* * *
Today, Miranda is wearing a denim mini dress and strappy brown sandals. After I have complimented her outfit, she reaches down behind the counter and, to my amazement, pulls out a book-shaped wrapped gift. ‘Happy birthday, Nelly.’
I open it and let out a silent groan.
Miranda giggles. ‘It’s time you read your new boyfriend’s novel… I mean, flatmate.’
‘Thank you, I appreciate this.’ Perhaps Miranda is becoming a nicer person?
She points over to the romance section. ‘You need to use your feminine charms on him as I could do with him hosting a regular book signing event here. Now that I am a single woman, I need all the financial help I can get.’
I feel a prickle of irritation. I thought she was being thoughtful for my birthday, but she has not changed.
Alice appears at the counter. Her cheery smile helps calm me down.
‘I’ve been doing some thinking,’ she says, fiddling with one of the glittery pens on the counter. ‘About the message in the balloon. You were right to warn me about his kids, but…’ She pauses. ‘I like the sound of Amber’s dad, and I have been getting weird signs.’
‘Signs?’
She sighs. ‘You’ll probably think I am mad, but I keep seeing adverts for Monopoly and last night I watched a film about a man who found a message in a balloon. He didn’t know who it was from, but it turned out it was from the new love of his life. The universe is telling me something and I need to give?—’
Oliver’s words fly out of my mouth. ‘Give love a chance?’
Alice’s eyes grow bigger in surprise. ‘Weird – that’s what I was going to say. That’s another sign.’
I smile at her. ‘Good idea. I can help you.’
She casts me a puzzled expression. ‘Last week, you were not so sure.’
I recall the way she and Ben looked at each other that day. There was a definite spark of attraction. Kate’s face flashes up inside my mind. She loved a good romance book when she was part of Miranda’s book club, especially plots where the characters were brought together in the most unlikely of situations. The idea of a woman responding to a message hidden inside a balloon and wanting to contact the sad, widowed father sounds like something out of a romance book. If Kate is looking down on us, she would love this.
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.’
