Page 88 of The Cornish Cream Tea Bookshop
Becky laughed. ‘Not when I was feeling grumpy, no. But it wasn’t fair of me. I’ve not been fair, I’ve—’ She looked at Max. He smiled at her, but stayed quiet. ‘I didn’t give you a chance, Ollie. And I still think some of your ideas are batshi— ridiculous, but what you said outside …’ She shook her head. ‘I assumed you came here with tons of money and this grand idea about how you could make things better. In the bookshop, I mean.’
‘I do want to make things better in the bookshop,’ Ollie said, shrugging. ‘But not because I think Iknowbetter. I just want to work with you and Thea, to be a part of it. In my last job, I needed to take some time off and my boss sort of … gave up on me. She filled the position with someone younger, and I tried to challenge that by being over the top, I suppose. I’ve held onto that here, but I promise I’ll tone it down.’
Becky shook her head. ‘I’llbe more accepting.’
‘How about we just both try and understand each other a bit more? And please, tell me if I’m being a dick– pain in the bum,’ she amended, glancing at Dylan.
‘And you can tell me if I’m not listening,’ Becky said. ‘I’m sorry, Ollie.’
‘I’m sorry, too.’
‘My teacher, Mrs Cardigan, says that Christmas is all about forgiving each other,’ Dylan piped up. ‘Tomorrow, I have to read out an example in front of the class. Can I tell them about you?’
Becky patted his head. ‘Are you going to write it all out beforehand?’
Dylan nodded. ‘Or I’ll forget.’
‘Good. Will you let me check it? I don’t want you making Ollie out to be in the wrong, OK?’
Dylan frowned. ‘Didn’t you both do things wrong?’
‘Yes,’ Becky said. ‘But it was me more than Ollie. I can help you later, if you like. But right now, buster, you have to get to school.’
‘All right.’ He sighed. ‘Bye Ollie. Bye Max. I’m glad you’re OK now.’
‘See you later, Dylan,’ Max said. ‘Thanks for coming, Becky.’
‘See you at the bookshop?’ Becky said to Ollie.
‘I shouldn’t be too late.’
‘You can tell me what you’re planning to do about Sophia, and we can work on it together.’
‘I’d love that,’ Ollie said. ‘Thanks, Becky.’
They walked out of the room, Becky closing the door quietly behind them.
‘I’m sorry about that,’ Ollie said to Max. ‘I didn’t mean to use up our time hashing out my and Becky’s issues.’
He shook his head. ‘I didn’t realise it had got that bad between you.’
She laughed. ‘Neither did I: I thought we’d fixed things.’
‘You have now, though. What did you say to her outside?’
Ollie scooted closer to him and took his other hand, lacing their fingers together. ‘I told her that I wasn’t just playing at this new life, that it hadn’t been as easy as she assumed, and that I wasn’t giving any of it up, least of all you: I told her that I cared about you too much to let you go.’
He swallowed. ‘Even when I’m this much trouble? What happened on Saturday, Ollie – I’m so sorry.’
‘What could you possibly be sorry for? If anything, I’m responsible.’
Max squeezed her hand. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘I’ve blazed my way into your life, upended it. All those long walks in the cold and the rain, everything we did—’
‘None of that hadanythingto do with this and, even if it did, I wouldn’t give it up. Ollie.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Ollie, look at me.’
She raised her gaze from the bedcovers.
