Chapter Twenty Five

"Good grief," Pen said, peering into the bookshop. She turned back to Ash. "I'm so sorry this has happened to you."

"The little bastards, I'll string up whoever did this."

Pen, slightly shocked by the venom in Ash's eyes, patted her arm. "It's a break in. A horrible invasion of privacy, but in the end, you're safe, the shop isn't burned to the ground, and just at the moment, we have no idea how bad the damage is. So maybe let's hold off on stringing people up for the time being. Did you call the police?"

Ash nodded. "First thing."

"Alright, I'm sure Arjun will be here as soon as he can, so first—"

"Arjun?" Ash asked.

"Mmm," said Pen. "He's Mr. and Mrs. Gupta's son, you know, from the newsagents? He's the local police constable. He'll be around ASAP, he's a good boy. Man, I suppose now."

"I had no idea." Ash paused for a second. "I've never been into the newsagents."

"You should, make yourself known," Pen said. "The Guptas are lovely. As is Rosalee down at the pub, and Moira's a doll when she's not overwhelmed by the kids, oh, and speaking of kids, Elspeth from the school is a scream. You'd like her. Very dry sense of humor."

Ash looked at the cracked shop door. "I suppose I haven't made much of an effort to meet people."

"You've met most of the bookclub," pointed out Pen. "And you've got plenty of time for socializing. Besides, I thought you were a lone wolf."

"So did I," said Ash.

She said it in such a way that made Pen think that she was doubting it now. Pen managed to keep her small secret smile to herself. "Alright, let's handle the basics here. Is this just mischief, or is there real damage?"

"From what it looks like, there's plenty of book damage," Ash said, peering in through the door at the once tidy books now scattered over the floor.

"Did they get upstairs?" Pen asked.

Ash sighed. "I'll look."

"And check the money," advised Pen.

"I went to the bank last night," said George from behind them. His face was pale but he'd already put together what was going on. "There can't be more than ten pounds in the place. Anyway, most of our sales are online."

"We got broken into," Ash said.

"I can see that," said George. He examined the crack in the door. "Looks like they took a crowbar to it.

"You know what happened before the crowbar was invented?" Pen asked.

Both Ash and George looked at her.

"Crows just drank at home," said Pen. "What? I'm trying to lighten the mood. Like I was just telling Pen, at least no one got hurt."

"This is the third break in on the street in the last couple of months," George said. "Arjun thinks it's kids looking for trouble, opportunists."

"They still deserve to be locked up," said Ash. "And how do you know the town policeman by his first name?"

George stared at her. "We went to school together."

"Of course you did," said Ash.

"Here's Arjun now," said Pen. "He'll settle things."

THREE HOURS LATER, the sun was higher in the sky, a mist was coming off the sea, and Arjun was draining his cup of tea and bidding them all farewell.

"I'll be in touch if there are any developments," he said, as he put his cup down. "But, to be honest, I wouldn't hold your breath. There's been a lot of it about lately. They're clever enough to wear gloves, so I doubt we're going to find much in the way of evidence. Luckily, they seem more intent on mischief than actual robbing."

"You're lucky that they didn't get upstairs," said George to Ash.

"Nor down in the cellar," added Pen.

"And you're sensible enough to have insurance," Arjun said. "I'll get you a case number so that you can file. The stock damage and door should be covered. If you want, I'll pop around in a couple of days and give you some advice on new locks and theft prevention strategies."

Ash nodded. "Yes, thank you. And thank you for coming, you've been very… helpful."

Pen showed him out, carefully picking her way over books to open the door, then turned back to Ash and George.

"This is going to take days to clean up," said Ash miserably.

For a second, Pen saw her as she was last night, relaxed and unbound, laughing, kissing. She hadn't quite had time to process what had happened, but she knew that she'd liked it. More than liked it. She knew that Ash was something special. She could feel herself burning at the memory of her.

"Leave it to me," she said, grinning at Ash. "Give me five minutes and a telephone."

THE WOMEN LOOKED at the shop. Kashvi Gupta nodded. "The same happened to us last month," she said. "You should have seen the state of the place, magazines everywhere."

"You're lucky it's a Saturday," said Elspeth Gray. "No school means we can help clean up."

"And no work means Mikey can stay with the kids for once," agreed Moira Hadley.

Pen grinned at them. "Thanks for helping out."

"Of course," said Kashvi. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Because you hardly know me," said Ash, stepping in. She looked from one woman to the other. "Um, I very much appreciate the help, I just… Well, there's a lot of shelving to be done, so everything's going to have to go past George to make sure it goes into the right spot, and…"

Elspeth Grey laughed a big, round laugh. "Oh dear, my love, I think between the three of us, four if you count Pen, we've read every book in the place. We could shelve them with our eyes closed now, couldn't we?"

"Except those reverse harems," said Kashvi, pulling a face. "Not my thing."

"Oh, I can handle those," said Moira, blushing slightly. "As long as you take the rom-coms, that's not my cup of tea at all."

"Deal done," said Kashvi, rolling up her sleeves.

"See? There's something for everyone," Pen whispered to Ash as the women started picking books up off the floor. "That's the nice thing about romance, there so many different kinds, we can all find something that fits."

"You didn't have to do this," Ash whispered back as the women around her started to chatter.

"None of us have to do any of this," shot back Pen. "We're a community, this is what we do. We help each other. Not because we have to, but because we want to." She eyed Ash. "Even when the person who needs help is a misanthrope who thinks she's better off alone."

"Oooo," said Elspeth, holding up a book. "Have any of you read this?"

Moira looked up and cocked her head to one side. "Is that the one where his, um, endowment is so big he can't find a woman to fit him?"

"And in the end he finds that alien girl who fits him like a glove," cackled Kashvi.

"Which reminds me of the alien in that Sarah Whatsit book with the five dangly bits that needs a condom like a glove," laughed Pen.

"I can't be doing with aliens," said Elspeth, shelving the book she was holding. "I've got enough on my hands with human men. Mind you, I'm not saying I'd turn one down if he showed up in my bed."

"Chance'd be a fine thing," said Kashvi. "Those three cats of yours would scare him off."

"Or he'd eat them," said Moira. "Like in that old TV show ALF."

Pen grinned at Ash who rolled her eyes but smiled, and then they all got down to work.

An hour or so later, Ash was holding up yet another book and Elspeth was directing her where to shelve it yet again, and the bookshop was a cheery chatter-filled place.

"You must think I'm an idiot, not knowing where half my stock's going," Ash said.

"Not at all," said Elspeth. She side-eyed her. "Well, maybe a wee bit. But we all have to learn."

"Even Mary had to learn," put in Kashvi.

"Did she?" asked Pen.

Elspeth shelved the book she was holding and then stretched. "Maybe you don't remember, you hadn't bought the bakery back then. But when Mary moved in here she was quite the little madam. All airs and graces and business plans and contract signing and all the rest. We thought the place was going to be a solicitor's office, so we did. Well, imagine our surprise when the doors opened and it was a romance bookshop."

"Not that Mary liked romance," said Kashvi. "She made that very clear at the start. This was just a business plan. Romance books are the best-selling genre in the book world, and Mary was determined to be a success, so romance it was."

Elspeth snorted. "Until she started reading her own stock."

"Until she came to her senses, you mean," said Moira. "By the end, Mary was a town institution. She knew everyone, cared for everyone, she looked after my two youngest when I was in hospital having my third."

"She took over the newsagents and closed the bookshop when I had those heart problems," said Kashvi. Her dark eyes turned to Ash. "She learned to love. It sounds trite, but that's what it was. Being surrounded by this all day, maybe that did it. Or maybe it was always in her. But by the end, your aunt was a loved and loving person."

Moira pulled a book out of a pile and when Elspeth saw it, she shrieked again, and then they were all off talking about a fairy king and his reluctant human bride.

Pen stood by Ash's side for a moment, drinking in the smell of her, wanting to touch her but not wanting to force her to acknowledge their relationship in front of anyone else.

It was Ash that turned, Ash that took Pen in her arms, Ash that held her in front of everyone and kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you," Ash said simply.

Pen looked up. "Maybe it's not all bad here, huh?"

Ash wrinkled her nose. "You mean other than the recent crime wave?"

"I mean having friends, having a community, having…" Pen took a breath. "Having whatever I am."

Ash looked around at the half full bookshelves. "No," she said quietly. "No, it's not so bad."