Page 25 of Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop

LILY

‘I think that has to be the quietest lunchtime I’ve ever worked,’ Cassie said, zipping up her waterproof coat as she prepared to leave on Wednesday afternoon.

The rain hadn’t let up all day. We’d had a couple more customers than on Black Monday but we needed quite a few more to hit triple sales figures.

Cassie’s phone beeped and she read the message and tapped in a response before looking up at me. ‘That was Jared. The bonfire’s been cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions . They took their time making that decision.’

Jared was the production manager at Huxleigh Foods.

As one of the town’s largest and longest-standing employers, they hosted a bonfire and fireworks event every 5 November.

It had started off as a thank you for their employees and families but had developed over the years into a bigger community event.

Cassie and Jared had been planning to take Hallie and Rocco, and Cassie had been checking her phone throughout her shift, hoping they’d cancel, because standing in the rain and mud was not exactly an appealing way to spend her evening.

‘Bet you’re relieved,’ I said.

‘If I had the energy, I’d be doing a happy dance round the shop right now. But, as I’ve got an unexpected free evening, I know how I’m going to spend it…’ She marched over to our fantasy section and grabbed herself a book which she plonked down on the counter with a smile. ‘I’m going in!’

I knew what the book was without even looking – A Game of Thrones , the first book in George R.

R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series.

Jared had been hooked on the TV series from the start and had kept telling Cassie she’d love it but she wasn’t convinced.

She’d accidentally caught an episode of the final season and, as Jared predicted, was gripped so they’d gone back to the start and watched all the seasons together.

Lars joined us from restocking some of our non-fiction books. ‘Great choice. Is it for you?’ he asked Cassie.

‘It is. I’ve already watched the TV series which is unusual for me as I prefer to read the book first but these things happen. I figured enough years have now passed for the memory of the twists and turns to have faded so I can dive into the series and enjoy it all over again.’

‘And when she says prefer to read the book first , she really means she’s a stickler for that. Gets a bit preachy about it, don’t you, Cassie?’

Cassie placed her hands on her hips in mock-indignation.

‘What do you expect when there’s so much more depth in the books?

You must have seen memes on the socials about it, Lars, where there’s an iceberg and they say the film or TV adaptation is the bit sticking out the water but the book’s that bit plus the mass of berg beneath the surface. ’

Lars nodded. ‘I know the meme you mean and I agree about the depth in books, but I mix it up myself – sometimes book first, sometimes film. I’ve enjoyed stories both ways.

I’m not particularly visual so I don’t conjure up what the characters look like when I’m reading a book.

If I’ve seen it on the screen first, I then visualise the actors as I’m reading and it adds a different dimension. ’

‘Lily’s the same!’ Cassie cried, pointing at me as though I was a criminal she’d picked out of a line-up.

‘I’m not a visual reader either,’ I said, shrugging.

‘If it’s well described, I can picture the setting brilliantly but I really struggle with picturing characters.

I have this vague sense of their build and hair colour but that’s where it ends.

Doesn’t spoil my enjoyment of a book but sometimes I like the visual from seeing the screen version first.’

Cassie shook her head and tutted, pretending to be disgusted with me. ‘I have no idea why we’re friends. Philistine.’

‘I loved the books and the TV series,’ Lars said, tapping a long index finger on Cassie’s purchase. ‘A lot of the series was filmed in Ireland but parts were filmed in Iceland so I’ve done my geeky tourist bit and visited those settings.’

‘I didn’t realise they’d filmed in Iceland,’ Cassie said. ‘Although it does seem appropriate that a series called “A Song of Ice and Fire” would be filmed in the land of ice and fire. Right! Time to brave the weather.’

She wrapped the book in a carrier bag and placed it in her handbag, muttering that it had better stay dry. Grabbing her umbrella from the bucket by the door, she bid us goodbye and headed out into the rain.

‘I should never have told you about Black Monday,’ I said to Lars, as I stood by the door watching Cassie dashing across the cobbles, dodging the larger puddles. ‘I think I’ve jinxed it.’

‘I hate to say it but I’ve just checked the weather app and it’s not expected to let up until midnight.’

‘Urgh! That’s grim.’ I returned to the counter. ‘Cassie’s kids are going to be so disappointed about the bonfire being cancelled. They were really looking forward to it, but at least it means fewer fireworks going off and distressing pets and wildlife.’

‘Have you got any pets?’ Lars asked.

‘No, not even when we were younger with us all being out at work all day. What about you?’

‘Same. Until recently, I was living with my nanna and she got a cat maybe ten years ago. We had it for two years and one day it never came home. It broke Nanna’s heart and that was it for her – no more pets.’

My heart lifted at the mention of him living with his nanna as that must surely be the Aileen Bridges registered against his email address.

‘You don’t live with your nanna anymore?’ I asked.

‘No. Her two best friends were moving into the new apartments at Bay View and she decided it was time to downsize and do the same. She’s been there for about six weeks now and she’s loving it.

I see her several times a week but it’s strange not seeing her every day, although I suppose, at my age, moving out and getting a place of my own was long overdue.

My ex-girlfriend called me a saddo for still living at home, which was rich when she was crashing at her sister’s. ’

I widened my eyes at the rudeness of that, while my heart leapt once more at the revelation that he was single. Or was he? Just because he’d mentioned an ex, it didn’t mean he didn’t have a newer girlfriend.

‘Just as well she’s your ex, then,’ I said. ‘I don’t think anyone has any right to judge someone’s living situation. Age has nothing to do with it. Sometimes it’s just the way life works out. I still live at home.’

‘You do?’

‘Yeah. I bought a house with an ex years ago, but the relationship ended before we got to live there together. I couldn’t have afforded the house on my own and the shine had gone off it anyway so we sold it and I moved into a one-bedroom annexe at my parents’ place on a temporary basis and I’m still there.

Living at home at my age isn’t what I expected but the plans I had didn’t pan out so c’est la vie ! ’

I wondered whether Lars was going to ask me to expand, but one of our best customers, a voracious crime-reader called Bernadette, burst through the door breathlessly.

‘Wow! It’s hideous out there,’ she exclaimed, depositing her umbrella in the bucket and wiping her feet on the mat.

‘We’re not used to seeing you mid-week,’ I said. Bernadette typically visited every Friday and left with four or five paperbacks to see her through the week.

‘I’m having a tooth out on Friday morning so I’ll be spending the afternoon at home drooling and feeling sorry for myself. Thought I’d better come in early to get stocked up.’

‘We’ve got the new K. D. Baines thriller in.’

‘Yes! I’ll definitely buy that today. Time to explore…’

As Bernadette headed over to the new-releases table, I turned to Lars.

‘We’re up to date with everything and I doubt we’re going to get a flood of customers, excuse the pun, so I’m thinking the best plan is for you to spend some time in here or in the children’s section really getting to grips with the backlist titles we have.

See which authors have lots of titles in stock, read some of the blurbs and check out any customer reviews we’ve got displayed.

It’ll help you for when the Christmas rush starts, especially as we get some customers who come in and thrust a list at us of everything they want, sometimes with the wrong titles or authors. ’

Lars glanced across to where Bernadette was reading a blurb on the back of a new psychological thriller. ‘I’ll head out the back. Shout me if a boatload of customers arrive.’

* * *

Darkness had fallen, not that it had got particularly light all day, and the rain was still coming down heavily.

It was approaching five o’clock and we hadn’t had a single customer in since Bernadette and she’d left before three.

Talk about dead! Bernadette’s purchase of five novels had taken us into three figures but the sales report for today would be as dismal as the weather.

I’d kept myself busy preparing December’s newsletter.

I emailed one out to all our subscribers at the start of the month with details of some of the big releases, special offers and any events coming up.

With only being five days into November, it would be some time before December’s was sent out but it made sense to get ahead with it while I had the time.