Page 59 of The Wedding Dress Repair Shop
‘Think nothing of it – it’s all part of the service!’
‘This is Ginny, who has a lovely shop called Spindrift in the square,’ Pearl said, introducing me to a woman with a dreamy expression and long, flowing, snow-white hair. She could have been any age from fifty to seventy. She was dressed in layers of the kind of clothes you see on the Gudrun Sjödén website, which I always admire but never know quite how to put together. In fact, with her angular body and thin, interesting face, she looked like one of their older models.
‘And then there’s just me you haven’t met,’ said a cheerful voice from beyond Baz on the sofa, and a woman with a broad, rosy face leaned forward to look round him and beamed.
‘The Rev. Jo-Jo,’ said Simon, but I’d already clocked the dog collar and remembered that Pearl had mentioned her.
The vicar had teamed the dog collar with a black T-shirt like the one Baz was wearing, but without the skull and crossbones, and a skirt in an improbable tartan of magenta, bright green and red.
‘Jo-Jo isn’t really a local,’ explained Pearl. ‘She lives a few miles away on the edge of a village called Jericho’s End, but there isn’t a local book group there.’
‘There’s one nearby in Thorstane, but they’re very highbrow and I’m not,’ Jo-Jo said. ‘I can’t always make it to this one and I’m afraid I’ll have to dash off early tonight, too – a late meeting.’
Over coffee, it became apparent that they all knew who I was and why I was there, so either they’d arrived early and Pearl had filled them in, or the local grapevine was extremely effective. I suspected the latter.
We talked a bit about the museum, and Baz, Ginny and Pearl seemed hopeful it would bring more visitors to the town and into their shops.
‘We have seen an increase in visitors to the area in the last few years, anyway,’ Ginny said, sounding much more practicalthan she looked. ‘There’s a Christmas cracker factory nearby that’s opened to the public and has all kinds of craftworkers, a gallery shop and a really good café. Then there’s a woodland walk with some Roman ruins. Jericho’s End, where Jo-Jo’s parish is, is a bit of a mini tourist hotspot, with Fairy Falls and an old garden that’s being restored and open to the public.’
‘Yes, there’s lots going on around here,’ Baz agreed. ‘Great Mumming is bucking the trend for empty town centres – it’s thriving.’
‘We’re not much more than a large village, really,’ Simon said. ‘The town hall in the square is also the fire station, the police station and the tourist information bureau.’
‘I had a little walk around the square, but I haven’t really had time to find out where everything is yet,’ I said.
‘Time enough for that,’ said Pearl. ‘Now, why don’t we have a quick round robin before you go, so you know what kind of books we all like.’
It transpired that Derek was a big Honey Fairford fan, which was just as well, really; Jo-Jo and Thom liked cosy crime; Simon loved big blockbuster thrillers; Pearl seemed to go for serious literary stuff, of the gloomier Booker-winner kind; Ginny, fantasy; and Baz, romcom.
When it got to me, I said apologetically, ‘I’m not reading anything at the moment, it’s been so hectic with the move and everything … but I’m afraid I’m addicted to Shakespeare, Victorian novels and old children’s books.’
‘That’s a fairly rich diet,’ said Jo-Jo.
‘I spent my teenage years living in a remote village in Scotland, where those were the only books in the house, apart from the Bible. I sort of got addicted to the Victorian stuff, and I’m always looking for new ones. I’ll come and browse your shelves when I have time, Pearl.’
‘Do,’ she said. ‘And feel free to pop in for a coffee any time – no obligation to buy anything.’
She handed me a list of everyone’s contact details and I gave her my mobile number.
‘We take it in turns to host the group, so it’s handy to have contact numbers if there’s a sudden change of venue,’ she explained.
I got up, my legs suddenly feeling tired. ‘I’d better get back.’
‘I’ll have to go too,’ said the vicar, and Pearl let us out into the darkening square.
‘Lovely to meet you,’ said Jo-Jo. ‘Once you’ve settled, you must come and visit my church. It has a very special stained-glass window and a lot of history.’
‘I’d love to, but I don’t drive.’
‘Oh, someone will bring you – Thom, or Simon, perhaps. Pearl doesn’t drive, either, but Simon kindly drives her up for the service on Sundays.’
The town hall clock gave a tinny chime and she started. ‘Gosh, is that the time? Must dash!’
And with that she sprinted across to a small lime-green Beetle, parked in the almost empty square.
*
I found Golightly exactly where I’d left him, though he woke enough to clock my return and demand treats with menaces.
