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‘Ohhhhh.’ If that didn’t make a woman reach under seven layers of clothing for her bra tissue, nothing would. ‘Your memory is lovely,’ she rambled. ‘You’re my emperor penguin.’

‘Well, it’s been rather nice having a rest these last few days. And you young ones are getting on just famously.’

‘But we miss you, Felix. And I don’t want to think of you at home by yourself. Will you visit us? Or perhaps you’ll spend more time with Mrs Jingleman?’

‘I might. Though I talked to those ladies from Happy Hedges yesterday. I’m going to spend some time there, as a day resident. Then I’ll see how it goes. My doctor has advised it. And quite honestly, I want to learn to salsa in my slippers.’ He gave a little shimmy. ‘And I did enjoy the company of your darling mother. It was nice to just be with someone who’s as much a part of my history as this bookshop. There was no pressure to talk or to remember what on earth I’d been about to say. There are some people who just feel like they’re part of your soul. Don’t you think?’

Noémi’s mind wandered to the calm she’d felt yesterday in the kitchen, with Shay just being there. And her odd craving to sit and read with him, of all the solitary things. But that was silly. She barely knew him, and he wasn’t really into books, baking, or even staying still. She reined in her thoughts. It didn’t help that Shay was looking at her, when he should have had his mind on his work, if he didn’t want his toes squashed.

‘It seems like we’re all moving on,’ said Felix, nodding to the front of the shop, where the old sign was finally coming down. Even Tommaso was helping to take some of the weight from Daniel. And could she hear Shay joking with Mr Ham about needing a quiet sit-down with a book after all the heave-ho-ing?

If it was out with the old, that could only mean one thing.

Chapter 35

‘In with the new,’ said Mr Ham. ‘What are we replacing this sign with, love?’ he asked, as they got her old shop sign to the floor with a huff and a few puffs.

Noémi’s head turned to the replacement, which was under the dust sheet. The beautiful wooden sign she’d had intricately painted all that time ago when life had felt simpler. Had she spent too much time overcomplicating things since then? And had Shay’s arrival, with his swish of coat tails and a change in the wind, turned everything on its head – albeit in what now seemed like a good way?

Or maybe she read too many fantasy novels.

And what now? Should she skip over and pull off the cover with a delicate voilà? Perhaps a little arm wave and a spin in her snow boots. Then they could bounce on with the important job of selling books and cookies. The permissions were all in place from when she’d originally planned to.

Oh God. Should she have made more of this? Or maybe less? Her mind was suddenly reeling. Just as she was negotiating with her feet to fight or flee, she heard a loud, bleating maaaa sound and a clomping of hooves and cowboy boots.

All heads turned to see Goatrude tugging Texan Jim in the direction of her dust sheet, as though it was hiding the most delicious goat feast.

‘Oh no you don’t, missy,’ said Noémi, a laugh escaping her as she raced the sassy creature to the sheet. ‘You’re not snatching this moment.’

As Noémi’s hand gripped one end of the sheet, Goatrude’s strong teeth clamped onto the other. And with a tug of wills that would no doubt look comical in the impromptu video Tommaso was shooting, the old, worn sheet tore in the middle with a satisfying rip, Noémi toppling backwards into Daniel’s unmanned ladder.

‘W-woah!’

The falling ladder created a domino effect, knocking the other ladders until Shay was left hanging from the fixings of the shop sign, looking like Batman in a Santa hat – but without the cape. His legs dangled, his arms gripping on for dear life.

Like a woman to the rescue in her Coat of Many Books, Noémi swept to the ground and grabbed Shay’s ladder, shoving it into place beneath him with a strength that surprised her. She pulled his wavering feet onto the rungs and his resulting phew filled her with a surge of triumph.

Shay’s Lycra-clad legs powered quickly down the ladder until he was in front of her, and there seemed no other sensible thing to do but to scoop him into a fierce hug of relief. Her hands found the smoothness of his back, her fingers curling into the shiny material of his cycling outfit that she’d once thought made him a show-off but now conceded was practical and particularly pleasing to the touch.

She could feel his warmth, the sheen of the material slippery beneath her fingers, tempting her to clasp tighter, pull him nearer. He whispered the softest ‘thank you’ into her hair, his breath hot against her ear, even if his lips were tinglingly cold. As he pressed the lightest kiss against the delicate skin behind her ear, she might actually have let out a contented sigh. Her fingers gripped onto him tighter, pulling him closer, and he laughed with the unexpectedness of it, the vibration of his happiness rumbling against her.

‘You saved me,’ he said quietly and a little cheekily, as though they both knew he wouldn’t have done much more than graze his bum cheeks. ‘Should have worn my wings. This shop of yours can be surprisingly perilous.’

‘Adventurous,’ she corrected him, her lips quirking into a smile as her heart raced.

‘Put the lad down,’ said a voice that sounded like Carrie Hot Spoons, with a throaty Scottish laugh.

‘No, don’t. This is great,’ said Tommaso, with Daniel cheering his agreement.

‘I would have been in the middle of a human ham sandwich, if I wasn’t so nifty on my feet,’ said Mr Ham, whom Noémi wouldn’t have had down as spritely.

Though it was probably time she pulled away from her strangely alluring neighbour, even if his warm eyes seemed to be inviting her to stay.

Noémi cleared her throat and removed herself from their entangle. As she turned back to the street, a small crowd of shop owners and shoppers had gathered to watch the commotion. And with Tommaso still filming from his phone and everyone eagerly waiting, it felt only right to give the moment a bit of extra je ne sais quoi. So, embracing her sudden spark, Noémi did an arm-wavy twirl, and declared in her grandest voice:

‘Welcome to The Cosy Cookie Bookshop.’ She felt her whole face beaming as she said the words. How sweet and perfectly right they tasted on her lips. She swished an arm across the new shop sign, which was on the floor, but still. It would soon be on the up. ‘We sell books and fresh cookies for all seasons. Love stories, adventures, a touch of magic …’ She paused to let the thought fill her up.

‘Don’t forget the murders,’ said Reverend Godbee, who’d stopped to help Jim restrain the cantankerous goat.