Page 42 of Whispers from the Past

‘Ooh exciting!’

‘Very!’ Holly clapped her hands with actual excitement. ‘This year, we’re going to blow their minds. I can’t…’ her voice trailed off and Rose turned to see what had stopped her in her tracks. A petite blonde woman had entered the bar carrying a couple of suitcases.

‘What’s she doing back?’ Holly wondered out loud.

‘Who is she?’ Rose whispered conspiratorially. Then the penny dropped as Rose recognised her from a photo in the cafe. ‘That’s Lucy isn’t it?’.

Holly just nodded, her mind trying to put pieces together that she just didn’t have. ‘Not that this means anything about you and Tony,’ she suddenly added. But as Rose took in the blonde by the door, she couldn’t help but feel that the mystery of who had called Tony last night had been solved, and her fledgling romance was about to tailspin.

Chapter 15

🎵 Turn by Travis 🎵

Busy in the corner of the book shop, sorting through the children’s books with Turn by Travis drifting through her headphones into her mind, Rose didn’t hear the door open. She didn’t hear the small silver bells tinkling that usually alerted her that someone had entered the shop. She didn’t hear Tony as he came up behind her. Which is why she screamed when he gently touched her shoulder. It took her a few seconds to calm down. Lowering a copy of The Book Thief, the weapon she had chosen to defend herself with, she took out her headphones so she could hear him, ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.’

‘I’m easily scared, don’t worry.’ But he did look worried.

‘I hear you saw Lucy yesterday?’ Rose nodded as Tony ran his hand through his hair. It looked like he’d been doing that a lot this morning. ‘We’ve been talking more lately. Things aren’t working out for her in Bristol and she’s made the decision to move back. You’ve probably guessed already, but she was the one who called last night.’

‘Well that’s good?’ Rose offered.

‘Yes. Really good. We’re going to give things another go.’ He ran his hand through his hair again. Rose caught it to focus him.

‘That’s great Tony.’

‘It is? I was worried you’d be upset.’

Rose took a breath in as she reflected on the last few weeks. ‘I’ve loved spending time with you Tony, but this has just been a few weeks. I’m not going to compete with your ex-wife who you clearly love. So this is me bowing out gracefully.’

Tony pushed out the breath he’d been holding and dragged his hand down his face. He pulled her in for a quick hug. ‘Thank you for making this so easy for me Rose.’

As he left the shop, she sunk down into the beanbags that marked out the children’s area and sighed. Slipping her headphones back in as Fran Healy’s soothing voice had moved on to ‘Why Does it Always Rain on Me?’; the next song on the album. She laughed at how apt the song was for this moment. Another promising development over before it could even begin. Bouncing back was her speciality. She had to do it since they moved so much when she was younger. She’d never had a friendship that lasted longer than six months, and any partners hadn’t fared much better. So it wasn’t so much Tony that made her feel so sad, it was the confirmation that she couldn’t have something with any longevity. And that was why a solitary tear made a path down her face.

Chapter 16

🎵 This Kiss by Faith Hill 🎵

Holly stepped up in the friend department that week. She kept Rose so busy with helping her prepare for the Beer Festival that she didn’t have time to think about Tony. About how awkward things were with him now. It really wasn’t so much about her feelings for him; she hadn’t got attached to Tony like that. But the Bay hadn’t understood that. Her new friends and neighbours in the village hadn’t got that message so everyone she’d met during the days that followed had looked at her with sympathy and pity and frankly it was embarrassing. But Holly and Natalie had made it all bearable. They’d somehow got into a routine of Rose settling Natalie to bed whilst Holly worked downstairs and then they’d settled themselves in front of the fire after closing time. Rose had tried a few times to get more information about Seb, but Holly was a closed book. But she did talk in great detail about her upcoming swimming lesson. She’d been using the calming app nearly every day so had just about worked up enough zen and courage to see it through, and had booked it in for the day after the festival.

Rose’s artwork had also benefited from the situation with Tony. It was the perfect excuse to spend more time on her painting of the Book Nook. It wouldn’t win any prizes, but she was pretty sure that Eleanor would like it. And by the time Friday lunchtime arrived, she was totally distracted from any looming pity party. The Bay was pulsing with visitors and the pub was packed with people sampling all the different beers. When Rose closed the shop that afternoon, she weaved her way through the tourists and found her way into the pub. Holly was in her element; serving, chatting, flirting with her customers and encouraging anyone who would listen to try her new Gooseberry Ale. But as soon as she spotted Rose, she beckoned her over to sit at the bar, where she also found Luke and Seb. Luke dressed up for the occasion, and he’d even done something with the mess of his hair. She smiled as he pulled up a bar stool next to him. It felt like she hadn’t seen him for weeks. Thinking back to their last conversation though, she remembered why.

‘Afternoon boys. Seb, we finally get to properly meet.’

Seb looked confused. ‘Properly meet?’

‘You know, like meet someone and say more than a few words to them? I can see why you and Luke get on.’

‘I see you’re on good form today Rose,’ Luke smiled.

She should have been cross with him for pushing her away that night. She could have been petty and moved away to sit with someone else. But part of her knew that she needed friends around her. So she buried the hurt that he caused by asking her to stay away. ‘Luke - I almost didn’t recognise you without the grease and overalls. To be honest, I thought some of those marks were permanent stains.’

He laughed. ‘Well I had to clean myself up for Hamburg. Can’t go through border control looking a mess.’

‘Hamburg? You’ve been to Germany?’

‘Yep, the guy who was selling the part I needed for your Capri had lots of other bits he thought I might be interested in, so I drove over to have a look. You should have seen his workshop Rose, it was amazing.’ He was about to tell her more when a small commotion at the door caught his attention. Rose turned to see what it was, and then realised it was a who, not a what. Tony and Lucy had arrived, hand in hand.

‘Want to go somewhere else?’ Luke offered.