“OK, but don’t feed him anything. His owner might not want us to.”
“It’s too late anyway, Mummy, I’ve eaten everything,” Poppy said with a laugh.
The man finished his phone call. He put his phone in his shorts’ pocket and stood still for a moment. Carrie saw him let out a sigh and his shoulders slumped. Seemingly remembering his dog, he turned around. He spotted it with Poppy and held up his hand by means of apology, Carrie supposed. He gave a whistle, and the dog gave Poppy a last loving glance before he raced back to his owner who rewarded him with a treat producedfrom his pocket. Man and dog turned to walk back the way they’d come and were soon out of sight.
Carrie and Poppy collected up all their rubbish and walked up the beach to the bin before heading back to the bookshop. Carrie held Poppy’s hand and helped her back up the hill, laughing at how much her own calves were burning.
Carrie ran Poppy a bubble bath when they were back in their flat. Aunt Mary had even left nice toiletries for them. How on earth had she had the time to do all this? Not that she was complaining of course. Once Poppy was all clean, her daughter got into bed with a copy of Enid Blyton’sThe Enchanted Woodwhich Poppy had found on the bookshelves in her room. They were soon lost in adventures with Moonface, Silky, and the Saucepan Man. Carrie reading aloud until her daughter was very nearly asleep.
“Thank you so much for bringing me here, Mummy,” Poppy said. “I love it.”
“It was my pleasure, Pumpkin.” Carrie gave her a goodnight kiss on her forehead.
Carrie went down to the kitchen and put the kettle on for a cup of tea but spotted the prosecco in the fridge when she opened it to retrieve the milk. Why not? She found champagne flutes in the cupboard — only her aunt would put champagne flutes in a rental property. She poured herself a glass and took a sip: it was deliciously cold and crisp. She walked over to the huge bookshelf. She wanted a comfort read. She smiled as she spottedPride and Prejudiceand remembered first reading it in this very room almost twenty years ago. That summer she’d been swept away in Elizabeth and Darcy’s love, set on finding the same for herself... Look how that had turned out! But she wouldn’t let that spoil the story she determined, and she settled down on the sofa under a blanket which was handily folded up on its arm. She looked out of the window every now and again as she lost herselfin Austen, watching the sky change from day to night until she finally admitted defeat and dragged her tired self upstairs. She brushed her teeth and got ready for bed before climbing under the duvet. She was asleep within minutes.
Chapter 3
Carrie woke at seven the next morning to sunlight streaming through the windows. She’d forgotten to draw the curtains in her tired state the night before.
She got up, excited at the prospect of her first day running the bookshop, and padded across the hallway to Poppy’s room where she found her daughter still fast asleep. She could leave her for a little while longer while she made herself a coffee. At thirty-four she must be getting old, she thought, finding herself far too excited to experiment with the Nespresso machine. After some fiddling with the pods, she had a lovely hot latte. She debated settling down with her book again, but suspected time would slip away. The shop presumably opened at nine like it used to, and she didn’t want to be late.
For the first time, nerves that she was going to be in charge of her aunt’s business for the next month set in, and she felt her stomach clench. It couldn’t be that difficult, could it? She wasn’t a complete novice she reassured, having helped out in the shop at eighteen — though that was of course years ago and her aunt and uncle had been around then. Thankfully she wasn’t going to be completely alone, at least not today. Auntie Mary had said there’d be someone in to help her this morning. It would be fine.
She took out a loaf of bread from the cupboard and some butter and jam. A sleepy Poppy made her way down the stairs.
“Good morning, Pumpkin. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. That bed is really comfy. I like having lots of pillows.” Poppy yawned dramatically. She climbed on to one of the stools at the island in the middle of the kitchen.
“I’m going to make some toast, would you like some?”
“Yes, please,” Poppy said.
Carrie made them both a couple of slices of toast with jam and poured Poppy some juice.
“We’ll need to be downstairs by ten to nine ready to open up,” she explained.
“We don’t have far to walk to get to work,” joked Poppy.
Poppy had a bowl of Rice Krispies next while Carrie tidied up and then went to shower while Poppy got dressed and made her bed.
They were both ready to go by quarter to nine, armed with an Americano for Carrie and a bag full of things to keep Poppy occupied, although the little girl was absolutely determined that she was going to be running the shop and wouldn’t have time for drawing or puzzles in between helping customers.
They went downstairs and Carrie set Poppy to turning on all the lamps around the shop. The till looked very new and very different from the one she’d used the last time she was helping out in the shop... Her heart lifted when she saw a binder labelledFor Carrieunderneath the counter next to a laptop.
She opened the binder and discovered step-by-step instructions on how to use the till and also the safe, which was kept in the office, the door to which was behind the shop’s counter. Most of the takings would be card payments so she didn’t need to worry too much about that.
As Poppy walked around the shop straightening books importantly, Carrie speed-read through all the instructions her aunt had left her. It all seemed simple enough, but she’d definitely need some practice. It was just unfortunate that she was going to be practising on paying customers.
She discovered the laptop was usually kept open on the counter to look up any books being enquired about, and to then order them from the distributor her aunt used, or, if it was a rare or collectable book, there was a list of contacts who might be able to help her source it. The bookbinders next door was top of the list, Carrie noticed, but with a name she didn’t recogniseattached to it. The old bookbinder had presumably retired and the business taken over by someone else.
Carrie took a moment to go up to the first floor and take a look around the second-hand and collectables area. Hundreds of books vied for space on the shelves and glass cabinets. There was a large wooden table in the middle of the space with a box of disposable gloves on, to be worn to protect the valuable books from damage when they were being examined, and Carrie noticed the windows had a film on them to stop sun bleaching.
At nine o’clock, Carrie lifted Poppy up so she could solemnly turn the sign on the door fromClosedtoOpen.
And they waited for customers. Carrie read through the binder she’d been left in more detail and drank her coffee while Poppy finally accepted that the shop was perfectly tidy and the books expertly positioned and sat down at a table with her drawing pad and pencils.
Where was the person Auntie Mary had promised would come and show her the ropes?
