Deck the Shelves (Village of Berkingsley #2)

My Favorite Things

Chapter 8

(and Nana’s too)

L ucky for him, it wasn’t Mum. “Why, hello.” I greeted the family at the door with a big, genuine smile. I felt a bit lighter now that I had finally disclosed my relationship status and the secrecy that accompanied it. A beautiful black woman in her early thirties with short, curly hair stood at the front of the store, holding a wiggly toddler in her arms. “Here, Mummy,” the young girl standing beside her said as she slipped off her jacket and held it out for her mother to add to her already overfilled arms.

The girl bounced over to me, her pigtails bobbing up and down with each movement. She looked to be about six or seven. She reached into the unicorn rucksack she held in her hands and removed a purple pencil and a pad of paper. “Hi, I’m looking for…” Her eyebrows scrunched in deep concentration as she flipped through the pages of her notebook for her answer. “A Miss Alice. Would that be you?” She looked up at me like she was about to give an interrogation about a neighborhood crime.

I replied with all the seriousness I could muster. Clearly, this girl was on a mission. “That would be me. How may I be of help?”

She tapped the pencil on her chin. “Yes, I was told that you would be able to find a suitable present for my nana. Here are her interests: bird watching, baking pies, knitting—quite terribly, but don’t tell her I said that— and vacuuming. Do you have anything that fits these descriptions?”

I pretended to give it some thought, then finally answered, “Why, yes. I believe I do. Why don’t you follow me?”

I met her mum’s gaze and smiled as she mouthed back, “Thank you.”

“So, is this a gift for your nana? Is it for Christmas or a birthday, perhaps?”

“Christmas,” she responded. “I have only two people left on my list.” She looked back to make sure her mother wasn’t too close and then whispered, “I already got my mum an assortment of tea. She loves to drink a cuppa each morning while making me breakfast. It has so many flavors: peach, mint, mango, green…”

“Sounds like it has all the flavors of the rainbow. I think your mum will be so surprised.” The precocious girl marched behind me like a proud soldier as I led her back to the bookshelf filled with an assortment of non-fiction titles. Her mum followed a bit behind, letting her little boy toddle around the rows of shelves. “Here are a few books about bird watching, and over here is a wonderful cookbook filled with dessert recipes for every day of the year.”

The girl’s eyes lit up. “Oh, wow. I think she’d love that. I’m her taste tester, you know. I have a notebook where I rate everything she bakes from one to ten. Most everything is a ten, except for when she puts raisins in the mix. Then it’s an immediate two.”

I knelt and pulled the cookbook off the shelf. “Yes, I 100 percent understand how that would make any dessert a two. I don’t think there are too many recipes in here that involve raisins, but I do know there are a lot that have chocolate, others that have raspberries, and some that have both!” It seemed that this little girl and I shared a sweet tooth.

She pondered my words for a second before nodding her head and putting a big checkmark in her notebook. “This will be perfect. Thank you. I have one more gift I need to get. This one is for my Uncle Freddie. He’s the one who told me that if I came here, you’d be able to help me. But since you know him, you must promise not to tell what I pick for him.”

My cheeks puffed up in a smile. This cheeky little girl was Freddie’s niece. What an adorable little muffin. “Your uncle is my friend, huh?”

Her mum’s voice responded behind me. “Freddie told us all about you, which is no small feat for my brother. He’s a man of few words, which I’m sure you know.”

I stood up from my place on the floor and stuck my hand out like an animal sticking its head between the fence at a petting zoo. “I met Freddie a couple of weeks ago. I’m so glad he told you to stop in. I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself sooner. I’m Alice.”

“I’m Sophie, and that there is Andrew.” She nodded at her son who was now playing with the train set circling the Christmas tree.

“And I’m Elizabeth, but you can call me Liddy.” The little girl stuck her hand out, making sure she was still a part of the conversation.

“Funny that you just met Freddie. He spoke like he knew you quite well. He seemed pretty confident that you could help this one here.” She nodded at her daughter.

“That I absolutely can do. Now, tell me, Liddy, what sorts of things does your Uncle Freddie like?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Well, he likes football and ale…”

“Just like every other man in England, I suppose,” Sophie jokingly said to me. “I promise there is more to my brother than sports and beer. Dearie, what else does Uncle Freddie like to do?”

“He likes to toss Andrew in the air over and over. Oh, and he likes to draw with me!”

“Ah, well, that’s it, then. I have just the thing for him,” I reply. “Follow me.” We walked over to the children’s section. “Let’s see,” I said as I ran my finger across the books on the shelf. “Here it is. Our Doodling Journal . This is a special notebook that you can share with your Uncle Freddie. You can draw and write back and forth. It’s kind of like a gift for you and him!”

She eagerly pulled the book from my hands and brought it to her chest in a hug. Her excitement couldn’t be any bigger if I had promised her a puppy. “Mum, Uncle Freddie was right. Alice is really smart and good at her job, and she’s just as pretty as he said.”

“Oh, well, thank you.” I laughed. So, Freddie thinks I’m smart and pretty? Well, how about that? My feelings were quite reciprocal, although pretty might not be the first word that comes to my mind when I thought about him. I tried to change the direction that my thoughts were heading before the heat on my cheeks gave me away.

“Here, Mum.” She handed both books over. “My shopping is done. I’m going over to play with Andrew and the train. Thank you, Miss Alice.”

“Not a problem, darling. Happy Christmas.” I watched her skip away.

“Freddie tells me this is your parents’ bookstore?” Sophie asked, the two of us suddenly free from children. “What a clever concept to include wine and spirits alongside books. Usually, you see books and tea paired together, not alcohol.”

“Yes, well, I always thought it was a shame that it wasn’t a bookstore with an actual working bar. That would make for a relaxing experience, and I’m sure it would help us sell a few more books.”

She laughed. “It’s quite surprising that it isn’t a thing. I know my sister, Nella, attends a monthly wine social disguised as a book club. She swears they have lengthy discussions about the books, but I know my sister, and I’m pretty sure that she hasn’t picked up anything remotely resembling a book in years.”

“Well, bring her in here. I’ll get her hooked on the newest Abby Jimenez release. Her romcoms have never failed to woo a customer.”

“I will! And if I can’t convince her, I’m sure Liddy will create a list of reasons why she should stop in.”

Her smile was so easygoing that I felt like we were already fast friends. She was pretty much a picture of sophisticated zen. Even bungled down with a diaper bag, children’s jackets, and the two books Liddy picked out, her hair was perfectly set, and she showed no signs of frenzy that usually accompanied the parents that wandered into the store. I hadn’t even noticed that her eyes were rotating surveillance cameras. She gave the illusion that her full attention was on me until she abruptly backtracked toward the tree and stopped her son from derailing the entire train set. “Andrew, dear, please leave the train on the tracks.”

“Choo-Choo, go,” he responded, trying to lift the caboose off the tracks, knocking the rest of the train on its side.

“Andrew, Mummy said no. Come on, dear. Let’s put this right and go say goodbye to our new friend, Alice.” She began to set the train upright, and Liddy joined in.

“Don’t worry about the train,” I said to Sophie. “I can fix it later.” I scrunched down to the floor and said to the kids, “Why don’t you both come to the till with me? I have a little surprise for you.”

“I love surprises. Come on, Andrew.” She reached her hand out to her brother, and he placed his little one in hers, letting her slowly lead the way to the front of the shop. What darling children.

I reached down into the drawer behind the counter. “Let’s see. I have bookmarks and stickers. Which would you prefer?” I asked them, holding up a bookmark with safari animals hiding in a jungle with a caption that said, “Reading opens the door to adventures” and a sticker with a pile of smiling rocks that stated, “Reading Rocks.”

“I’ll have the bookmark. Thank you.” She turned to her little brother, and he pointed eagerly to the sticker. “And he’ll take the sticker.”

“And I’ll take these two books and this bottle of red,” Sophie chimed in, setting a bottle of cabernet on the counter. “This is a wonderfully inviting space. I hope your parents manage to keep it open. Freddie told me all about the plumbing issues and your efforts to raise money to cover the costs. I’ll be sure to tell my friends to stop in. We live just outside the village, in the town of Reading. But we grew up in the margins of Berkingsley. My brother and I are probably a tad older than you, but you might know my youngest sister, Lulu Carter, from secondary school.”

“Hmm, her name sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place her face. I hadn’t realized that you all attended the same school as me! Freddie and I never discussed it. It’s nice to have that shared feeling of home, though, isn’t it? I currently live in the city, but there’s nothing like being back home in the village.”

“Agreed. We come out here often since it’s so close. I love that the kids are getting familiar with the village I grew up in.” She scooped up the paper bag I slid across the counter in her arms, lifting Andrew a second later. I walked around the counter and handed Liddy her books.

“I thought you’d want to put these in your school bag. Help your mummy out.” I put my hand up to my mouth as if to tell her a secret, just between her and me, although I kept my voice audible for her mum to hear. “You don’t want anyone to see them before you can wrap them up.”

Her eyes widened in agreement as she shoved them into her bag, gaily bobbing her head up and down. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Alice.” She took her mother’s hand and tugged her toward the door. I had no idea how Sophie could juggle so many things in her arms at once. I pulled the door open for the sprightly little group and said my goodbyes.

“Thanks again, Alice. I hope to see you soon,” Sophie said. “I’ll tell Freddie to bring you by the house,” she added so nonchalantly that it took me a moment to comprehend what she had said. Before I could protest and remind her that Freddie and I were just newly acquainted, she was out the door into the brisk afternoon air.

Well, that was a pleasant little surprise. I grabbed my mobile and found the contact for Freddie that he gave me the other day when we exchanged numbers.

Me: So, rumor has it that I’m really smart and the best bookseller around, huh?

Freddie (Bookstore Duke): …?

Freddie (Bookstore Duke): I mean, yes, you most definitely are. But also …?

Me: I just had the most adorable little girl in pigtails as a customer tell me so.

Freddie (Bookstore Duke): Aww, did Sophie bring the kids by?

Me: Yes, and I have never been so nervous to recommend the wrong book to a seven-year-old.

Freddie (Bookstore Duke): She’s six.

Me: Ha. Of course. What a smart little thing.

Freddie (Bookstore Duke): She takes after her uncle.

Me: I’m sure…

Do I send a winky face? Is that too presumptuous? Oh, what the hell.

Me:

Freddie (Bookstore Duke): What secrets did they disclose about me?

Me: Oh, lots. But I pinky promised that I wouldn’t say.

Freddie (Bookstore Duke): Are we still on for tomorrow evening?

Me: Most definitely.

Freddie (Bookstore Duke): I wasn’t sure after they told you all my secrets.

The dotted typing lines scrolled across the screen, followed by a pause. And then more dots.

Freddie (Bookstore Duke): I’m looking forward to it.

Me: You are?

Delete… delete… delete…

Me: Me too.