Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

‘ H ere, I'll take that.' Holding out his hand, Scott took Bea's chip cone before dropping it into the bin.

‘Thanks.' She rubbed her hands together and not for the first time wished she'd remembered to pick up her gloves. They'd reached the edge of the centre of town, where the shops and Cotswold stone cottages gave way to the newer built houses. She'd described as much as she could of Nettleford, telling him the story of where Martin had proposed to Martha last year by the rose bushes in front of the town hall, pointed out where the town Christmas tree and Santa's grotto would be erected and shown him the starting point of the Great Town Race held in Nettleford each summer. In return, he'd told her a little about himself, the shop he'd run in Warwick, his transition from detective work to retail, although she'd noticed he'd omitted the reason and rather focused on the differences.

‘Well, I guess we'd better head back.' Scott nodded towards the shops.

‘Yes, I should probably see how my sister is doing.' Plunging her hands into her coat pockets, Bea matched his pace as they walked back towards the circle of shops. ‘So, why electrical repairs?'

‘Ooh, now that's a good question.' He looked down at the ground as he spoke. ‘I suppose I have my dad to thank for that decision. He was an electrician. He was the guy our neighbours turned to when they needed their toaster, or washing machine, anything, repaired and he'd always encourage me to sit with him, help him out so I guess it was just a natural decision. I needed to get out of law enforcement and doing something where I could help people was important to me and the only other thing I really knew about was electronics. I trained as an electrician and then took a leap of faith, so to speak.'

‘You went into electrical repairs in honour of your dad?'

‘I guess so.' He nodded and looked across at her. ‘Yes. Those childhood memories stuck with me after he passed away and I suppose I feel closer to him when I'm surrounded by wire cutters, voltage testers and pliers.'

‘I'm sorry to hear about your dad.'

Sighing, Scott nodded. ‘Me too.'

Bea swallowed as she watched a sadness creep into his eyes.

Looking down again, he rubbed the back of his neck before clearing his throat. ‘Anyway, enough about me. Why books? What was behind your decision to open a bookshop?'

Bea beamed at the thought of all the books lining the shelves in her shop across the green. ‘Oh, that's an easy one to answer. I've always loved escaping into a good story and have always wanted to surround myself with books. When me and my ex-husband split, I floundered for almost a year. I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew I couldn't carry on temping and flitting from job to job. I just couldn't deal with the stress of worrying when my next paycheck would be, so I swapped to being a shop owner and now I'm in control for once.'

‘But you enjoy it, so it doesn't feel like work.' It was a statement, not a question, and Bea could tell he was speaking from experience.

‘Exactly. I can't imagine what I'd be doing now if I hadn't opened the bookshop, but whatever it might have been, I don't think I'd have been as happy as I am now. I love the shop, everything from ordering, stock takes and even dusting the bookshelves, it's what I've aways wanted to do.'

‘I can see that.' He grinned as he met her eyes. ‘Your eyes light up every time you talk about it.'

Biting her bottom lip, Bea felt a blush course across her skin as she met his eyes. ‘Well, that's embarrassing.'

‘Not embarrassing at all. It's sweet.' He reached out and placed his hand on her forearm.

‘I…' Bea closed her mouth as she failed to form an answer. What was she supposed to say to that? Tell him she thought he was cute, that the way he'd looked when he'd spoken about his dad had just made her want to wrap her arms around him? Tell him that…

A sharp tapping filled the street and Bea jerked her head towards the sound, realising that they'd paused in front of Ruby's restaurant and the one person who she'd rather not have seen her have a moment with Scott was sitting right there at the table in the window – Fleur and her date, Drew. He'd arrived then. She held her hand up to wave.

‘Oh, it's Fleur.' Scott rubbed at the stubble on his chin.

‘Yep, it's Fleur.' Bea laughed. At least now she knew to be prepared for the interrogation tomorrow. She walked forwards, Scott following until they were out of sight of the window. ‘Thank you for this evening. It's been nice.'

‘And it's saved you from an evening stuck in front of the telly with your ex-husband.' Scott raised his eyebrow.

‘Haha, yep that too.' She'd almost forgotten that Adam was waiting for her back home. Meeting Scott's gaze, she smiled.

‘Right. I'd better get in. Copy up some more notes from your workbook.' Grimacing, Scott pulled a face.

‘Ah, yes, the infamous workbook.' Bea shuddered at the thought of it. She remembered how overwhelmed she'd been when she'd opened the bookshop and then to have that forced upon her, extra work, less time for the business. Ruby's folder had saved her sanity when it had been passed along for her to copy.

‘And I haven't forgotten about the History of Nettleford I've yet to start reading.'

‘That's not too bad. I found it quite interesting. Some of it, anyway. A bit outdated but interesting all the same.' And she had. Despite Gregory's book being heavily laced with personal history and the domination of his family's grocery store, there had been some sparks of interest woven through it.

‘Umm, I'll take your word on that and still not rush into it.' Scott chuckled.

‘Okay, well, see you around.' Bea smiled and turned towards the green and the bookshop beyond. Hugging her middle as she walked along the narrow path weaving its way across the green, she grinned. There was that feeling again, that flutter of excitement in her stomach. She glanced over her shoulder to see him watching her before he turned and headed towards his shop.