How to Find Love in a Book Shop(65)

‘I’ve just got back from visiting Alice,’ she said as she poured the tea. ‘The traffic out of Oxford was awful.’

‘How is she?’

Sarah sighed. ‘She’s in a lot of discomfort, poor thing. And of course all those painkillers make one so fuzzy. But she’s making progress.’

She sat down on the sofa opposite Emilia.

‘I asked you here because I wanted to talk to you about something your father and I had been discussing for a while.’

Emilia nodded. Sarah clasped her hands. She seemed slightly nervous, not quite meeting Emilia’s eye. She fiddled with the diamond ring. Her fingers were so slender it spun round and round.

‘We had become quite good friends, your father and I. We spoke – met – often.’ She lifted her gaze. ‘Ralph is not a great reader and it was good to have a decent conversation with someone about books. Julius was always so brilliant at recommending. He had a feeling for what I wanted to read and I don’t think there was one book he suggested that I didn’t love. Sometimes he’d make me read things because they were good for me and I always took something away from them. He widened my world …’

She drifted off, immersed in her eulogy.

‘He was extraordinary,’ she finished, and Emilia could see the glitter of tears in her navy blue eyes, as bright as the diamond on her ring.

‘I know,’ said Emilia.

For a moment, Sarah couldn’t speak. Emilia was touched. She could see how difficult Sarah was finding this. She was still astonished by how deep people’s feelings for her father ran. They still came up to her in the street or in the shop and told her how much he had meant to them.

‘I’d love to do something. To remember him by. He often talked about organising a literary festival. It was a dream of his and I’d suggested that we could do one here, at Peasebrook. We have so many rooms here that could be used. We were starting to think quite seriously about it when he became ill.’

Here, Sarah looked down at the floor. Emilia could see she was struggling.

‘He did mention the idea to me, once or twice,’ she said. ‘There are so many authors and celebrities within striking distance of Peasebrook, and we’re not so far from London. It could be a real draw. Especially in a setting like this.’

Sarah had recovered her composure. ‘Exactly! We felt we could attract a good calibre of speakers. The thing is, it was his dream, but it was starting to become a real possibility. We’re very well set up for putting on events here. And – and I think it would be a shame to let the opportunity slip. I thought about doing the festival in his name.’ She swallowed. ‘The Nightingale Literary Festival.’

‘Oh!’ said Emilia. ‘That would be a wonderful tribute.’

‘I would need your help, though. And the support of the shop. We’d need you to supply the books, of course. And advise on who to ask. I mean, there’s masses and masses to think about, but I wanted to see what you thought. Because I couldn’t do it without you. It would have to be a team effort.’

Emilia took a piece of shortbread and bit into it. It was a wonderful idea. She could see it all in her mind’s eye. Literary lions and lionesses holding forth in the ballroom, the audience hanging on their every word. A glittering programme; the Glastonbury of book festivals. It would be a wonderful boost for the town too – people attending the festival would want accommodation and would go into the pubs and restaurants. And they could get sponsorship from local businesses …

But she had to be cautious. She didn’t want to get Sarah’s hopes up. It was such an enchanting idea, but she couldn’t show too much enthusiasm.

‘The thing is,’ she said, ‘I’m not sure what I’m doing with the shop yet. I’m afraid it’s not in very good shape financially. It’s not making money at the moment: I’m struggling to cover my overheads. It needs a lot spending on it if it’s going to even begin to make a profit and I haven’t decided yet if that’s what I want to do.’

Sarah looked horrified. ‘You can’t let it close, surely?’

‘I don’t want to. Of course not. But I can’t just keep it going out of sentiment. That would be foolish. And I’ve got my staff to consider, as well as myself.’

Sarah considered her words. ‘I understand.’ She sighed. ‘Julius never mentioned the shop being in trouble.’

The way she said it gave Emilia the impression they spoke often, and that Sarah was hurt by his omission. She smiled. ‘I don’t think Dad quite saw that it was. It’s all a bit of a muddle. I’ve only scratched the surface. But he ran it by the seat of his pants, rather.’

‘So was he in debt?’

‘Nothing awful or to be ashamed of. But there are quite a few outstanding invoices.’

‘Gosh.’ Sarah looked perturbed. ‘He never implied he was in trouble.’

‘As I said, I don’t think he thought he was. My father’s famous line was I don’t do numbers.’

‘Oh dear.’ Sarah leaned forward. ‘Between you and me, I have rather more experience of getting out of hideous debt than you might imagine. A while ago now we nearly lost Peasebrook. I won’t go into it, but it was pretty frightening. So I understand how you feel. And if I can help at all …’