Finally, the back-and-forth ended, and the room lapsed into silence. All I was conscious of was Noah, standing so close to me that I could feel the warmth of him. That, andthe fact that Tiff seemed to be having a similar moment with Leon. But that couldn’t be right, could it?
I took a step away from Noah, hoping that Tiff would follow my cue. But she seemed quite content at Leon’s elbow. Although they weren’tdoinganything, I supposed. Was it a crime to stand near someone, especially in a cramped room?
No, but also … a bit?
‘Anyway, if you’d like a signed copy of the book, I’ve got a Sharpie handy,’ squawked Vero, flashing said Sharpie.
‘We’re also selling individual prints of the photos,’ added Leon. ‘Niko at Framing Device is offering a twenty-five per cent discount on matting and framing for anything purchased tonight.’
The group of readers politely muttered their excitement at this. A few did press forward, looking to buy a copy of the book, but the rest made a beeline for the pizza and wine.
‘You know what,’ I said, feeling sorry for Vero, who was spinning his Sharpie between thumb and forefinger, ‘I’m going to get one for Dad. He loves architecture.’
All right, so this was stretching the truth of Dad’s design interests just a tad. Still, it never hurt to support a struggling artist. Especially when it looked like they werereallystruggling.
‘Um,’ said Leon, glancing around him. ‘The copies were here a minute ago.’
He flipped through a box of hardcovers, then searched beneath a stack of vintage wrapping paper. He even looked under each pizza box in turn. (Chester meowed insistently, hoping for some anchovies.) Alongside him, Tiff helped scour every surface and cabinet for the missing books.
‘Wow, sold out,’ said Vero with an awkward laugh. He added, in a whisper tinged with alarm, ‘Um, so if the books don’t show up, I still get my consignment split, right?’
‘Weird,’ Leon said. He pushed his glasses up his nose as he tried to think through where the books might have got to. ‘I’ve never had an issue finding anything in here before …’
‘They’ll show up,’ promised Tiff, climbing up on a step ladder and browsing the packed shelves for the missing volumes.
My ring crackled as I joined in the search. Soon, every attendee was pawing through book stacks and peeking beneath tables. I even caught Soraya and Keiko apologetically sneaking a glimpse into various purses, just in case.
‘Sometimes people pick things up with the best of intentions and forget about them,’ said Soraya. ‘I’ve watched people do it with tubs of ice cream. Okay, teenagers with tubs of ice cream,’ she added, grinning. ‘Teenagers with tubs of ice cream hoping to get away with something. But we were all young and broke once.’
‘Some of us are even old and broke,’ added Keiko. ‘Remember that when I try to steal ice cream from you.’
It was Noah who finally came through with the goods. We’d found ourselves in a tiny storeroom, if it could be called that. Essentially a wardrobe with a privacy curtain instead of a door, it was so cramped in here that we were practically on top of each other. Which was both thrilling and nerve-wracking all at once. I could feel the warmth radiating off him, see the desire in his eyes. My fingers brushed his arm, and I leaned forward, closing the gap between his lips and mine.
Maybe I’ve found what I’m looking for after all, I thought.
Just then, a swirl of magic encircled us, wrapping us in a gossamer sheet.
‘Wait a second,’ Noah said, frowning. Then he reached behind my head, pulling a stack of books from the shelf behind me. My ring crackled in a way that felt approving.
I leaned back, swallowing.
Patience, Molly. Acting on impulse before I’d properly made a decision would be disastrous.
We carried the missing books out to the main room.
‘They were in the storeroom,’ explained Noah.
‘The storeroom, huh?’ Tiff raised an eyebrow. To my credit,I didn’t point out the fact that she was hovering awfully close to Leon.
‘How on earth?’ Leon took the books and passed them to the author, who gratefully signed the first two.
It seemed like the bookshop’s magic had returned: the group of browsers was pulling out books and magazines with joyful exclamations.
‘I’ve been looking for this foryears,’ marvelled an older woman, clutching a paperback with a picture of the Amalfi Coast on it.
‘And I never thought I’d find this in the original Latvian!’ exclaimed a gent with silver hair, waving a collection of poetry.
‘I’ll take this,’ said Noah, pushing the jigsaw puzzle across the counter.
