Page 43 of Finding Love at the Magical Curiosity Shop
Ava’s anxious interruption makes me giggle. ‘No. That’s staying put until it finds a buyer wholovesit, just so I can rub it in your dad’s face when it does.’
They both laugh, and if I’m not mistaken, theybothbreathe a little sigh of relief.
Ren dips his head towards me. ‘It sounds like a good idea. About the shop, I mean,notabout the dragon fruit table, no one in their right mind would buy that thing, but you seem… happier? Lighter?’
‘It’s the right decision. I can’t throw all of this stuff away, or give it all to charity shops because I’ve spent the business money on it and I need to getsomethingback, and Witt’s convinced the extra stalls won’t give the antiques fair too many “car boot sale” vibes, and with the extra space in here, I can choose more important things to showcase – things like the diary – with real stories behind them that deserve to be known, and it really does feel like a weight has been lifted. So thank you. For all your help and your input. You might be harsh and blunt but you make the occasional good point.’
He blushes hard, and it gives me a little tingle to remember what Ava said about Ren blushing. For someone who never blushes, he’s been getting red-faced a lot in my company lately.
‘I’ve always said we never really own objects, we’re just looking after them until their real owner arrives, and I’ve lost sight of that and stopped considering whether their potential owners are likely to be part of my customer base or not, and as you can see, they’re not. This has become a home for unwanted things rather than a halfway house for things waiting for their new owners. I need to start matching my stock to my customers rather than rescuing every object I see.’
Ava picks up a blue and gold balloon dog ornament. ‘Can I own this one?’
‘No,’ Ren says at exactly the same moment as I say yes, and we meet each other’s eyes and break out into laughter.
‘Go on then,’ Ren acquiesces, but I stop him when he goes to get his wallet out to pay for it, and Ava comes over and gives me another hug.
‘I think you should own this one too.’ The diary is in my bag on the counter, and Ava is fiddling fondly with the strap, so I slip the bag off and hang it over her shoulder. ‘Whatever happens in Arfordir-Môr-Forwyn and after the antiques fair, you should keep this. No one loves it more than you, no one’s been more invested in it than you, and youdidfind it fair and square. It’s yours now. May it always remind you that, truly, anything is possible.’
She gasps and looks in the bag that’s banging against her side and then squeals. ‘Seriously?Eeeeeek! Thank you, Mickey! It’s my most favourite thing ever. I’ll treasure it for the rest of my life. One day I’ll have children and they’ll treasure it too!’
‘Mick, don’t. It could be valu?—’
‘So are you. Both of you.’ I cut off Ren’s protest. ‘It’s too special to sell, no matter what it’s worth. Better it stays with someone who loves it and realises that value doesn’t just come from monetary price.’
Ava’s jumping up and down on the spot. ‘Can I read it in the car? We need to know if there are any more clues before we get there!’
I give the shop a final glance, surprisingly glad to be getting away from it for the weekend. I can’t remember the last time I went away anywhere, and the possibility of solving the mystery of the diary thrums through my veins. Getting close to the place where it actually happened will give us the answers we need. It has to.
Ava has taken my suitcase and headed for the car park, and Ren is rushing to catch up with her. When we reach the car, he unlocks the boot and Ava hefts my wheeled case up into it, and organises their bags around it, and I look up at him as we stand aside and let her get on with it.
It’s the third time I’ve seen him since the other night, and the third time there hasn’t been any product in his hair since then either, which I like to think I had a little something to do with. ‘I like your hair like this. The softer look suits you.’
‘I’m not so sure. Bad things happen when there’s no product in my hair.’
‘I’m not convinced it was entirely the fault of your hair gel.’ I can’t help laughing even though he’s clearly still embarrassed, and I nudge my elbow into his arm. ‘And I don’t think they were bad things.’
‘Good or bad, they were things that can’t happen again.’
The sharpness of his words makes me flinch, but I can’t deny he’s got a point. It would have beenfartoo easy to kiss him the other night. It was hard enough toonlylet myself kiss his cheek when what I really wanted was to go much, much further. He might be embarrassed, but I told him he had beautiful eyes, the most kissable cheeks and the softest stubble, andIcan’t blame the wine. Of all people, I’m the one who should be in absolute agreement that nothing that happened the other night can be repeated, ever.
‘How did you ever get me to agree to this?’ he says as Ava slams the boot closed.
‘You wanted to!’
‘I was… d-r-u-n-k!’ He glances towards Ava before spelling the word out under his breath.
‘Shouldn’t need to be drunk to throw caution to the wind once in a while, Ren.’
‘Can’t argue with that,’ he says with a huff, looking very much like he wishes hecouldargue with it.
Ava dives into the backseat, and I slip into the front next to Ren, he sets the Sat Nav and makes sure everyone’s strapped in, and Ava cheers as we pull out and start leaving Herefordshire behind. She puts her headphones in and pulls the diary out of the bag, and I glance at Ren.
‘Thanks for coming. I really didn’t want to do this on my own.’
‘You’re welcome,’ he says in response, because so far he’s even refused to accept any money towards the cost of petrol for this trip. ‘This has been good for her.’
His voice drops and his eyes flick up to the rearview mirror and focus on Ava behind us. ‘She’s not on her phone as much. She seems less worried about what people think of her, and more open about her feelings, and I think that’s your influence. Your confidence, your upfrontness, your courage in telling people how you feel, your…youness.’
