A strong pair of hands gripped on my shoulders, physically pulling me back down to the second floor and snapping me out of my trance.
‘The third floor is structurally unsound,’ Catherine said as I came back to earth, the same stern look on her face as I’d seen in the square. ‘I believe I mentioned Bell House was built two hundred years ago and a lady of her age requires a little work to look and feel her best. The moment it’s safe, I’ll take you up there but I’m not going to risk anything happening to you now you’re here.’
‘I promise I’ll be careful,’ I said, still irresistibly drawn to the sparkling stars above me.
‘You won’t need to be careful,’ she replied, turning me around and guiding me back the way we came. ‘Because you’re not going up there.’
Like every other girl raised on Disney movies, I’d occasionally wondered whether or not I would abandon everything I knew in exchange for a beast and a library but it wasn’t until I stepped into the library at Bell House that I totally understood what Belle was thinking. I’d never seen so many books in someone’s house. I’d hardly ever seen so many books anywhere and as someone who spent most of their childhood hanging out in university libraries, that was saying a lot. Even if I started that very second, there were more words in this room than I could read in one lifetime. Low lamplight glowed, warm and welcoming, and the comforting, familiar smell of paper and glue drew me in.
‘There’s a ladder,’ I said excitedly as though Catherine might not know. And not just any ladder, a wooden ladder attached to a rail with little brass wheels to move it around the room.
‘So there is,’ she replied. ‘And I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know we also have our very own computer.’
One hand pushing the ladder back and forth, I turned tosee her hand resting on a dusty beige box that looked older than most of the books. ‘I’m afraid we don’t have WiFi. This monstrosity connects to the internet through the phone line.’
‘Anything is better than nothing,’ I lied, approaching the ancient computer with trepidation. She hit the power button and slowly, very slowly, it whirred into life, the grey screen flickering in and out.
‘Ashley is the only one who uses it, she’ll show you how to get it started.’
She switched it off before it could even get started but I was pretty sure it would be faster to send messages via carrier pigeon.
‘Libraries are wonderful, aren’t they? Always growing.’ Catherine settled behind the desk as I pulled a random leather-bound book from a shelf, half expecting a secret doorway to appear. ‘Your great-grandmother used to say there are only two things people could never have enough of, love and knowledge.’
The same words echoed in a different voice in my mind.
‘Dad used to say the same thing all the time,’ I told her, expecting to see a smile but she didn’t quite reciprocate. Instead, she pursed her lips and I slid the book back into place.
‘My husband passed when the children were still very young. Ashley was barely out of diapers, but Paul was determined to be man of the house.’ She turned her head away from me when I took the seat on the other side of the desk, her profile silhouetted by the warm lamplight, a bittersweet expression on her face. ‘In my grief, I let him take on too much and as he got older, he resented me for it. Your father had a fiery temper as a young man, I don’t think there’s a door in this big old house he didn’t try to slam off its hinges at least three times.’
The thought of my dad storming around, slamming doors was unimaginable. He never once raised his voice to me, nomatter how hard I pushed. Dad was the kind of person who never got angry, only disappointed, which was somehow way worse.
‘What did you fight about?’ I asked, still struggling to imagine my dad as a temperamental teen.
‘Savannah is an old town and we’re one of its oldest families,’ Catherine replied. ‘My generation was raised to behave a certain way and meet certain expectations, perhaps the last generation that didn’t question it. Being a Bell meant honouring our traditions but your father had no interest in any of that and he wasn’t afraid to let me know it. Once his mind was made up about something …’
‘There was no changing it,’ I finished.
Now that I could believe.
‘Then along came your mother.’
She gave an audible sigh. I held my breath. This was what I’d been waiting for.
‘I’m sure you know this already but they met at the Savannah College of Art and Design,’ she began with a knowing look. ‘The same place your friend is taking his summer school classes. Paul was in his junior year, Angelica was a freshman, and he lost his head and his heart the very moment they met. A rare case of true love at first sight, if you believe in that sort of thing.’
I felt a tug from the invisible string tying me to Wyn. I believed.
‘Dad couldn’t talk about the past without getting upset so I really don’t know much at all,’ I said, desperate for more details. When it came to stories about my mom, I’d survived on crumbs for years and Catherine held the promise of a full banquet. ‘You’re the only other person I’ve ever met who knew her. What was she like?’
‘Angelica was wonderful,’ she said decisively and with suchwarmth that my heart swelled inside my chest. ‘As smart as your father and twice as quick, she had the most infectious laugh, it didn’t matter what the joke was, you would always find yourself laughing along with her. And she would do anything for anybody, give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. I liked her very much indeed.’
‘She sounds amazing.’ My voice was frayed at the edges and I knew tears were near. My grandmother reached across the desk and took my hands in hers.
‘Angelica taught your father how to be happy, something I could not do,’ Catherine said, her own words crackling with emotion. ‘So, naturally, I welcomed her into the family. On one condition.’
‘Which was?’
Her eyes were on the desk now instead of me.
