Page 85 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding

But Victor didn’t engage, just grabbed his coat, then pulled open the door and waited for Pandora to step into the hall.

They walked in silence for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts. Until Pandora found herself turning automatically down the street that would lead to her bookshop.

“Toy museum?” Victor asked when she stopped out front as she always did, reality slipping away, her imagin­ation taking the reins.

Her mind chased away the cobwebs, refreshed the paint, filled the space with colour, plants, little suncatchers in the windows to refract the light and create little rainbows through the store.

She could practically hear the giggles of children in their section, could see the teen girls gushing over the latest hot fae king, could feel the excitement of someone who’d never liked reading finding the book that sucked them in for the first time.

She’d always seen it in her head as a place where everyone was welcome. Humans, vampires, werewolves. Maybe she could ask that witch shopkeeper lady to create some sort of talisman or spell to make the place a sanctuary for all creatures, a place where they could put down their prejudices and bond over their shared love of stories.

“Pandy?”

The fantasy had pulled her in as it always did. She was smelling fresh paper, and hearing the coffee-house music, and feeling the leather spines of a book.

“Sorry, Victor,” she said, shaking her head.

“Where’d you go?”

“Hopefully, into my future,” Pandora told him.

“What do you mean?”

“This place has been vacant for ages. And for just about as long, I have been dreaming of buying it and turning it into my own bookshop.”

“That’s why the inheritance is so important to you.”

“Yeah.” Her gaze slid over to Victor’s reflection in the glass. “It’s really not about just … having money. To buy posh clothes or get a fancy flat. It’s about making this dream come true.”

“Tell me about the dream.”

Then he stood there with her, his shoulder brushing hers, as she talked about the colours, the plants, the books, the merchandise, the vibes she wanted the place to have.

“And coffee,” Victor said when she was done. “There has to be coffee.”

Pandora nodded. “And tea.”

“And cozy chairs,” he said.

They went on like that for a while, each coming up with items that the perfect bookshop would have, since they both loved books and the places that sold them.

And it was the first time she ever felt like someone else was sharing in her dream.

Sure, Lucy knew about it and they would sometimes discuss the obscure, but best, books that had to be on the shelves. But it was the first time someone was seeing it with her, improving it, getting excited about it.

“Just over two months,” Victor said.

“Hm?”

“Just over two months until you can make an offer on this place,” he said, gesturing at the building. As she looked over, the tree overhead shook in the breeze, sending some orange leaves cascading around him, one landing on his shoulder. She reached out, brushing it away.

“It really is that soon,” Pandora said, giving him a small smile as she forced her hand to lower, not slide down his arm, maybe take his hand …

“Just about ten thousand things to arrange before then,” he said, wide-eyed.

“Don’t remind me. My mum and aunts really dug their claws into the reception and flowers and … everything else. My head spins just thinking about it.”

“It’s good you have the help, though. They’ve all done it before.”