On the way to the bookshop, I look for a suitable song to soothe my anxious mind – the trouble is, there are zero songs about sharing a bed with your handsome male flatmate due to a plumbing leak – while also wondering, purely hypothetically of course, if he’s seeing other women.
‘Hello, Nelly,’ says a familiar male voice. The bookshop has been quiet. Miranda is coming in later after she’s talked to Frank, so I am sneakily trying to finish Margo’s book behind the counter. I look up to see Ben, Amber’s father, standing by the till.
Ben has always looked as if he has been carved straight out of the wild. He’s built like he could lift a fallen tree and yet possesses a surprising gentleness. Kate used to say that her husband talks to trees as if they were old friends. He’s been known to talk terrified cats down from the highest branches, which always earns him a tick in my book.
‘Do you have any maths books for primary school kids?’
I go to show him where the educational section is. I’m about to step out from behind the counter when the doorbell jangles and in walks Alice. She’s wearing wide-legged denim jeans, a white T-shirt and sunglasses perched on the top of her head.
I glance at Alice and then at Ben, who looks mesmerised by her. It’s like he’s witnessing a miracle unfolding before his eyes.
‘Do you want to follow me?’
He’s still staring at Alice, and she’s gazing longingly at his giant forearms, built through years of scaling trees.
‘Earth to?—’
‘Uh… Oh yes. I need a maths book for an eight-year-old boy who doesn’t like maths.’
Alice hears this and giggles at Ben. ‘That’s a tall order.’
He smiles and gestures to me. ‘I have faith in Nelly.’
‘Do you want me to show you where the educational books are?’
Ben nods. As we walk past Alice, she grins. ‘Good luck.’
I look back to see if he’s still following me and he’s stood staring at Alice. After an impatient sigh from me, he catches up. ‘Who was that, Nelly?’
‘That’s Alice.’
He seems distracted when I point to the education section.
‘Is she new? I haven’t seen her around.’
‘She’s just moved here.’
I remember the bag behind the counter. I could tell him that someone has found the balloon and miss out the part about Amber’s message.
He spots the maths books and bends down to get a closer look.
Once he picks one – which makes the bold claim that it can get any child interested in maths – we walk back to the counter. I glance back at Ben, who’s still surveying the bookshop.
‘You okay there?’
‘I’m looking for Alice. Is she still here?’
Inwardly, I groan. The last thing this poor man needs is romance. ‘She’s probably got somewhere else better to go.’
He pays for the book, and before I get a chance to give him the bag with the balloon inside, he has hurried away.
I think about Alice and what I said about Kate’s kids. Was it wrong of me to say they were a handful? I shake off a twinge of guilt as I recall both Alice and Ben’s faces earlier when they saw each other for the first time. They couldn’t stop looking at each other. There was a definite spark of attraction. I recall what Oliver said about giving love a chance. No, I can’t do it.
Henry enters the shop at the same time Miranda appears to relieve me for my lunch break. ‘Good timing,’ he beams. ‘How about that coffee now?’
Half of me wants to make an excuse but the other half of me wants to have a coffee with an old friend. ‘Let me grab my bag.’
As we leave the book shop, I think about my theory, and I make sure my wrist brushes Henry’s hand. The vision featuring him watching the person wearing the cap on the hard shoulder of a motorway remains unchanged. I can add Henry’s name to my list.
