Page 12 of Whispers from the Past

Holly laughed as she headed behind the bar, ‘Oh yes, I did hear about that. When it happens again, try to time it so I can witness it please. There is something so satisfying about seeing your sibling fall foul in life. And I was mere metres away yet missed the whole thing! I had to hear about it from Siobhan Latimer, who pretty much ran over to tell me about it in great detail. She even described how you tried to wipe the dripping coffee off him.’ Holly was now struggling to speak as joyful tears won through an internal battle. ‘Her description was wonderfully detailed, but it’s not the same as witnessing it yourself.’

Rose rolled her eyes, ‘Tony here yet?’

‘You’re meeting with Tony?’ Holly’s voice rose an octave at the end and she composed herself in record time.

‘Yes…’

‘Tony, coffee shop Tony?’

‘Yes, wait, is there another Tony?’

‘Well no, but…wow you work fast Rose!’ Holly chuckled.

‘It’s just to talk about the shop.’

‘Sure it is!’ Holly winked, ‘Sure it is!’

‘It is,’ Rose tried to say with as much conviction as she could muster.

Holly leaned closer. ‘Tony is a nice guy, Rose, it’s ok. But a word of caution. He split up with his wife about a month ago. She was offered a job in Bristol and the distance was just too much.’

‘None of that matters Holly, because I’m not on a date with him.’

‘Sure you’re not. But just in case it actually is, or might be in the future, just remember that he could well be on the rebound.’

‘Tony and I aren’t on a date!’ Rose repeated - a little too forcefully.

‘That’s a shame. Because I wore my best aftershave,’ laughed Tony as Rose spun round mortified.

‘Sorry! Holly was teasing me and I was just repeatedly telling her that we’re just here to talk about the shop.’

‘Maybe we can talk about other things too?’ he winked.

Rose inwardly cringed at the cheesiness of his line, but a small part of her appreciated the interest. Tony broke the embarrassment by ordering them both drinks.

‘Good day?’ he asked as their drinks arrived.

‘It got better. Eleanor and I have planned some new events for The Book Nook to get some regular footfall through the door. It would be great if we could have some tie in with the cafe? Especially for our weekly toddler time sessions.’

‘What did you have in mind?’

‘A deal for coffee and cake, or something like that?’ Rose asked hopefully as she sipped her beer. ‘Holly, is this one of yours? It’s lovely.’

Holly skipped back over with a beaming smile. It might be one of the beers I’m trying out for the festival. You really like it?’

‘It’s great. Tony, try it,’ she pushed his pint towards him.

Tony took a sip. ‘Love it. You’ve done it again Holly. Another winner!’.

‘Ah you guys!’ Holly lapped up the compliments as she went to the other end of the bar to serve more customers.

‘Going back to your ideas, Rose, I’m more than happy to have more of a tie in with the bookshop. We could have a book of the month on display in the cafe too?’

‘Could you stretch to a discount on a drink if they buy the book of the month? Or maybe a ‘buy one get one free’ deal?’

‘I’m not adverse to that…as long as I’m not out of pocket I haven’t got a problem with it. Let’s start with a 10% discount if they buy the book and show me the receipt.’

‘Love it! I’ll decide on our first one next week’.