Page 48 of The Secret Librarian
Epilogue
Camille stood on the pavement and stared up at the sign. She had tears in her eyes and she didn’t even try to wipe them away, content to let them fall from her lashes as the men installing the lettering climbed down their ladders.
Hugo’s.
They’d gone back and forth on the name so many times, trying to come up with something that sounded right for a bookstore, but when Avery had looked at her one day and simply said: ‘Why don’t we just call it Hugo’s?’, Camille had known in her heart that it was the perfect name.
‘How are you holding up?’
Avery came out of the shop wearing an apron and clapping her hands together. She stood beside Camille, her hand sliding against hers as Avery stared up at the sign too.
‘Hugo would have loved this,’ Camille said, swallowing the emotion in her throat as she imagined his palm pressed to hers, his shoulder skimming against her own as they stood and looked up.
But when she glanced sideways and saw Avery there, her smile so kind, her gaze so thoughtful, she knew how lucky she was to have found her as a friend.
That she wasn’t alone anymore. ‘We used to lie in bed and dream about opening a restaurant one day, about finding the perfect building and seeing his name go up outside.’
‘It might not be the restaurant you dreamed of, but it is ours,’ Avery said, squeezing her hand. ‘I can’t believe we actually did it.’
Camille couldn’t believe it either – any of it. That she was in New York, that she’d survived the war, that she was standing outside her very own bookshop.
‘Come on, we still have some work to do before we open,’ Avery said.
They’d been at the shop for the better part of the last week, and Avery had insisted they be there at daybreak to make sure everything was perfect for their opening day.
They had trays of cupcakes haphazardly stacked throughout their office, and balloons still to blow up that they were going to give away to any children who visited, and still there were books to unpack.
But Camille didn’t mind. There had been a time she’d wondered what her life might look like when the war ended; or more importantly, what she’d have to live for.
Hugo and her family had been her life, and when they’d been taken from her, she’d fixated on finding out who was responsible for his death.
But she hadn’t wanted to live past that moment, hadn’t imagined what might happen if she survived the war and the Allies won.
Until Avery had written to her, more than once, and insisted that she come to New York.
Camille had laughed it off in the beginning, but Avery’s letters had kept coming and her bossy American friend had refused to take no for an answer.
Which was how she’d ended up sailing for America once her visa had been granted and moving into the second floor of Avery’s rented Manhattan duplex, looking out over a city that was so different to any she’d ever seen before.
It wasn’t Paris, but it was a different kind of beautiful, and she’d known from her very first morning looking out at the leafy green trees and bustle of people coming and going, that it was home.
‘Come on, let’s set up the table at the front and then we’re almost done,’ Avery said. ‘Everything we’ve been waiting on is in one of these four boxes.’
Camille followed her friend through the store to the back.
Somehow, they’d managed to clean up the shop and have it sparkling for the opening day, with only the last few boxes taking up space in the middle of their office.
It had helped that Avery’s cousin Jack had taken a day off during the week to help them as well – without him, Camille doubted they’d have been able to open on time.
‘You know, I think some of these deliveries take longer than the ones I waited on during the war,’ Camille said as she bent down to collect a handful of books. ‘I received newspapers from Germany faster!’
Camille looked down at the book in her hands, the one on top of the pile, and something swept through her: an emotion she hadn’t experienced before.
It was relief. Relief that it was all over, and that she was able to hold a novel like Gentleman’s Agreement and know there would be no repercussions for displaying it in her store, not to mention that more Americans were buying it right now than any other book.
Only last night she’d held a copy of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank to her chest and sobbed, crying herself to sleep as she’d realised that people all around the world were finally going to learn what it had been like for millions of Jews; that they could finally understand, through the words of someone who’d been through it, why so many people like her and Hugo had been prepared to sacrifice their lives for the cause.
‘Are you alright?’ Avery asked, her hand warm on Camille’s shoulder.
‘I will be,’ she said, smiling through her tears. ‘Today just, well ...’
‘It feels like a lot, I know,’ Avery said. ‘But we’re here together, and that’s all that matters.’
Camille couldn’t have said it better if she’d tried.
‘Can we put the Anne Frank book on the front table?’ Camille asked.
‘I’m already one step ahead of you,’ Avery said, smiling as she gestured for her to follow. ‘I have a pile there at the front, and I thought we could put that and Gentleman’s Agreement in the window, side by side so that anyone window-shopping can see them both.’
‘Perhaps we could put Goodnight Moon in the window too, and The Plague ,’ Camille said. ‘Balance out the titles of importance with the picture books and novels we know will draw readers in.’
Avery grinned at her just as the little bell above the door jingled – the same little bell that had once hung in Camille’s bookshop in Lisbon.
Avery turned when she heard it, passing the stack of books in her hands to Camille and opening her arms wide to greet their first customers.
James ducked low to make sure he missed the top of the door, and Avery laughed to see her son’s fingers stretched high to jingle the bell, riding high on his daddy’s shoulders.
‘You made it!’ she said, kissing James before reaching up to take Benny down. ‘It’s so good to see you both. Was he good for you this morning?’
‘Well, this is my second change of shirt thanks to someone’s excitement about breakfast, and I had to offer a shoulder ride so that we arrived before closing, but other than that, he’s been excellent.’
Avery left kisses all over Benny’s little head, his hair soft and fluffy against her lips. She inhaled the smell of him, holding him tight in her arms until he wriggled to get away. But he wasn’t free for long, with Camille scooping him up and leaving her red lipstick on his pudgy cheek.
‘I think someone might like the balloons out the back,’ Avery said. ‘Although we’ll need to enlist Daddy here to blow most of them up.’
James slung an arm around her shoulders as Benny toddled off through the store, and Avery tucked her head into the crook of his neck.
‘You girls should be very proud of this,’ he said. ‘It looks stunning. People are going to flock here.’
‘I hope so,’ Avery said with a sigh, stifling a yawn as she closed her eyes for a moment and leaned deeper into her husband. ‘I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be. That everything happened for a reason to lead me to this very moment, even though I know that sounds crazy.’
‘It doesn’t sound crazy, not at all.’ He pressed a slow, soft kiss to the top of her head and pulled away, chasing after their son when he disappeared into the back room, leaving Avery and Camille alone together again.
‘You know if you ever want me to move out of your apartment, if it becomes too much for James or—’
‘Stop right now,’ Avery said, taking back the books she’d offloaded earlier and going to arrange them. ‘You’re family, and James knew the deal when he married me. You were always going to be part of our family, and you can stay with us until you can’t stand us anymore.’
Camille just smiled, and then they both stood back to admire their display table.
‘Besides, we’re in this for life now. We own a business together in case you hadn’t noticed.’
They stood side by side, shoulder to shoulder again, and Avery couldn’t help but think how much her life had changed.
For so long, she’d thought it was a choice between her career and marriage, that she would have to give everything up to become a mother, but that hadn’t been the case at all.
She’d also realised that it wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted to be someone’s wife, she just hadn’t wanted to be Michael’s.
But the moment James had asked her, her heart had leapt and she hadn’t been able to say yes fast enough.
‘Do you ever miss your old life?’ Camille asked.
‘Sometimes I miss the excitement of being in Lisbon, but I never miss being a librarian. I mean, I loved it at the time, but this?’ She shook her head. ‘This is the life I want.’
Avery beamed with pride as Camille walked to the front of the store and turned the sign to ‘Open’, hardly able to believe what they’d achieved together in just a few short years.
‘I can’t even imagine where I’d be now or what my life would look like if I hadn’t met you, Avery,’ Camille said. ‘This is the life I want, too. I would give anything to have my Hugo back, but if I have to live without him, then this is the only place I want to be.’
Avery opened her arms and held Camille in a long, heartfelt hug, which would have lasted much longer if they hadn’t been interrupted by a little boy with cupcake frosting smeared over his mouth and across his cheeks running directly towards their perfectly curated front table.
‘Benny, no!’ came a shout, as James came running behind him, scooping him up just before he crashed into the front table of books, and Ben squealed with delight.
Avery started to laugh then, and so did Camille. They laughed so hard that Avery began to cry, her cheeks and her stomach hurting as James stood there, with frosting now all through his own hair and a very naughty little boy held high in his arms.
‘Darling, I think you might need to change your shirt again,’ Avery said, trying so hard to keep a straight face as Camille gasped with laughter beside her.
‘I don’t think anyone would believe that he was once a spy for Britain,’ Camille giggled.
James glared at them and Avery reached out and swiped a little icing with her finger, tasting it and then making a face at Benny, who looked as if he wasn’t sure whether to cry or laugh.
‘It’s okay, darling, Daddy’s going to take you home and get you both all cleaned up.’
She stood on tiptoe and kissed her husband’s cheek. ‘I love you, James. And just in case you’ve forgotten, your mother said he’s just like you were as a child, so this is entirely your fault.’
James sighed and held Benny in one arm so he could put the other around Avery – and, despite the mess and the chaos, Avery knew she wouldn’t have wanted her life to be any other way.