Much Ado About You(27)
“I’ve been called away from the farm to one of the houses we maintain. A neighbor reported a loud party to the police last night, and I’ve turned up and the renters have smashed up the place, including the kitchen window.”
“Oh my God.”
“Aye, I’ve had to call the police again, as well as the owners, so I don’t know how long it’ll take to sort this mess out. I’m sorry.”
Irritated for him, I sighed. “You have nothing to be sorry for. That’s awful. Is there anything I can do?” It was probably a stupid question, considering I was carless.
“You’re doing it.” I thought I heard a smile in his voice. “Meet me at The Anchor after dinner? Eight o’clock?”
“Of course.”
I wished him luck sorting out the vacation home crisis and we hung up. Staring out at the sea, I thought about how disappointed I was that I wouldn’t get to spend the afternoon with Roane and wondered if maybe bonding with this guy so quickly wasn’t a very foolish idea after all.
Yet I knew I wasn’t going to do a damn thing to stop myself.
Eight
Before I knew it, my first two weeks in Alnster were almost up. It was a frustrating quirk of human nature that time seemed to slow when you were going through something difficult or when you were bored. Yet it sped up, racing away from your control when life was pretty darn good.
My second Sunday arrived with alarming alacrity, and it followed a busy Saturday at the bookstore. Saturday morning had started with a book bang. The books I’d ordered for the new releases bookcase arrived. I was a kid in a candy store! Pulling the beautiful paperback and hardback books out of the boxes; smelling that new book smell and feeling crisp, unread pages beneath my fingers; and wishing they were all mine. Organizing the books on the shelves, I’d posted a selfie on Instagram of me hugging the bookcase with longing in my eyes.
Apparently, Saturday was the store’s sweet spot, because almost as soon as I’d finished organizing the new titles, the bell above the door tinkled. A couple ventured in, each holding the hand of the little girl between them. Nostalgia filled me as I watched them peruse the children’s titles with her, remembering days when my mom and dad had done the same thing with me.
I loved how the hours melted away as I engaged with my customers. As it turned out, my bookworm tendencies did come in handy when customers asked for recommendations or asked if I’d read a certain book and had an opinion about it. As a voracious reader, I was super helpful.
Unless a customer asked me about Northumberland and the best I could do was direct them to the books written about the area.
I was counting that as helpful too.
My daylight hours during my first two weeks were spent at the store, working on edits when things were quiet, and then taking walks on the beach during my lunch hour if the day was dry. In the evening, I met Roane and Shadow at The Anchor. Sometimes we met early to eat, other times at night just to catch up on our day and chat among the locals.
The mystery of why we never socialized at The Alnster Inn was finally solved my first Friday night when Mr. Thompson cracked a joke about Milly leaving Dexter for someone called West Elliot. To me it was an offhand comment based on the fact that Milly was rushed off her feet behind the bar at weekend nights, with waitstaff jumping on to help her out because Dexter insisted they needn’t hire another bartender. Milly had joked, “It’s because he wants the cash for his precious produce, never mind his precious wife.”
However, after Mr. Thompson’s (or Old Man Thompson as Roane called him) crack about some guy called West Elliot, Milly shot him a frosty look and tension descended over the occupants of the pub.
Waiting until we were alone at our table by the fire, I asked Roane about it. It turned out West Elliot owned The Alnster Inn and, like Milly, had inherited it from his parents. Back when they were teenagers, Milly and West were in love, but while West stayed in Alnster to run the family business, Milly took off for Newcastle to attend university. It was there she met Dexter.
“You’ve met Milly.” Roane leaned in to whisper in my ear, goose bumps shivering down my neck at the ghost of his words on my skin. “She’s a good woman. She never meant for anyone to get hurt, but when you know, you know, and Dex was it for her.”
I winced. “It’s a shitty situation.”
Roane nodded. “And West has never made it easy. Even though he married a girl from Alnwick and they had kids together who are now grown, he’s never let it go. His love for Milly turned into bitterness, even though he knows things haven’t been easy for her.”
I frowned. “In what way?”
“Well, you know they have a daughter, Viola?”
I nodded. Milly had proudly shown me photos of Viola, a beautiful young woman currently finishing her sophomore year at Newcastle University. She was excited because Viola would be home soon for the summer.
“They tried many times before they had Vi.” Roane’s dark eyes filled with sympathy. “After a number of miscarriages, Milly couldn’t take it anymore. They stopped trying.”
My heart ached for her, for them both. “Poor Milly. Poor Dexter.”
“Aye.” Roane sighed, his gaze darting to The Anchor’s owner. “But once they stopped trying, it miraculously happened. Viola was born.”