The two women remind Alfie of parents standing side by side to scold an unruly child.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Collect all your customers from the airport, do you, Alfie?’ says Blue.
Prudence lets out a cackle of a laugh.
Heat creeps up his neck and across his face. ‘She was miserable. I felt responsible for sending her off to the wilderness. It didn’t mean anything.’
‘Of course it did, Alfie. You’re just too stubborn and got your heart broken too badly to admit it. But as your friend I refuse to let you be a grumpy spinster for the rest of your life. Youobviouslylike her.’
To argue suddenly seems pointless. Blue and Prudence have both known him long enough to know when he is lying.
‘She’s grieving. And I know for a fact that she isn’t looking for a relationship.’
‘Perhaps not,’ agrees Prudence, her expression thoughtful. ‘But I see the way she looks whenever she walks through that door. She looks like someone who has come home. And I don’t think it’s just because she loves books.’
The thought makes his chest tighten as if he’s being squeezed. But while Alfie might read romance novels for comfort, when it comes to his own life he is a realist.
‘I’ll go on this outing with her. But I’m telling you, Tilly has no interest in someone like me.’
Blue pulls him into a sideways hug. ‘Alf, you may not be my type but I hope you know that you have a lot to offer.’
‘Absolutely,’ says Prudence, wrapping an arm around him from the other side. ‘Any woman would be lucky to have you in her life.’
He gives in to the hugs, the feel of their warmth and love seeping into him. Then he wriggles away, clearing his throat and running a hand through his messy hair.
‘Come on, these books won’t unpack themselves.’
44
‘Just a nice understated sitting room, then,’ Alfie says as the Buckingham Palace tour guide leads them and the rest of their group into the White Drawing Room, a room dripping in crystal chandeliers, ornate furniture and shining gold. Every single surface gleams. There’s a richly decorative red rug, marble statues and a bright gold grand piano elaborately embellished with cherubs and woodland creatures. The tour guide begins to explain the provenance of the room’s furniture, the rest of the group pressing close to listen while Tilly and Alfie linger at the back.
Tilly has dressed for the occasion in her tweed coat worn over a red floral tea dress, cream tights and blue Converse, with earrings made from doll’s house teapots she found at a charity shop and fashioned into jewellery. Alfie is in one of his usual chunky-knit jumpers, this time rust brown, but worn with dark indigo jeans that actually fit him and look brand new. Tilly keeps wanting to tell him how nice he looks but holds back, deciding it would probably mortify him.
‘Yes, I can see they went for a muted, minimalist look in here,’ she whispers.
‘I like the subtlety. They could have painted the floor gold as well as the walls and ceilings but they clearly thought, no, that would be too much and restrained themselves.’
‘I can just imagine Camilla curled up on that gold sofa to eat a Nando’s.’
Alfie lets out a snort and the tour guide shoots them a look. Tilly watches as he struggles to compose himself, feeling a thrill at having broken his ever-polite demeanour.
‘I think this is my favourite bit,’ Tilly says later as she takes a breath of the autumn air, having been led out into the gardens.
She can easily picture stretching out on the grass with a book in the summer. For a second, she imagines Alfie doing the same, perhaps with his long limbs sprawling out of a hammock. The sun picks out the auburn in his hair as he looks up at the sky, his eyes closing, his long dark lashes dipping.
‘I agree,’ he replies. ‘It’s just a shame they didn’t show us the library, I’m sure with all those rooms they must have one. What do you think King Charles likes to read?’
‘Whodunnits?’
‘Rom-coms?’
‘Self-help?’
‘Westerns?’
‘Oh, I know,’ Tilly says, clicking her fingers together. ‘Celebrity memoirs. Maybe he’s read some of the ones I used to publish. The inspiring stories of TikTok stars’ rise to fame. I bet he’d really go for that.’
