Page 38 of The Midnight Book Club
Aurelia had forgotten about his mysterious response to her question about why Vronsky was the only character who’d appeared from his novel.
“Let me see if I can guess… It must have something to do with my conversation with Count Vronsky just now?”
“It does, miss.”
She squinted her eyes, as if trying to see the answer.
“We were talking about the future, about possibilities.”
Sergeant Cuff gave an encouraging nod.
“Marianne and Rachel asked him to imagine a happy future for himself, something to give him hope.”
“A happy future?Indeed.”Cuff smiled.
“But what does that have to do with Count Vronsky being here alone?”
“You are coming closer, but not quite there yet, I see.Steady on, miss.It will become clear soon enough.”
Aurelia’s exasperated sigh did nothing to shake Cuff’s apparent resolve to make her unravel the mystery on her own.
22
ItwasaSundayand the shop was closed, giving Aurelia a free day to do as she pleased.The day before had been busy with Saturday shoppers, and she’d spent another night with the characters, listening in as Marianne and Rachel shared their ideas for Vronsky’s future.Although she usually spent Sundays running errands or meeting up with friends, she was at home reading through her battered copy ofAnna Kareninaand trying to come up with a few ideas of her own for what Vronsky could do in his imagined future.
When her phone rang just past one o’clock, it gave her a start.
“I’m very busy,” she said importantly, knowing it would be Antonia.
“Apparently!I haven’t heard from you in days.What’ve you been up to?”
“Um, the shop’s been a bit hectic,” Aurelia invented quickly.It wasn’t an outright lie; she had been busy in the shop, only more so at night than during opening hours.
“Well, I hope you did something last night?Or Friday?Kick up your heels a bit?”
“I did, actually,” Aurelia said as she tried and failed to hold back a yawn.
“Wild party?Rave?”
“Dinner with Dad.”
“Not exactly what I had in mind.Has David been harassing you about that guy—what’s his name again?”
Aurelia had filled her sister in on the date, but only after threatening to withhold details because of Antonia’s role in arranging it with David.
“Oliver.”
“That’s a good name.”
“It is,” Aurelia agreed, momentarily sidetracked by the observation.“And David hasn’t been too bad—only some mild prodding about trying for a second date.”
She paused, debating whether to tell her about Oliver’s visit to the shop before quickly deciding she was already keeping the characters from her sister and didn’t want another secret she’d have to remember to keep.
“He stopped by the shop a few days ago.”
“David?”
“No, Oliver.”
