‘Perfect timing,’ he said. ‘And wow. You look great.’ And then he smiled that dazzling smile and winked. ‘That green dress matches your eyes.’
‘Thank you.’ It wasn’t the same dress that she had worn on Sunday, but she had learnt from a stylist who had been assigned to her when her books had been sold for the TV series, that green really suited her. Anything from lime green to emerald. Other colours suited her too, but the greens brought out the colour of her eyes. ‘You look great too.’
‘Thanks. I did make an effort. I have a famous author coming and I wanted to look my best.’
He held the door open for her and this time she didn’t tease him about equality for women.
‘You succeeded.’
He beamed at her. ‘How are you feeling? There’s still time to run if you want to. I won’t hold it against you. You’re doing me a huge favour after all.’
She followed him up some stairs. ‘I was feeling awful earlier. Nerves really got the better of me today. But I’ve put on my big girl pants and … oops. That wasn’t quite the image I wanted to convey.’
He smiled back at her. ‘Nothing wrong with big girl pants. I’ll tell you what. I’ll think of super-heroines, and fantasy fictionwarrior queens in high-waisted leather pants, with whips, and swords, and axes, attached to a waist-cinching belt.’
‘I knew I should’ve worn my leather bustier. Don’t get excited. That was a joke. I don’t have one.’
He grinned. ‘I’ll buy you one for Christmas. That was a joke too. You don’t need a leather bustier to look like a warrior queen. You’ve got the hair.’
‘And the freckles? Super-heroines and warrior queens have freckles, right?’
‘Absolutely.’ He opened another door which led into a large room at the rear of the bookshop. There was a dais with a single, comfy-looking chair that vaguely resembled a throne, but with lots of red padding. Next to that was a small but solid side table, and a tall modern standard lamp. ‘I use this for most of my book related events, writing workshops and such. It’s the only area in the premises that’s large enough to fit in lots of chairs, along with trellis tables for buffet food, and the staging required for some of the events. The food and drink will be here any minute so I may need to leave you to look around on your own while I help get that organised. I’ll show you the bookshop, and introduce you to my staff. Let me know if there’s anything you need, or ask one of them and they’ll be happy to get it for you. Would you like a glass of wine?’
‘This looks wonderful, Greg. I won’t have any wine yet, but I’d love a glass of water by me, for when I’m reading, just in case my throat gets dry.’
‘There’ll be a bottle each of sparkling and still, together with a glass, placed on that table before you start. That way you can have as much or as little as you want.’
‘You think of everything, don’t you?’
‘I try.’
The bookshop was better than she had imagined. Bookshelves lined the walls and stood in the room at various angles, eachone filled with books from floor to ceiling. Greg sold antiquarian books as well as new, and the most expensive and rarest books were locked away in an antique bookcase containing red leather bound books with spines decorated and titled in gilt. There were first editions of books by J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, and many more. A few padded seats were positioned near some of the bookshelves so that people could sit and read for a while.
Jemma was impressed, and said so.
‘This is my kind of bookshop, Greg. I could happily spend my life in here.’
‘Feel free to move in any time,’ he quipped. ‘Let me show you your window display before anyone else arrives.’
She nearly burst into tears when she saw it. Tears of joy. Her books sat in a tall stack, with more standing beside that, and some beneath an ornate carriage which although only fit for a doll, was definitely to scale. There was a tall top hat on the stack of books and a silver topped cane leaning against the stack. In front of it were some long feathers that Regency ladies would have worn in their hair, and a pair of women’s evening gloves, a dance card, and a fan.
‘I love this!’
‘I’m so pleased. I was dreading you saying you hated it. Ah. The food has arrived. I’ll leave you with Suzie, if that’s okay. I’ll quickly introduce you.’
Things went a little crazy after that. Suzie was lovely and when she took Jemma back to the chair on the dais, she brought her the water Greg had promised and smiled at her reassuringly as Jemma scanned the sea of people seated before her. She had done things like this probably hundreds of times now, but she still got the jitters and her stomach churned each time.
‘You’ll be brill, Jemma,’ Suzie whispered as Greg gave her an effusive introduction and everyone in the room, including Gregand Suzie clapped and cheered. ‘I’m a big fan. You’ve got this. If you need anything during your reading and afterwards, or you want to stop for any reason, just give me a glance and a nod and I’ll sort it out.’
Greg said virtually the same when he handed the dais over to her. ‘Good luck. You won’t need it. You’ll knock them dead. I’ll be just over there if you need me.’
‘Hello, everyone,’ Jemma said, once the clapping eventually died down. She spoke slowly to calm herself. ‘It’s a thrill for me to be here in Bishop’s Books. I think I can honestly say that this is my favourite bookshop. Thank you for giving me such a warm welcome. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to so many people clapping and cheering when someone mentions my name. I’m always a little nervous, so I hope you’ll forgive me. I’m not sure if you’ve all read my books. Oh. Thank you for that show of hands. It looks as if that’s all of you. Gosh. That’s wonderful. Thank you again. Erm. I wanted to be a writer since I was a very young girl, and my beloved gran, Esme Granger was the one who encouraged me to follow my dreams. It’s thanks to her that I’m standing here today. I can tell you more about my journey from that young girl to the woman I am now, if you like, but if you’ll allow me, I’d like to read a chapter from my latest book.’
Everyone clapped again and Jemma sat down and read the first chapter. She had soon forgotten how nervous she was and how much she disliked public speaking, and by the time all the questions followed, she was happy to answer almost all of them. Apart from one that asked what the final book in the series was about, because as she hadn’t yet written it, she didn’t know herself. Of course, she had the basic outline, but that often changed.
‘You’ll have to wait and see,’ she said, and the person seemed happy.
‘I think I’ll tell Laurence I won’t be needing him ever again,’ Greg joked when she finally got a moment to stand with him and chat. He handed her a large glass of white wine and they clinked their glasses. ‘Of course, it would mean you’ll have to agree to come back on a regular basis. At least once a month. In fact, I think it might be easier if you simply stayed. Did Molly say how long she’d be renting out the cottage? You told me your flat in Orpington is on the market but you have no idea where you want to live. Well, Betancourt Bay is rather lovely.’
