Page 74 of Whispers at The Bookshop Pretty Beach
As she looked down the laneway, the thought of GayesBooks made her half-wince, half-smile. The threat of their corporate invasion had kept her awake at night, imagining her little bookshop crushed by professional marketing and bulk-buying power. Now the building sat empty and waiting for Holly and Xian's renovation plans, and GayesBooks had presumably moved on to terrorise some other unsuspecting independent bookshop. The relief that Daisy’s new world had not been smashed to smithereens made her feel almost giddy.
Easing one of the library ladders back along its rail into place, it reminded her of when the corporate woman had come into the shop. Daisy had been standing on the ladder when the woman had first come in with her pointed questions and calculating eyes and had assessed Daisy's world as if it were ready for the taking. The memory made her shudder, close her eyes and shake her head. She had to laugh, though. Xian and Holly had taken them down as if it were the sort of business deal they did every day of the week. Daisy had had a small insight into their world through her work with Chloe and as she thought about it more, maybe in fact it was the sort of deal they did more than they let on. Perhaps the investment was something regular for them; it’s just that they didn’t let anyone in Pretty Beach know about it.
Behind the desk, Daisy worked quickly tidying and sorting and she smiled as underneath a book, a little picture Evie had been working on showed the bookshop in wobbly lines and pretty colours. What was obviously herself behind the counter was surrounded by enormous flowers and what appeared to be a dragon reading a book in the corner. At the bottom, inSusannah’s handwriting: 'Mummy's shop is the best shop in the world.'
Daisy smiled and smoothed out the paper and pondered how the girls had been since their move to the bookshop. To Evie and Margot, it was very evident that it wasn't a business venture or a risk or anything like it. It was simply the place where Mummy worked, where they could curl up with books, where fairy lights twinkled and they could walk to school. Daisy loved how they had settled in. Their certainty in its permanence and the fact that they had a real home had been missing in all three of their lives.
She tucked the drawing carefully into the notebook that Miles had sent in the hamper. The notebook had become a bit of a post-workday evening ritual for Daisy without her really even thinking about it. At first, she hadn’t wanted to write in it in case she ruined it, but now it was full of lists, thoughts, inspiration, things to do and recordings of small moments that made up her days. As she flicked through the thick luxurious pages now filled with her musings, she smiled, tucked the drawing into a clean page and added the date and Evie’s age. She wrote on the page.
Evie’s pic makes me smile. The bookshop looks so pretty tonight.
Proud. We have our forever home.
Closing the notebook and tucking it back into its place behind the counter, Daisy then moved through the shop, turning off lights and straightening displays for the next day. At the door, she paused for one last look around. All of it was hers in a way that nothing else had ever been. She was more grateful for that than anyone would ever know.
Moving through to the kitchen, she flicked on the kettle and loved how the effort of the kitchen makeover made it feel warmand welcoming. The new open shelving displayed her bits and bobs and the copper rail Pete had installed held all sorts.
As the kettle boiled, her phone buzzed and Miles's name appeared on the screen.
Miles:How was your day? Shop busy?
Daisy smiled as she poured hot water over her tea bag.
Daisy:Busy but good. I just found the sweetest drawing Evie made of the bookshop. She drew me with enormous flowers and a dragon reading in the corner. It made my heart completely melt.
Miles: Aww.
Daisy:I tucked it into the notebook you gave me. The one from the hamper. It's getting quite full now.
Miles:Nice.
Daisy:I love this time of day. The shop is all quiet and glowing, the girls are at mum's. Sometimes I stand in the middle of the shop and can't quite believe it's real. That it's mine. That we're not going anywhere.
Miles:Believe it. You've earned every fairy light.
Daisy:Lol.
Miles:I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
Daisy:Me and the girls are too.
Miles:I’ll be around at 10 then?
Daisy:See you then. Love you.
Miles:Love you more.
44
It was late afternoon the next day and Daisy was on the ferry. It was less crowded than usual, with just a handful of locals and a couple of late-season tourists wrapped in coats against a chilly wind. Daisy had suggested a trip on the ferry for a picnic on impulse the day before and was now very glad she’d done so. It was a near-perfect autumn day with gorgeous light above and the sea around Pretty Beach looked as if it was hammered gold. One thing Daisy knew was that it was way too beautiful a day to waste hanging around indoors.
With Miles, Margot and Evie, she'd climbed to the upper deck of the ferry and despite the cool air, the twins had immediately claimed the best seats where they could lean over and watch the water churn white beneath the hull. Miles had a rolled-up picnic blanket with leather straps over his arm and Daisy a small picnic basket on her lap. Truth be told, it was the sort of family outing that Daisy was still finding her feet with. It was no longer just her and the girls and for Daisy that had taken a bit of getting used to. For the twins and Miles, though, it didn’t appear to be a problem. All three of them had rolled with it as if it had always been meant to be.
'Look, there's our bookshop!' Margot pointed back toward Pretty Beach as the ferry pulled away from the wharf. The town spread out behind them in a curve of pastel cottages, slate roofs, and chimneys sending up thin curls of smoke against a pale sky. The bookshop was just visible in its row of shops, its front window catching the late afternoon light here and there and its bunting fluttering back and forth in the wind.
'It looks so small from here. Tiny!’ Evie observed, leaning precariously over the rail until Daisy caught the back of her jacket.
'Everything looks smaller from the water. It’s really different looking at it from out here. I always think the same,’ Miles noted.
