy.’
‘We’re both working for you, in one form or another,’ Marion pointed out. ‘Allow us our feminine asides.’
Ollie sighed. ‘Basically, Liam, my relationship with Max is flourishing, and good quality underwear is excellent for your self-worth.’
‘I’m not sure I need new boxers,’ Liam muttered.
‘I’d better check on those cookies in the oven,’ Marion said, throwing him a horrified look. ‘Hot chocolate is elevated by a delicious cookie.’
‘Hear hear!’ Ollie raised her mug as the other woman bustled out of the room, then returned to her typing. She wondered if she’d ever get to the end of the manuscript. But the thought of finishing, of having no reason to spend evenings with Liam in this glorious room, gave her a pang of sadness. She would have to think of other reasons to pop by.
‘What are you doing tomorrow night?’ he asked, as if reading her mind.
‘Oh.’ Ollie looked up. ‘I think Max and I are staying in, apart from a walk we were thinking of going on at dusk, to hunt down another of the legends in that book.’
‘Which one?’ Liam asked, his eyes bright with interest.
