Bonnie enquired, ‘What about your work?’
‘I can do hairdressing anywhere. I’ll have to give up my place at the salon in Queensland but that’s okay.’ She smiled at them both. ‘I never planned to come back to England but racing here to get away and to see Dad, I’ve discovered it’s so much more than I realised. It kind of feels like I belong.’
‘Well, it would be lovely to see some more of you.’ When Bonnie said it, it came so naturally, talking to these women who were her friends. And then she remembered something. ‘Talking of work…’ She looked across at Margot. ‘Did you send in your application for cabin crew?’
Margot took a deep breath as if nerves were getting the better of her. ‘I did.’
Bonnie smiled. ‘That’s marvellous. How long till you hear back, do you think?’
‘I’ve no idea. And let’s face it, I may not hear a thing. I think these days you have to apply for hundreds of jobs to even get an interview.’ She paused. ‘I also had to put a home address on the application as I haven’t found a proper rental yet. It was risky, but I didn’t have a lot of choice.’
‘I doubt they would even use the address,’ Bonnie assured her. ‘It’s all emails and phone calls these days.’
‘I don’t think they would either,’ said Margot. ‘But putting it was just another reminder that I have left, that I’ve no idea what stance Perry will take in all of this, and that he could make things very difficult and unpleasant. He’s out there somewhere, thinking about his next step.’
‘Try not to worry too much,’ Bonnie urged. The man hadn’t been violent, that was a relief, but the mind games sounded torturous. She tried to lighten the mood. ‘Now, with Faye staying on in Dorset and you having applied for a job, I think that calls for an extra big slice of syrup sponge each, to celebrate.’
‘I’m in!’ said Margot with agreement from Faye.
Bonnie served each of them a generous piece of the sponge and between them they almost demolished two-thirds of the entire pudding.
‘I can barely move,’ Faye groaned afterwards. ‘That was too much.’
Margot told her, ‘Bonnie, that was possibly the best syrup sponge I haveevertasted. Howard was right.’
Faye picked up a stray crumb of sponge from her placemat and left it in her bowl. ‘Have you given any more thought to un-retiring, Bonnie?’
‘Un-retiring.’ She turned the phrase over in her mind. ‘I still think I’m too old.’
‘You’re sixty-six!’ Margot pointed out.
How could she even begin to think about returning to her job as a district nurse? She could get out to do a food shop or nip to the bakery, but that was about it. How could she go from doing that to visiting people’s homes and actually being some kind of help?
In an effort to steer them onto new ground, she took them through to the back room where it would be warmer and more comfortable.
Faye had stopped beside the bookshelves in front of the place where the urn acted as a bookend. If she’d ever noticed it before today, she’d not mentioned it.
‘I haven’t scattered them yet,’ said Bonnie, glancing first at Faye and then Margot, who seemed to have cottoned on to what she was talking about, and came to Bonnie’s side. She felt a hand on her arm when she confessed, ‘I just don’t feel ready.’
‘No rush, Bonnie,’ said Margot. ‘You do it when the time is right.’
Her next words were out before she had a chance to really think about them. ‘I’m considering selling the bookshop.’
Margot acted surprised, so did Faye, but Bonnie wasn’t born yesterday. ‘You both knew, didn’t you?’
‘Iris mentioned it,’ said Margot.
‘Do you think I’m a terrible person?’
Faye came straight to her side. ‘Bonnie, no, of course not.’
‘But Howard saved the shop from being closed down permanently. If it wasn’t for him, then it wouldn’t even exist any more.’
‘He told us all about the developers,’ said Faye.
‘He did?’
Margot nodded. ‘He used to talk about it in book club. He said they turned up frequently, upping their offer.’
