Becoming friends with an English farmer was definitely a new experience. Who cared if he could grace the front cover of “The World’s Hottest Farmers” calendar? “Okay.” I smiled. “A drink. But I’m warning you, my story isn’t that interesting.”
Roane’s grin widened. “Somehow I doubt that.” He glanced down at his dog and then back to me, his expression somber. “In all seriousness . . . thank you, Evie.”
Realizing Shadow probably meant just as much to him as Duke had meant to me, I answered quietly, “You’re welcome, Roane.”
With that, he nodded and took a step back. “I need to return to the farm. I’ll see you tonight at eight o’clock.”
“I’ll see you then.”
As he and Shadow turned and strode back in the direction they’d come, I realized how breathless I’d been in Roane’s company and sucked in a lungful of air.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” I muttered, watching them disappear.
“You met Roane then—”
“Argh!” I cried out in fright and turned to find Penny standing on the sidewalk, as if she’d appeared out of thin air.
Her lips twitched. “Sorry, pet, didn’t mean to scare you.”
I let out a shaky breath. “It’s not you. It’s . . . been an interesting morning.”
“Oh, aye, I heard about that from Milly. Saved Roane’s dog, did you?”
I frowned, glancing behind me and back to Penny. How could she have heard from Milly, who was in the opposite direction, and then appear at my back as if from nowhere? Had Milly called Penny immediately to tell her what had happened? Obviously.
Village life. News traveled fast.
She chuckled as if she sensed my bemusement, and gestured toward the store. “Open her up then. Let me show you the ropes.”
It was as I unlocked the door that I suddenly felt the stinging in my left palm and on my knees. Looking down, my jeans were covered in dust from the fall, and the left kneecap looked a little threadbare too. I must have hissed because Penny queried, “You all right, pet?”
“I’m fine. Probably have a skinned knee or two from the fall.”
“There’s a first aid kit in the flat. Would you like me to get it?”
“Oh, I’m sure I’m fine, thanks.”
She nodded, accepting this. “Okay, let’s get to work then.”
But before we could, there was a loud rap on the door, and we turned to see a man peering in at us. “You open, Penny?”
She frowned and hurried to open the door, letting the man in. He had graying dark hair and startling pale blue eyes, and he wore a brown lightweight coat with a white apron underneath it. “Did you leave the store?” Penny asked, sounding surprised.
“Young Matthew’s watching it.” The man threw me a flustered nod. I put him around the same age as Penny and wondered at their connection. Turning to her, he said, “Lella dropped the bomb on me this morning that she’s supposed to read Twelfth Night by tomorrow for homework. I’m really hoping you have a copy.”
“You’re in luck.” Penny hurried toward the shelves to the one marked poetry and scoured it for a few seconds before pulling out a thin paperback.
The man seemed to sag in relief. “You’re a star, Pen. How much?”
“Take it.” Penny held it out to him. “My next steak and ale pie is free.”
He grinned, the smile transforming his glowering expression. With those unusual eyes of his, he was quite handsome. As if sensing my attention, he nodded to me. “New owner?”
Penny sighed and threw me a small smile. “New renter.” Seeing his eyebrows draw together, she shrugged. “I’ll explain later.”
“Right. Well, I best get back. Thank you again.”
“You’re welcome, Jed. Remember that pie.”
“I’ll go one better,” he said, pulling the door open, “Cerys and I’ll have you round for tea, so you don’t have to cook it yourself.”
“I won’t say no to that.”
After the door closed, Penny wandered back to me and explained, “Jed’s the butcher. Sad tale.” Her eyes darkened. “He and Cerys, his wife, lost their daughter in a car crash two years go. Cerys was in the car. She’s in a wheelchair now. Their daughter left behind her daughter Arabella. Everyone calls her Lella, a nickname from a young neighbor’s son that just kind of stuck.” She leaned against the counter. “Poor couple lost their bairn, Cerys her mobility, and gained full guardianship of their granddaughter all at the same time. Lella just turned thirteen. Raising a teenage girl again. It’s not easy.”
My heart hurt for the butcher and his wife. “That’s awful, Penny.”
She patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry. It’s a good community here. When my Arthur died, they rallied around me, like we rallied around Jed, Cerys, and Lella.”
Realizing her words meant she was widowed, I offered, “I’m so sorry.”
“It was four years ago now. Sometimes . . .” Her gaze drifted off into the distance, to someplace no one else could get to. “Sometimes it feels like yesterday. Other times like . . . like it was another lifetime.”
A silence I didn’t know how to break without being disrespectful fell between us. Finally, I said, “You and Jed seem close.”
“Cerys and I have been friends since Arthur and I moved here. The four of us were good friends for years.” Seeing my somber expression, Penny suddenly clapped her hands together. “Let’s get on then. You’ve got a bookstore to run.”
Five
For a moment it was like I was six years old again with all of my toys set up in a row in my bedroom as I pretended to own a toy shop, forcing my parents to play my customers.
Except this was real.
The cash register was an app on the laptop hidden behind the counter. I just had to use a barcode scanner connected to the computer when ringing up books and other items. There was a stockroom behind a door at the back of the store, next to the private downstairs restroom. The stockroom was filled not only with books, but with all kinds of ornaments and objects for renters to use for the window display.
I had free rein to create whatever display I wanted.
When Penny left after showing me the ropes, leaving me her number in case I needed help, I’d felt a little apprehensive. How brave Penny was to leave her store to the charge of inexperienced bookish tourists?
As for other tourists, several passed by the store throughout the day, peering in, trying to catch my eye as if that would somehow force me to open the door.