Page 42 of The Secret Christmas Bookshop
‘A man who wouldn’t come home when his father had to move into a care home, who treats that manor like it’s on a separate island to the rest of us – afar more exclusiveisland, I might add – and destroys decades of tradition by keeping his land cordoned off from the rest of us, even though it’sliterallyin the centre of the village, and has been used for events as far back as I can remember?’ She nodded decisively, her point made.
‘We don’t know about him and his dad, love,’ Ermin said gently. ‘What their relationship was like.’
‘Bernard Anderly was one of the nicest men you could ever hope to meet,’ Fiona said. ‘There was absolutelynoreason for Harry not to come home and at leastvisithim, even if he couldn’t look after him himself.’
‘Fiona …’ Ermin started.
Sophie tried to remember what Harry had said about it, that evening in his study. He’d alluded to things not beingeasy, had said hecouldn’tcome home, but hadn’t gone into detail. And why should he?
‘He’s warmed up a lot since we’ve been working together.’
She could almost feel Fiona change tack, abandoning her disgruntlement in favour of curiosity. ‘Warmed up? In what way?’
‘Just … that he took the lead with Winnie, even though she was incredibly unforgiving. He’s working really hard to repair the manor, doing consulting at the same time, and … all those rumours about him being a reclusive ogre, they’re nonsense!’
‘Reclusive ogre?’ Sophie jumped as Jason appeared once more and put his pint glass firmly on their table. ‘We’re back to Harry, are we?’
‘Fiona and Ermin don’t believe he’s capable of being friendly.’
‘He hasn’t exactly got involved in village life,’ Jason said. ‘He’s been back … nearly two years, I think. Hard not to read something into that.’
‘That’s true, Jason,’ Fiona said.
‘I haven’t got a clue what he’s done in the past,’ Sophie said. ‘I only know that he’s been great with me – recently, anyway.’ Her thoughts slid to the day before, when she’d wiped mud off his forehead, and he’d told her he was glad they were working together.
‘Harry Anderly being nice sounds like urban legend stuff,’ Jason said with a grin.
One of the old men who had been sitting at the bar wandered past on his way to the toilet. Unashamedly listening in, he added, ‘Harry Anderly thinks he’s above the rest of us, with his fancy London job and his big old housewith the sea views. What a tosser.’ He shook his head dismissively, and Sophie felt indignation flare, hot and bubbling, in her chest.
‘That isnottrue.’ It came out much louder than she’d intended.
Jason folded his arms. ‘Prove it.’
‘What?’ She blinked. ‘How can I?’
‘Call him. Invite him for a pint here, now. See what he says.’
Sophie looked at her watch. It was half past eight. ‘Oh, he won’t …’
‘Won’t what?’ Jason asked. ‘No harm in trying, is there?’
Sophie turned to Fiona and Ermin for help, but they stayed quiet, and she knew they were curious too; that they wanted Harry Anderly to step through the door of the Blossom Bough, like some kind of mythical creature, and have a pint with them. But shehadseen a different side to him, and if everyone else got a chance to see it too …
‘Fine.’ She took her phone out of her bag, then put her notebook securely inside, before it got taken by someone and flicked through.
She found Harry’s number, her thumb hovering over the screen for a moment. Then she pressed it, sucking in a breath as she listened to the ringing noise, and—
‘Hello? Sophie? Are you OK?’
‘Harry, hi. How are you?’
There was a pause, then he said, ‘I’m good. You’re all right, are you?’
‘Yeah. Yes. I’m just … I’m in the pub, with Fiona and Ermin and Jason. We wondered if you’d like to come and have a drink with us. If you’re free, of course. You might besuper busy, or … I don’t know. Doing things. You could bring May too?’ She kept her gaze on the scuffed wood of the table.
The silence might have gone on for a decade, or a second, but Sophie refused to look at the other people around the table. Then she heard Harry say, ‘May’s working, but I’m free. Give me fifteen minutes, and I’ll be there.’
‘Youwill?’She looked up, her shock mirrored on the faces of her friends.
