The English Bookshop by Janis Wildy

Author:Janis Wildy [Wildy, Janis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blakeley Press
Published: 2022-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

Sam opened the door to the bookshop as Lucy walked up. “Hello. First time I’ve seen you in the morning.”

His eyes looked a bit puffy and his reddish hair was still damp and tousled. He had a mug of coffee in his hand. After their last conversation about the bookshop she was relieved he was acting normal and didn’t seem too disappointed. She smiled, wanting to keep the lighter feeling between them. “Good morning. I’m planning to get a lot done today.”

“We’ve got a full day. I didn’t forget that I promised to help you. For now, I’m trying to relocate our book tables for the memorial tonight. This caffeine is the first step.” He took a sip.

“Will the bookshop be big enough?” Lucy wondered.

“It will work, and there will be extra room in the garden and on the walkway outfront.”

He looked at the bags in her hand. “You’ve been to Beena’s. And Ada’s.” He seemed to zero in on the garden clippers peeking out from one of the bags. “What are those?”

“Clippers for the front entry,” she said.

“Not for the rose.” Sam’s voice was low.

“It’s just a little cleanup so people can get in the door.”

He frowned. “No. Brian loved that rose. There’s no reason to touch it.”

“It catches on people’s clothes. We need the place to look cared for. Especially when so many people are coming to the memorial.”

“What they expect is to see it looking the same as when he died. His place. His rose. His shop.”

She stopped herself from saying that things had already changed. She knew saying that would hurt him. Instead she pulled out the other cleaning supplies. “How about I clean windows then?”

“Fine. I’ll get out the mop after I get the tables moved. Might as well do the floors.”

Lucy watched him walk back to the counter. While Sam restocked some books and shoved tables against walls, Lucy looked in the bag that Ada had supplied. Black streamers and black balloons were tucked into the bottom. Lucy groaned. Black definitely seemed the wrong message. It wasn’t a dark-humor-themed birthday party. Did streamers even belong at a memorial? She placed the bag of decorations by the sink in the back kitchen and went to the sidewalk outside of the bookshop.

After spraying and wiping down the big window in the front, she moved on to scrubbing down all the paint and stone that surrounded the window. With a stepladder she was even able to wipe away the dust and grime that had settled on the Baslow’s Books sign. It was very satisfying. Finally, Lucy wiped her hands on her last dry towel and went through the now shiny front door. She had left Sam inside to mop.

As she walked in, she frowned. The bookshop looked bare without its tables. The floor was definitely dusty. Barley was there, sleeping in the sunlight under the window, but it was clear Sam hadn’t done any mopping in the bookshop. She couldn’t see him at all. She strode into the back kitchen.

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