Page 47 of The Little Provence Book Shop

Dear Addy,

Hope your week is going well! Just thought I’d drop a note to say thanks again for putting me up (and putting up with me) on my impromptu visit. I’m already looking at tickets for the summer, so watch this space.

Also, I wanted to say that I’ve taken a leaf out of your book. No, I’m not moving abroad to take a job in a tiny village. But I am putting myself out there. Kind of. What I mean is – I’ve downloaded a dating app. Not the one I was on before, but one (and don’t laugh) that’s for professionals looking for that special someone.

I’ve decided it’s time to look at my own life rather thantrying to boss you around. Although, as your big brother, I still reserve the right to do that, obviously.

I’ve been thinking about Mum too. I mean, obviously – right? I think about her all the time. What I mean is, I’ve been thinking about what life was like those last months. How tired we both were. How she took up every waking hour we had outside of work. And for you, in those final weeks when you got leave from work, every moment you had.

I’m proud of us. I think Dad would have been proud of us too. We looked after Mum to the best of our abilities and gave her the best possible care. And I don’t regret it for a minute. BUT I guess I’ve started to realise the impact all of that had on my life. On our lives.

It’s hard, going from 24/7 caring to nothing at all. And it’s not just grief, is it? It’s that kind of vacancy of time – not knowing what to do with ourselves. All the things I used to do before have sort of fallen away. And I think I’ve been a bit lonely.

So there, this is me getting out of my slump. Dipping my toe into the dating pool and hoping for the best.

And I wanted to thank you. Because I came to persuade you to come home, but instead you kind of showed me that I needed to make a change.

Don’t get a big head though. You’re still wrong about most things.

Love

KEV x

‘What’s that?’ Lili’s voice made her jump. Adeline turned her face away from her phone to see Lili standing at her side, peering towards the screen. ‘Just a message from Uncle Kevin.’

‘For me?’

‘No sweetheart, for me. But he said to send his love,’ she replied, knowing that despite the fact it wasn’t explicitly stated, it was definitely what he meant in his sign off.

‘OK.’ Lili didn’t seem too bothered about it. She scuffed her shoe on the edge of the counter, kicking at a bit of wood that had splintered slightly.

‘Leave that, Lili, you’ll get a splinter.’

‘Lili, why don’t you help me with something,’ Monique said, appearing as if from nowhere. ‘I have some new children’s books and I’d like you to help me choose which one to put in the window. Do you think you could do that?’

Lili nodded, eyes wide at the prospect, and Monique gave Adeline a little wink over her shoulder as she led the child to a box of books. This afternoon, Lili was booked into the playscheme, but she’d chosen to have her in the store this morning as Tuesday mornings – their first proper open morning of the week – were often quiet.

Adeline tucked her phone away and got back on with the job in hand – Monique had given her a list of titles to find, some vintage, some current – and she was searching on second-hand selling sites to try to locate decent copies. As she was typing in a particularly complicated title, the bell rang on the door and she looked up to see a woman who looked familiar step into the shop.

‘Hello,’ the woman said, her blonde ponytail swinging as she walked confidently over to the counter. ‘Oh, andbonjour,’ she added, noticing Monique in the corner with a large cardboard box.

‘Hi Stacey,’ Adeline smiled. ‘Back already!’

‘Yeah, I’m surprised too,’ Stacey grinned. ‘But that book you recommended last time, I loved it,’ Stacey said. ‘Read it in two evenings. And I wanted to know if she’d written any more.’

‘The Catherine Cooper?’

‘That’s the one.’

‘Yes,’ nodded Adeline. ‘One or two. We’ve got some in stock actually.’ She pointed over to a shelf where contemporary novels were organised in alphabetical order.

‘Brilliant,’ Stacey said, giving her a wink for no apparent reason. Then she went and busied herself at the shelf, looking over the titles and flicking through until she made her selection. Seemingly decided, she came back and paid. ‘Probably see you next week. Thanks again!’

‘Thank you.’ Adeline smiled.

‘Don’t forget to ring me for a coffee… if you need,’ she added.

‘Definitely.’

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