Page 18 of Whispers from the Past

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Rose was quite impressed that she’d rendered Holly speechless. But she put her out of her misery.

It’s an old coat I found in a wardrobe upstairs. Your brother had the same visceral reaction to it.

When did Luke see it?

I just bumped into him.

Which could nearly be considered the truth. Trying to steer the conversation away from her confusing brother, Rose went back to why Holly had messaged in the first place.

Back to your first question. I don’t know what to wear. Help?

Holly followed up her call for help with a series of photos of outfits that she’d put together from her own wardrobe. Holly was a godsend, and after sifting through the five different options, Rose messaged back with what she wanted to borrow.

Chapter 7

🎵 Days by The Kinks 🎵

Friday arrived with the promise of a glorious day but from her vantage point on her bed, Rose could see dark clouds in the distance. Not that rain really mattered today - or any day now that she was here. The book store was the perfect place to retreat from the rain. She dressed quickly and quietly padded down the stairs to the shop mindful of not waking Eleanor; she didn’t have to wake up early anymore, but for some reason her inner clock kept waking her up hours before it needed to. Running her hand over the shelf dedicated to second-hand books, which was her favourite part of the bookshop, Rose took a moment to think of all the readers before her who had lost themselves in these books. The worn spines, like battle scars, would have brought hours of escapism and pleasure to their custodians. And now they sat, nestled on these worn shelves, waiting to transport their next keeper to some place wonderful, exotic or terrifying. They would have to wait a little longer though as she wasn’t going to pick one of them today; Rose had already brought her chosen book downstairs with her under her arm. The Count of Monte Cristo had been calling her for days and she’d finally relented, settling down in the armchair to return to Edmond. Two hours passed and just as the Count was instructing Bertuccio to purchase Danglar’s prize horses, Rose was rudely interrupted by a knock on the door. Jolted back into the present, and reality, she slipped the bookmark Mrs Whitingdale had given her into place and placed the book down carefully in the seat of the chair. Happy at least that she had freed Edmond from his confinement, she started for the door. Her visitor knocked again, so she quickened her step. Turning the many locks on the door, she was surprised to find Natalie as her morning visitor.

‘Morning. Mummy said to bring you some breakfast,’ she announced as she pushed a paper bag towards Rose. ‘The baker gave us extra with our order.’

‘Oooh great!’ Rose said as she excitedly opened the package to find two deep brown pastries waiting for her.

‘Fancy one?’ she offered the bag back to Natalie, opening the door a little wider. The little girl happily accepted the invitation and joined Rose on the sofa sitting in the bay window of the shop. Rose quickly sent a message to Holly, letting her know that Natalie was staying for a bit, and then settled down with her favourite three year old. They spent the next half an hour, before nursery, talking about Natalie’s favourite books. Rose hadn’t realised how much she’d missed talking about books with children. It was something she’d enjoyed so much at the library. And Natalie’s face had lit up when she produced two books for her to read; The Paperbag Princess and Princess Smartpants. She’s been so excited with the gifts that she’d abruptly wrapped up the conversation and dashed off back to Holly.

‘Who was our early visitor?’ Eleanor called from the doorway to her annex.

‘Natalie came with pastries.’

‘Pastries?’ Eleanor’s face lit up, filled with an expression of hope.

‘Sorry, we’ve eaten them…’ Rose apologised as Eleanor had quickened her step at the prospect of a flaky treat.

‘Probably for the best,’ she chuckled as she sat down on the small armchair by the classic book corner.

‘I was going to do a new window display this morning. Fancy giving me a hand?’

‘It’d be my pleasure. What did you have in mind?’

‘I thought we could do a colour theme for each month? So we could start April’s a little early and fill the window with yellow books. What do you think?’ It wasn’t until the question left Rose’s lips that she realised how much Eleanor’s opinion meant to her.

‘I think it’s a wonderful idea. Shall I start finding some yellow books? And we could collect some Lesser Celandine to add to it as well?’

‘That would be great. I’m going to ask Susie whether the children at school would like to decorate the letters we’ll need for each month? Might make them bring their parents down to see the displays…’

‘Cunning! I like it.’

Whilst they collected various yellow books from the shelves of The Book Nook, Rose tried to find out more about Eleanor’s family. She still found it strange that Eleanor didn’t have any photos up and this niggled at her.

‘So tell me more about your husband.’

‘Michael could be quite grumpy,’ she said, laughing at a memory that had come to the forefront of her mind, ‘there was this one time when we got lost on the way to a family holiday cottage in Blackpool. He refused to ask for directions so we drove for an extra two hours because he missed the turning. I remember him being so cross with me for not telling him about the missed junction, even though I had told him it was coming up. But he could also be incredibly kind and thoughtful. And as you know, he was a talented painter.’

‘But he didn’t paint for a living?’

‘No, he was a fisherman when I first met him.’