Jake glanced down at it before closing his own hand over hers. Again, the moment between them was charged. ‘Thanks, Effie, and it’s been a pleasure to help you. I’ve enjoyed it.’
‘And you don’t mind helping tidy up?’
Jake began to collect up the glasses for the recycling, ‘Not at all. I’ll clear this. You can straighten the shelves, then we can head off.’
‘I might need to put the vacuum round as well,’ she said looking at the floor, which was strewn with crumbs and sand. ‘It was impossible to stop the kids trailing biscuit crumbs everywhere. They had a great time though, so I can’t complain, I just hope the books aren’t sticky.’
‘Maye we should get Scruff in to hoover up all the crumbs.’
Effie laughed. ‘He’d love that! But he’d probably take ages.’
‘We have plenty of time, Effie, we’ll have the shop shipshape, or shopshape in no time.’
‘We do make an excellent team.’ Effie beamed at him. As she watched him make quick work of tidying the refreshment table, she hoped their compatibility would extend beyond the shop floor.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Easter Sunday dawned bright and sunny. Effie rolled over in bed and buried her head into the pillows. The shop opening, followed by an evening celebrating at the pub, had exhausted her. She closed her eyes and willed sleep to return, but her ears had already tuned in to the sound of the seagulls calling and when she reached for her phone she saw it was almost nine. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept in so late.
With plans to open the shop for a couple of hours that morning, Effie pushed back the covers and padded into the bathroom where she ran a bath. With a contented sigh, she slipped into the vanilla-fragranced bubbles. Lying in the hot water, she replayed the events of opening day.
Jake was right, she couldn’t run the shop by herself, it’d be impossible over the high summer season. She didn’t think Clive had considered any of the implications of opening the shop other than grabbing a property in an up-and-coming location. In fact, Effie hadn’t considered the implications of running it alone. Although she knew she’d have to see how popular the shop actually became and how busy the little seaside village was in high season.
Getting out of the bath and wrapping herself in a fluffy towel and robe, Effie padded into the kitchen, where she flicked on the kettle and sliced a hot cross bun to toast. She’d been so busy the previous day she hadn’t got around to having any of the treats Lola had baked, so was looking forward to seeing what was left in the café.
Carrying her breakfast over to the sofa, Effie pulled the curtains back and took in the scene outside. The sea gently lapped at the golden sand, Freya and Angelo were strolling on the beach, throwing a ball for Scruff whilst Alf perched on the harbour wall. Happiness spread through Effie as she sipped her tea. For all her worries about moving away from home, Polcarrow had embraced her in a big welcoming hug. It had been far easier to make friends and be accepted into the community than she’d imagined. There was also Jake.
Effie swallowed at the thought of Jake, with his tousled blond hair and strong forearms with their intricate tattoos she still hadn’t asked him about. Heat rose in her as she remembered the intense way he’d looked at her as he’d passed on his opinion about Clive’s uselessness or the way he’d taken time to make sure the walls and shelves were perfectly painted.
Most of Effie’s crushes had been unrequited – a daydream about a man with a nice smile, filling in the blanks or creating a life for the gorgeous barman in the pub she’d frequented with Maddie, but never dared ask out. She’d returned home after university wary and bruised by Brad and it had been so much easier to bury herself in books and knitting.
Jake, however, was real, he was showing up for her every day, unasked, and this was something Effie hadn’t experienced before. The few guys she had dated had always let her down, cancelling plans last minute or dating multiple women at the same time. Jake was a man who cared about other people, and he clearly liked her, but was it romantic? Could she dare to put her heart on the line for him?
Effie briefly allowed herself to imagine being swept into his strong arms, being kissed by him, before batting the image away. She needed him as a friend; after all, if she was hoping to stay in Polcarrow, she couldn’t risk ruining what was beginning to bloom between them. She still couldn’t get the phone call from Tara out of her head. Or the restless energy she sensed in him, as if he’d merely come home to plan his next move, rather than put down roots. She had been wrong in the past, thinking guys were interested in her, and she wasn’t willing to make that embarrassing mistake again.
It had been a wise idea to open the shop for the morning as a steady stream of holidaymakers ventured in to have a look around, ask for particular books, and Effie even made a few sales and took down a few orders. After the chaos of opening day Effie enjoyed the calm, studious way people browsed the shelves and took a moment to sit in the chairs, commenting on the view. She could forget that it was another arm of Clive’s small empire and easily imagine the shop was her own.
One o’clock rolled round before Effie realised and the morning had gone. She was just doing her last-minute tidy when the door jangled open. Her eyes flicked up from where she’d been tidying the children’s corner to see Jake propped up in the doorway, two felt buckets in his hand.
‘Which one do you want? Bunny or chick?’ he asked, holding them out to her.
Effie stood up and made her way over to him. ‘Chick please.’
‘You’re going to make me have the pink bunny one?’
‘You’re definitely secure enough in your masculinity to use a pink bunny bucket,’ she teased.
Jake passed Effie the chick bucket. ‘I do secretly quite like pink. Always go for a pink iced cake. Just tastes better,’ he said with a shrug.
‘Aw, that is so cute! I totally agree. It’s always the pink French Fancies for me.’
‘Hmm . . . looks like I’ll be fighting you for those.’ He narrowed his eyes and pretended to size her up.
Effie’s heart skipped a beat at the implied future the thought of fighting him over a box of cakes brought.
‘Are you ready?’
Effie nodded. ‘Let me just lock up,’ she said and shooed Jake out of the shop. He took the bucket back from her as she pulled down the blinds then locked the door.
