Carrie held back from glaring daggers at her aunt, who was well aware she was causing mischief.
“She has,” said Michael. Carrie spotted the questioning look in his eyes; she hadn’t wanted to go into details over a WhatsApp message.
“I only decided last night, after we left your house,” she said quickly, feeling terrible. “Tony’s in London for a few days and wants to see Poppy. We’re both really sorry we won’t be able to come to Layla’s party.”
“She’ll be disappointed,” said Michael, not quite meeting her eyes. “We’ll both miss you.”
“And we’ll miss you. If Tony wasn’t going back to Germany so soon . . .”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s important Poppy sees her dad.”
“We’ve got a card and some presents for Layla. Would it be all right for us to bring them around later when Poppy’s back? She’s out with my mum today.”
“Do you have to leave today?” Michael asked. “We’d all like to give you a proper send-off.”
“I mean, I guess we could leave tomorrow morning,” Carrie said. “Tony’s not coming to get Poppy until two.”
“Great,” Michael said, his smile forced.
“Why doesn’t everyone come for dinner at my house?” suggested Auntie Mary. “Michael’s right, you can’t leave without a proper send-off.”
“OK,” said Carrie, feeling her eyes begin to prick. “That sounds really good.”
“I’d better go and open up.” Michael checked his watch. “I’ve got a book dealer due to arrive soon. He might have some stuff you’d be interested in, Mary.”
“Buy anything you think I’ll like,” Auntie Mary told him. “You know I trust your judgement.”
“Great, I’ll let you know later.”
Carrie watched as Michael left.
“Are you sure you’re happy to work today?” said Auntie Mary. “You don’t have things you need to do?” She looked pointedly at the door Michael had just exited through.
“I want to do a final day,” said Carrie. “If that’s OK with you?”
“Of course it is. You’ve done a fantastic job here. Actually, I was wanting to talk to you later. Are you free to have lunch with me?”
“That would be lovely,” said Carrie, not wanting to let her aunt down but also wondering when exactly she was going to beable to finish packing and cleaning the flat. She wanted to leave it neat and tidy.
“Excellent. We’ll go next door.”
Auntie Mary disappeared into the office to deal with paperwork and check auctions, leaving Carrie to run the shop. There were plenty of customers in and Carrie kept busy, though her mind kept returning to the fact that this was her last day in the shop. Maybe Auntie Mary would go away for another cruise next summer and invite them back to look after things, but Carrie didn’t know how likely that would be. And presumably Tony would be in the country so she couldn’t really take Poppy away for an extended period... She was overthinking, she knew. It would just be nice to know when she’d be able to come back. She was going to miss everything about this town. Michael flashed into her mind, but she shook her head to clear the image. She couldn’t think about him now.
* * *
Carrie closed up the shop at one and Auntie Mary emerged from the office. They walked next door to The First Sip where they ordered coffee and paninis before sitting down at a table near the back.
They made small talk about the shop until Lucy delivered their food.
“Michael messaged about you leaving!” she said to Lucy, as she placed her lunch in front of her. “I’d hoped we’d be able to hang out more together before you left.”
“That would have been so cool,” Carrie replied. “I’d love to meet up when Poppy and I come back to visit.”
“Definitely.” Lucy smiled.
“You’ll come to Carrie and Poppy’s send-off at my house this evening, won’t you?” Mary asked.
“I’d love to.”
