Page 27 of An Enchanted Moment on Ever After Street
‘Yes! Why not? We can’t be the only people who feel lonely and aren’t sure what to do about it.’
‘I’m not lonely.’
‘No, of course not.’ I glance over at him. He sounds like he’stryingto be growly and harsh, but he’s sitting on a freezing cold doorstep in October and he hasn’t left yet. As far as I know, I’m the only person on Ever After Street who’s ever had this much of a conversation with him. I think he’s lonelier than he wants to admit. ‘There’s something that draws booklovers together. It’s always lovely to chat to someone who loves a book that you love. There’s this regular customer and I always look forward to talking to her because we both loveOnce Upon Another Time.It’s like a little bookish connection between two people. There must be others who’d like to talk about books with people who like the same books, and there must be other adults who’d like to make new friends but aren’t sure where to start.’
‘So you’re going to match people up based on what books they enjoy, like a platonic Cupid shooting bookmarks instead of arrows, and then send them on blind friendship dates like Cilla Black on nineties’ TV? Do we need to hire “Our Graham” for a quick reminder?’ He does a perfect impression of Cilla’s Liverpool accent.
‘Yes!’ Everything he says makes me crack up. ‘Well, maybe not the “Our Graham” bit, that would just be weird.’
‘And where will these dates be? Have you got a budget for sending multiple pairs of people out to fancy restaurants?’
‘Well, no, but maybe they could sit out here. When the garden’s finished, that is,’ I say hurriedly. Although it’s improving daily, it still looks like a wild boar could emerge from the undergrowth at any moment. After the excitement of thinking up something that could really make a difference to mine and my customers’ lives, the garden makes me feel overwhelmingly deflated. The only living creature that would be happy out here is a rat. No matter how much progress I’m making, it will take alongtime to get it to the stage where it’s suitable for hosting visitors. This is something that could make a huge difference to Mr Rowbotham and the importance of A Tale As Old As Time to Ever After Street, but it would need to be implemented before mid-November, four weeks away.
Darcy is quiet for a while. ‘They could go to mine.’
My head spins towards him so fast that a bone in my neck clicks. ‘Seriously?’
‘Yeah, why not? My garden is a neat and tidy rose haven. There are tables and chairs at the castle that I could borrow, and you could get some finger food from Lilith in the tearooms, andset up your booklovers on their platonic dates and send them through your back gate and into mine. They could have a chat over tea and cake, and then come back to you with their… I don’t know, marks out of ten and verdict on whether they’re going to see each other again?’
‘But… but…’ I struggle to find the words for how astounding this offer is. ‘But you avoid people. That’s a lot of privacy invasion for someone so private.’
‘I wouldn’tbethere, Marnie. You’d have to deal with the people. If you snip a rose for each table, rest assured I won’t lock you up in my tower for all eternity. Obviously the aim will be to use your own garden, but considering that last I knew, you had one rusty table and wonky-legged chair, currently MIA and last seen being swallowed by greenery some months ago, it would be a compromise for now. If you want to, that is.’
‘Yes! Yes, yes, yes.’ His support is something I’ve never known before. Someone who justgetswhat I’m trying to do and doesn’t make me feel like an idiot every time I open my mouth. ‘Thank you. Darcy, you’re…’ A lump forms in my throat that won’t let words out. I’ve never met anyone like him before. Kind, calm, logical, and supportive.Heis the kind of person everyone needs in their life.
‘It’s a good idea.’ He deliberately doesn’t let me finish the sentence, and I’m once again certain he knows what I’m thinking. ‘How are you going to do it?’
‘I don’t know. Ask people to fill in forms listing their favourite books, maybe a bit of other info about hobbies or interests, and then go through them to see if there are any matches? It doesn’t have to be exact. Even reading within the same genre would give them something to talk about… Maybe I could give them both the same book and they could come outside to sit at a table, have a cuppa and a cake, chat, have a little read…’
‘And in bad weather?’ he asks. ‘It’s mid-October, we’re heading into winter, it won’t always be clear and dry with the last hints of the autumnal sun dropping behind the mountains. Some days, there’s going to be thunderstorms and hailstones and temperatures cold enough to freeze your nan’s balls off.’
Trust him to think of the practical things, including anyone’s nan’s balls. ‘I don’t know. It’s more of a summertime thing, but I need to start it now to prove that I deserve my place here. I could move shelves around to create space for a few tables inside…’ It’s far from ideal, but he’s right. The weather is still reasonable for October, but it isn’t going to stay this way for much longer.
‘In nicer weather, we could send people on walks around the castle gardens or tours of the castle library,’ he suggests. ‘Or on a trail through the Full Moon Forest, and for now, we could offer a date to the book festival if the matched friendship couples hit it off.’
We.
I hadn’t realised how alone I’ve felt in the last couple of years, but I do realise how alone I suddenlydon’tfeel, ever since the moment Darcy burst into my life.
‘I’ve got to admit, it sounds nice, even to someone who doesn’t want another human in their life ever again. I’d go for that.’ He pauses. ‘I mean, I would have. In years gone by. Not now, obviously.’
I’m not imagining the dejection in his voice when he says that. I’ve got a niggling feeling that Darcy is much, much lonelier than he lets on, and that pause was a bit too long. Just long enough for an idea to form…
‘Would you?’ I say casually.
His face shifts towards me. ‘Why does that leading tone in your voice give me a really, really bad feeling?’
‘Because you’re the perfect person for this! The unfriendliest man on Ever After Street! What a start that would be! If I couldmatchyouup with the perfect friend, no one would ever doubt how good an idea this is. It would be the best start I could ever have hoped for. If I hadyourbacking, this couldn’t fail.’
‘I give you my backing unreservedly. No human contact needed.’ He looks down at Mrs Potts like he’s trying to think of the least disruptive way to move her off his lap so he can run away.
‘Oh come on, Darcy, aren’t you lonely?’
‘N—’
‘Honestly?’ I interrupt before he can finish the denial. ‘If you’re in your shop at all, you’re hiding out the back. You slink between here and the castle like a ghost. If anyone ever sees you, it’s as you disappear into the distance like you were never there.’
‘There’s a reason for that.’
