I take a deep breath. ‘I think you and Ben will make a great couple. His kids are lovely.’
She frowns. ‘I thought you said they were a handful.’
I can’t mess this up. ‘When you saw me, I was having a bad day. I am sorry.’
Her face softens. ‘No worries. What shall we do?’
‘Leave it to me. Are you around today?’
‘I am.’ She takes out her phone. ‘This is my number. Do you think I will like him? Is he good-looking?’
I don’t want to give the game away. I know she will be more than impressed. ‘He’s okay.’
I make a note of her number. ‘Right, let me get to work.’
She’s about to go when she turns back. ‘Did you know Kate, the mum?’
‘Yes, I did. She came to the book club here. Kate was lovely. She loved a good romance novel. She would have raved about that film you saw.’
Alice smiles. ‘That’s another sign.’
I watch her leave the bookshop and glance at the romance section. A woman who has the same red hair that Kate had is flicking through a pink novel. I smile to myself and tidy up the box of glittery pens on the counter.
An hour later, I’m serving a customer when Amber walks in, chewing her gum, AirPods slotted into her ears and inspecting her silvery nails. Once I’ve finished with my customer, I go to find her in the young adult section.
‘Amber,’ I say as she flicks through one of the books on the display table. ‘I have news.’
She whirls around to me.
‘A woman brought in your balloon, and she wants to meet your dad.’
Amber’s face falls, which is not what I was expecting to see. ‘Oh no.’
My heart grinds to halt. ‘What’s happened?’
She shakes her head. ‘Dad met someone a few days ago, and he’s been talking non-stop about her ever since. I don’t think he’ll go out with anyone unless it’s this mystery woman. He even turned down Sue, the neighbour.’
‘Sue – the neighbour? The one he was confiding in about his loneliness?’
Amber nods. ‘It was a ploy on Sue’s part. She wanted a date with him. Anyway, he turned her down and told her he only had eyes for someone else. Sue was gutted. We won’t be getting an invite to her dreadful summer barbeques, though, which is a bonus.’
‘Who is this mystery woman?’
She shrugs. ‘I don’t know her.’
I think back to when Ben was in here a few days ago and how he couldn’t keep his eyes off Alice. Is there a chance he could be referring to Alice?
Amber sighs. ‘I spoke to him last night. He said he would only consider dating someone else if it was this stranger.’
‘Did you get any details?’
‘Brown hair.’ Amber rolls her eyes. ‘He’s useless at noticing things. Oh… I think he said her name was… Alice.’
I gasp and clap my hands. This is perfect. Ben and Alice are in for quite a shock. ‘Oh, wow, Amber.’
She looks at me with teenage suspicion. ‘Are you okay, Nelly?’
‘I know who Alice is,’ I say, feeling giddy with excitement. ‘She’s the one who wants to meet your dad. They met in here the other day.’
