Page 41 of Finding Love at the Magical Curiosity Shop
‘…let herself believe in love?’
I pull back to look into his unfocused eyes again. ‘I did not expect you to finish a sentence like that.’
‘Seem to be doing a lot of things I never usually do tonight, and for the first time, I don’t think it’s a bad thing.’
‘Neither do I.’ Against my better judgement, I lean up and kiss his cheek again. ‘Not at all.’
12
Ren is asleep on my sofa, and now the morning sun is streaming in the living room curtains, and I’m watching from the kitchen, hoping he stirs before I have to leave for work.
As the time gets later, my clattering around increases in volume until it has the desired effect, and he stretches with a groan and stays still for a few moments, a hand on his head like it’s throbbing as he tries to get his bearings.
As he pushes himself into a sitting position, I go into the living room. I take his hand, open his fingers, and push two paracetamol out of the card and into his palm and put a glass down on the table in front of him. ‘Paracetamol. Water. Kettle’s boiling for a coffee. I think you’re going to need all three of those things.’
‘I wasn’t that far go— Oh, God.’ He drops his head into his hands and shakes it with a loud groan of shame. ‘I asked you to kiss me, didn’t I? I said we’d go to Arfordir-Môr-Forwyn, didn’t I?’
‘Yep, and you can’t change your mind,’ I say with a grin because I knew he’d regret those conversations this morning.
He swears and then groans again, and downs the tablets and half the glass of water in one. ‘Can you just ignore everything I said last night? I don’t think it was the wine, I think I got drunk on the affection.’
‘Ah yes, affection. Well known for being 14.5 per cent proof and served in mismatched mugs.’ I grin at him again, thoroughly enjoying every second of his discomfort. ‘I can never mention it again, but I’m not going to ignore it. And if you think I’m ever going to forget the cute, snuggly, giggly version of you, you’re sorely mistaken.’
‘I feared you were going to say that.’ His eyes meet mine and he smiles despite himself, and then looks away quickly and gets to his feet, and looks back at the fleece blanket that was covering him and murmurs a thank you.
He’s given me a lift home before, but this is the first time he’s ever been inside. He wanders around the room, taking in the mantelpiece with a couple of photos of Dad on it, and the one I still have of Mum, and goes over to the window to look out at the little patio area outside. ‘Have you recently been burgled? Where is everything?’
He picks up a snow globe that’s got Ariel inside it, sitting on a rock, and when you shake it, instead of snow, hundreds of tiny pink starfish swirl around her.
Instead of answering his question, I give him an explanation of the snow globe that he didn’t ask for. ‘Raff Dardenne made it for me. He runs the snow globe shop in the year-round festive part of the street, Christmas Ever After.’
I know what he’s really asking. Why is my shop full of clutter when my home is only furnished by things that really matter to me?
‘It’s been comforting, I guess,’ I say aloud, even though he never actually asked. ‘To be surrounded by so many things that must have mattered to people once. It’s made me feel less alone, like I’m not the only forgotten thing that’s been left behind.’
‘The shop would be vastly better if you appliedthisinitiative to it. Things that have meaning and might mean something to someone else. Not just abandoned old things that you feel sorry for. This is beautiful.’ He pokes at my little model of a carousel and winds the lever to make it turn so the old tinny music fills the living room. ‘I know you can’t know exactly what will mean something to your customers, but there has to be a better approach than just piling stuff up and hoping the right customer will come along and have enough stamina to see them through the hunt for it.’
I snort at his unfiltered way of putting things. ‘Did you mean what you said the other day – you really think I’m going to lose the shop?’
‘I shouldn’t have said that. I’m s?—’
‘I know you’re right.’ I cut him off before he has a chance to apologise again, because he has nothing to apologise for. Heisright. I’ve known it for a while and I’ve buried my head in the sand – he was right about that too. I can’t carry on as I have been and expect things to magically improve, and Ren has a way of making me want to take action andmakethings different and rediscover the vision I once had and the shop I once loved so much.
‘Your shop makes the world a better place.’ He says it gently, like he can tell what I’m already thinking. ‘There aren’t many businesses like that in the money-grabbing retail industry. Ever After Street would be a much less magical place without you.’
I don’t know if the implication on that last point is still about my shop or about me personally, but I appreciate him not being as pushy as he usually is. And he has a good point, as usual. Most of my stock these days is things that I think need rescuing, things that deserve a new home, rather than things I think will actually sell or that my customers might like. It’s the opposite of how my dad ran things, and something’s got to give.
‘I feel weird this morning. Looser than I did before.’ He rolls his shoulders around and shakes his arms out. ‘It’s the first time in ages that I haven’t felt angry. Thank you for… I don’t know. Listening, I guess. That kiss. I feel like you sucked out some of the poison in me.’ He traces his fingertip along his left cheek like he can still feel it and then realises what he’s said. ‘I don’t know why I’m saying this. Shut me up, Mick, please shut me up.’
His eyes drop down to my mouth and both of our minds go to the same place, the samewayof shutting him up, because his cheeks flare red and I can feel mine start burning at the exact same moment.
‘Not like that. Just stop me saying something I’ll regret.’
‘There’s nothing to regret, I promise. I kissed your cheek, Ren. You make it sound like it was a lot more.’
‘It was a lot more tome. You made me feel wanted. Cared for. No one’s done that… For such a long time…’ His voice breaks and he quickly turns away, probably praying I didn’t hear it.
He swallows hard and squares his shoulders. ‘I should go. Can you please not tell Ava about any of this? I should be setting a good example, not getting pissed and doing… whatever the hell this was.’
