Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

T urning the sign on the front door to Closed, Bea looked around the bookshop. It was book club night tonight, her favourite. Plus, Scott was going to pop round to pick her up for another date straight after.

Holding her hand over her mouth, she yawned. After the meeting yesterday, she and Scott had ended up walking and talking over a takeaway hot chocolate from Ruby's and she hadn't ventured home until near midnight. Not that she was complaining. Far from it. She'd had a lovely time. She grinned.

‘What are you grinning about?' Lyndsey closed the door up to the flat and placed a plate on the counter.

‘Oh, nothing.'

‘Thinking about Scott, no doubt?' Lyndsey grinned and nodded towards the toastie. ‘I know you and Scott will likely grab something to eat before the cinema, but I thought I'd bring this down. Something to tide you over through the book club.'

‘Ooh, thank you.' Joining Lyndsey at the counter, Bea picked up the toastie before taking a bite, the creamy taste of goats' cheese mixing with the sharp tangy red onion chutney the perfect combination. ‘Goat's cheese and onion chutney.'

‘Minus the orange juice this time.' Lyndsey laughed and looked around the bookshop. ‘Do you need me to help you with anything?'

‘Umm, no, I don't think so. Thanks though. I've just got to set the table up with cakes, put the kettle on and grab the pile of books I have for the book club members to take home to read.'

‘I'll get the cakes then. Are they through there?' Lyndsey pointed towards the curtain.

‘Yes thanks.' Bea took another bite from her toastie just as someone knocked on the door. She looked across at the clock. She still had twenty minutes until the book club members would begin to arrive and Scott knew she wasn't free until later. Sighing, she pulled the door open, her mouth still full as she sent up a silent wish that she wouldn't find Gregory on the other side.

‘Evening, Bea.' Adam held up his laptop case. ‘Do you mind if sit in here for a couple of hours? I've got an important presentation tomorrow and I can't hear myself think back at the bed-and-breakfast. There's a group on a stag do or something next door.'

Bea finished chewing her bite of toastie and swallowed. ‘Not here, I'm afraid. I have book club tonight.'

‘Oh, don't worry about that, I'm sure they won't be as noisy as the stag do.' Adam stepped inside.

With her hand still on the door handle, Bea shook her head. ‘Adam, I have book club in here. At the table. You can't work in here.'

‘Right, well, upstairs will do then I suppose.' Stretching his arm out, he checked his watch. ‘I'm sure Peony and Isaac will be going to bed soon anyway.'

‘Haven't they got a dining room or anything you can use back at the bed-and-breakfast?'

‘Nope.' Adam shook his head as he made his way towards the door to the flat.

‘Well, I…' Too late, he'd already disappeared through the door to the flat. Sighing, she rolled her shoulders back. It didn't matter. It was for one evening. A few hours. Besides, as soon as Lyndsey and Rob's house was fixed up, he'd be round there instead.

‘Was that Adam's voice I just heard?' Appearing from behind the curtain. Lyndsey balanced two plates piled high with cakes as she glanced around the bookshop.

‘Yep, apparently he has an important presentation tomorrow and couldn't work where he's staying because of a stag do.' Bea shrugged.

‘And he thinks it's going to be quieter in your flat during bedtime?' Lyndsey scoffed. ‘He should know better. He's been round ours enough times at this time of the evening.'

Bea shrugged.

‘I'll go and chuck him out.' Arranging the plates in the middle of the table, Lyndsey wiped her hands down her top and headed towards the door to the flat.

‘Don't worry. He's here now.' Bea glanced towards the bookshop door. ‘And besides the book club members will be arriving any time now and I don't want to make a fuss in front of them. Our book club evenings are supposed to be all about relaxation and fun.'

‘Okay, if you're sure?' Lyndsey waited until Bea had nodded. ‘In that case, let me know if you change your mind and I'll get out of your hair. Wish me luck. I have a feeling I'll need all the luck I can get to win the bedtime battle this evening.'

‘Good luck.' Bea smiled.

‘Enid, that's a very good point.' Bea flicked through the book in her hand, a cosy mystery set in a bustling town in the Highlands which Susan had chosen as the book club book of the week. ‘I hadn't really thought about the son being a suspect before I got to the scene where he takes his girlfriend to the fair.'

‘Oh, I clocked that straight away.' Alfred grinned. ‘Right from when he was first introduced into the story.'

‘Well, you're more observant than me, that's for sure.' Enid shook her head.

‘And the murder. What a surprise that was.' Tania shifted in her chair and laughed at herself. ‘Well, not that there was a murder involved in a murder mystery book, but the way they executed it, by putting poison in the cake, was quite surprising! Who'd have guessed?'

‘Oh, I guessed that too.' Crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, Alfred nodded.

‘Remind me not to accept any offerings of cake from you then, Alfred.' Bea grinned as she looked around the group. The gathering of like-minded individuals offered the chance for Bea to share her love of reading as much as giving something back to the locals. Each week, the group would turn up once the shop had closed, settle at the big table in the middle of the store and discuss the chosen book. Yes, some weeks not everyone will have had the time or the energy to finish the whole text and sometimes those weeks were Bea's favourite. If more than one person hadn't finished or if it was a particularly long book which they'd known would be a struggle to finish in such a short space of time, then cakes and biscuits were shared with a coffee, tea or hot chocolate and they'd all settle for an evening of reading.

‘Oh I do make a rather tasty Victorian sponge as it happens.' Alfred ran his fingers through his long beard. ‘I could bring some next week.'

‘Nooo,' the group chorused before the room was filled with their laughter.

‘Death by Alfred's Victoria sponge.' Enid shook her head. ‘Now there's a thought.'

‘So does anyone have any final thoughts before we take a look at next week's book?' Bea held the murder mystery book up, the cover turned towards the group.

‘Well, I for one, thoroughly enjoyed it, so thank you, Susan for choosing this one.' Alfred laid his hand on the copy in front of him. ‘And I'll certainly be…'

A series of knocking sounded from the bookshop door and Bea stood up, whispering, ‘I'll just see who that is. Feel free to carry on.'

Pulling the door open, she smiled. It was Scott. ‘Hi.'

‘Hey.' Stepping inside, Scott grimaced as he looked at the gathering around the table. ‘Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't realise you still had company. ‘I'll come back later.'

‘Ah, is that Scott?' Enid called across from the table as she pushed her reading glasses to the top of her head. ‘Yes, it is you.'

‘Hello, Enid. Lovely to see you.' Scott waved his hand in Enid's direction before turning back to Bea. ‘I'll pick you up later.'

‘Come on over, Scott.' Enid turned to Alfred who was sitting next to her. ‘Budge over Alfred and give young Scott here some space.'

‘Oh, okay.' Standing up, Alfred sat back down in the next chair and slid his things across before calling across to Scott. ‘Come on over, lad. Enid's told me all about you rescuing her this morning.'

‘Oh, I'd hardly call it rescuing.' Scott rubbed the back of his neck and looked questioningly at Bea.

‘Go on, it's okay.' Bea laughed and watched him be welcomed into the group.

‘Oh, don't downplay what you did, young man. Enid had lunch to cook for her bridge club, if you hadn't rushed round to fix the oven fuse she never would have been able to.' Alfred patted the chair he'd vacated and pulled the plate of cakes towards Scott as he sat down.

‘Be careful accepting any cake from him, Scott.' Susan chuckled.

‘Huh?' with a Fondant Fancy halfway to his lips, Scott looked over at Bea.

Smiling, Bea nodded. ‘I think you'll be safe with these ones, it was Lyndsey who dished them up.'

‘Just don't let Alfred do any cooking for you.' Enid patted Scott's shoulder.

‘I think I'm more confused than I was before.' Scott lowered his cake and grinned.

Leaning back in her chair, Bea watched as Scott was welcomed into the book club. While Tania and Susan retold the story scene by scene, Scott flicked through the book, asking questions here and there. With each comment he made, she thought she liked him a little more. If that was possible at all.