Page 14 of Whispers from the Past

‘I’ll keep your secret for now Rose.’ Holly was fiddling with a beer mat that sat in a pool of spilt beer on the bar. ‘But to answer your question, I’m not really sure who I am any more. I used to be this fun adventurous woman who went on holiday by herself to exciting places. I used to put so much effort into what I wore each day - think Cher in Clueless…minus the amazing walk in wardrobe. And now I’m a single mum who works in a local pub and chucks on a pair of leggings and a different oversized jumper every day.’

‘Owns a local pub…and a micro brewery. Don’t sell yourself short Holly.’

‘I guess so. But that’s all I do.’

‘So no secret lovers that come calling after hours?’

‘I wish. There’s been no one since Natalie was born.’

‘But she’s three, Holly!’

‘Yes, I do realise that Rose.’

‘Sorry…I’m just shocked. You’re so lovely, surely there’s someone who has shown you some interest?’

‘I’ve had people flirting with me when I’m behind the bar, but nothing more than that. And it was impossible with a baby, and not much easier now with a three year old.’

‘Challenge accepted. Before Natalie’s fourth birthday, I’m going to find you a perfect man.’

‘You’ve given yourself eight months.’

‘With what I’m working with, this will be easy. I don’t think I’ll need as long as that.’ Eight months was the longest she’d spent anywhere for a long time after finishing uni. Part of her hoped that actually it would take her that long as it would give her another reason to stay. Grabbing a beer mat from the bar, Rose reached into her bag for a pen. She flicked through the months on her fingers and then wrote 18th November 2019 in black ink across the face of the beer mat. ‘Got somewhere to pin this up?’

‘What’s that?’

‘My deadline for finding your perfect man,’ Rose smiled at her as she pushed the beer mat into Holly’s hand.

Holly turned and moved towards the bottom of the stairs that led up to her rooms above the pub. She shuffled some flyers around on the pinboard there, and pinned the beer mat in the top right hand corner. ‘Ok that makes it feel a bit more real and potentially exciting.’ She hit Rose with an excited raise of her eyebrows. But before they had the chance to talk about it any further, Natalie’s muffled cries rang out through the baby monitor.

‘It’s like she knows,’ Holly groaned, looking up at the ceiling. ‘Can you let yourself out? I’ll lock up properly once she’s settled.’ Rather than waiting for a reply, Holly sighed as she made her way upstairs.

Instead of getting the run down on the options, or lack of options, for Holly’s potential love interests like she had wanted to, Rose left the pub and made her way back across the cobbled street to the book shop. She’d make time to find out about the eligible bachelors and Holly’s likes and dislikes soon. As the door swung shut, a small envelope fluttered down from the letterbox. Reaching down to pick it up, Rose already knew who it would be from. Even though they were now living in the same village, Susie clearly still liked to post things to her. Inside was a flyer that had been created using Microsoft Office clip art from circa 2000. Rose smiled to herself as she took in the paint brushes and multi-coloured splats around the central message. It would appear that Susie wanted Rose to join her art group ‘People with Paintbrushes’. They met every Monday evening in The Old School House. Clutching the flyer to her chest, Rose thanked her mother for having Susie as a friend. Sometimes she thought she’d be lost without her thoughtfulness.

Chapter 6

🎵 High Tide or Low Tide by Bob Marley & The Wailers 🎵

An urgent need for a wee woke Rose as she tried to snuggle into the warmth of her eiderdown for a few more glorious minutes. She had been busy these last few days and that, coupled with not being used to the cold Yorkshire winds, she was exhausted. And the week wasn’t easing off; tomorrow was her dinner with Tony. He was taking her to a restaurant in Fylingthorpe, the next village over. Holly had got far too over excited about this and had insisted on taking her shopping this afternoon to buy a new outfit to wear. She reached over to check the time on her clock that sat on the new wicker bedside table she’d bought last week. 04:30am. Far too early to be up on this lovely Thursday morning; a rare midweek day off as she’d be working on Saturday. But it was too late. She was wide awake now and there wasn’t any chance that she’d drift off back to sleep, and it was even too early to watch Wildlife SOS if she had wanted to. As that realisation sunk in, she replayed a conversation with a bird enthusiast who had visited the book shop yesterday.

It had been a slow day, customer wise in the shop but just after lunch, a coach trip had stopped off in the Bay to stretch their legs. Rose had watched them out of the small lead framed windows, willing them to come in and browse. A couple broke away from the main group and she was pleased to see them walking towards her. She busied herself with a delivery, so she didn’t look quite so desperate when they came in.

An older gentleman stepped into the warmth of the shop. He rubbed his hands together and held them close to his chest. ‘Let’s go to Robin Hood’s Bay, she said. It’ll be lovely, she said. But she didn’t say it would be bloody freezing did she?’ He nudged his companion with his elbow.

‘Oh stop moaning Cedric. It’s not like we’re camping on the Yorkshire Dales.’

‘Welcome to The Book Nook,’ Rose had interjected during the brief lull in their bickering.

‘Afternoon. Don’t suppose you’ve got an ornithology section?’ he had asked kindly.

Rose had showed him to the small section and hovered to see if anything took his fancy.

Shaking his head he turned to her ‘I suppose it was a long shot. I just wondered whether you might have had something about the Great Grey Shrike.’

‘The Great Grey what?’

‘Strike. It’s a beautiful song bird. Comes here in the Autumn and spends the winter here. And this is an excellent place to spot them.’

‘Have you seen many?’