Just for the Summer

by Fay Keenan

  Just as she was turning in for the night, her phone pinged. Swiping the screen, she felt her face flaming as she saw it was a message from Harry.

  Sorry again about nearly spilling paint all over you. I guess that’s worse than coffee! Artemis will love it, I’m sure. Can I tempt you and Corey to lunch to thank you for all of your hard work on the shop? 2pm at The Travellers’ Rest on Sunday? Not to worry if not – H xx

  The peace and relaxation she’d felt lying in a scented lavender bath suddenly dissipated. Harry obviously hadn’t been put off at all by her rather nonplussed reaction to his kiss. The question was, did she want to pursue this, and him, further? Having said that, he’d extended the invitation to Corey, too, which was sweet of him. Perhaps she was reading too much into it, and he really did just want to say thank you for a job well done.

  She waited ten minutes before texting back that she and Corey would love to meet him for lunch. With Corey there as a buffer, she hoped to feel less out of her depth. After all, dragging your teenage son along to lunch meant it couldn’t be a date, didn’t it?

  27

  Kate spent the next few days, with Corey as an assistant, breaking the back of the rest of the work on the house. At least, now the bookshop was finished, she could knock off at five o’clock, grab some food and relax in the evenings, although she did miss Harry’s company, she had to admit. Their lunch together at the pub on the Sunday after the painting was finished had been pleasant, and she’d felt relieved and happy that Corey seemed to get on so well with her friend. It turned out that Corey and Harry had a lot in common, from shared favourite books to liking the same subjects at school, and Kate had been content to listen to them as they got to know each other. The three of them had parted happily. She knew she’d see him again for Artemis Bane’s visit, as she’d texted Harry to reserve two tickets for her and Corey as a treat for her son.

  The morning of Artemis’s visit to Vale Volumes, Kate woke early. She found herself wondering how Harry was feeling, knowing that, in a few hours’ time, he was going to be playing host to one of the most gifted, but notoriously difficult, authors in the country. She knew that she’d done her best to make the shop look great; the rest was up to Harry. Still in a quandary over her feelings for him, she just felt so rusty when it came to actually connecting with someone romantically, she wondered if she ought to pop into the shop and offer an extra pair of hands on the big day.

  Corey was still in bed, but she poked her head around his bedroom door anyway.

  ‘Are you awake?’ she said softly.

  ‘Yup.’ Corey yawned. ‘Whassup?’

  ‘I’m going to grab a coffee and some breakfast at the Cosy Coffee Shop. Do you want to come?’

  ‘Nah, I’m good,’ Corey replied. Then, added, ‘But can you bring me back a bacon roll?’

  ‘If you promise to be out of bed and ready to get to work by the time I get back.’ Kate grinned.

  ‘Deal.’ Corey rolled back over in bed. ‘Don’t rush.’

  Still smiling, Kate pulled the bedroom door shut again and headed down towards the front door. She would go to the coffee shop for breakfast, and perhaps she’d take Harry a coffee, too; see how he was getting on.

  A short time later, having grabbed a takeaway latte for Harry, she pushed open the door of Vale Volumes and headed towards the counter. Glancing to her left, she noted with approval that the paint seemed to have dried without any streaks, before focusing her attention on Harry, who appeared to be reading something. His gaze was focused on the counter in front of him, head bowed so she couldn’t see his expression.

  ‘Hi,’ she said as she approached. ‘I thought you might need some caffeine to see you through the rest of the day.’

  Harry didn’t respond for a moment, but when he did, he raised his gaze very, very slowly.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Kate looked, really looked, at Harry as she handed him his coffee, and already knew the answer as he shook his head. There was a sheen of sweat on his forehead, and his hand shook as he took his reusable coffee cup from her. ‘Christ, you look terrible.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Harry looked clammily affronted by her words. ‘But I haven’t got time to be ill today. His majesty is due in five hours and I’ve still got loads to sort out.’

  As if on cue, Harry’s mobile pinged with a text from Eloise Padgett, confirming that she and Artemis were on route from London and expected to be checked in at the Travellers’ Rest Inn by two o’clock. Suddenly, Harry’s hands began to tremble and to Kate he looked increasingly like he was going to faint.

  ‘I think you’d better get back upstairs,’ Kate said. ‘Looks to me like you’ve caught a dose of that nasty summer flu that’s been doing the rounds.’

  ‘Joan, my assistant, who works here a couple of days a week, has been laid up with it all week,’ Harry said. ‘I guess she was still contagious before she took the time off and passed it to me.’ Harry shook his head, and the dizziness seemed to sweep over him. Staggering back from the counter, he leaned against the small table to the left-hand side of the cash desk, forgetting that it had a pile of the latest bestselling epic fantasy novel stacked up on it. They all went crashing to the floor, where, but for Kate dashing to his side, Harry would have ended up as well.

  ‘I’m all right,’ he said weakly, trying to right himself with Kate’s help. But even as he said it, Kate knew he lacked conviction. ‘What the hell am I going to do?’ he groaned, pushing his dark framed glasses back up the bridge of his nose. ‘Bane is due in five hours. I’d better take a ton of painkillers and get on with it.’

  ‘No, you won’t,’ Kate insisted. She slipped an arm around him and began to lead him to the back of the shop where the door upstairs to his flat was. She felt him relax as she touched him, but being so close to him so suddenly was confusing, especially as the heat coming from his body, although it came from fever, was doing strange things to Kate’s senses. Get a grip, she mentally chided herself. Somehow, they made it upstairs together, with Kate’s arm still protectively around Harry’s waist.

  ‘Where’s the bedroom?’ Kate asked.

  ‘Last on the left,’ Harry mumbled. Staggering through the door, Kate led him to his large bed, where his knees sagged and he leaned back against the pillows.

  ‘Why didn’t you call me when you woke up, if you were feeling this bad?’ Kate’s voice, coming through the fog in his brain, chided him. ‘You could have postponed Artemis Bane’s talk until you felt better.’

  ‘He’d never have put up with that,’ Harry muttered. ‘And a part of me just wants it over and done with, anyway. The sooner Bane arrives the sooner he can bugger off again.’ He paused. ‘Besides, I didn’t think I knew you well enough to ring you and beg you to play Florence Nightingale.’

  ‘Don’t be daft,’ Kate replied. ‘Now, where’s your thermometer?’

  ‘In the cabinet in the bathroom,’ Harry replied. ‘Can you get me a bucket of paracetamol as well?’

  As Kate disappeared on the hunt for medical supplies, Harry allowed his eyes to close again. Christ, he felt rough. But what could he do? The fans were already camping outside the shop. Earlier, he’d taken the pair of students who’d rocked up last night and spent the night in their sleeping bags on the doorstep a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich each, and allowed them to nip in to use his bathroom. He’d been feeling hot and shivery then, but nowhere near as bad as he did now.

  In what seemed like just moments, Kate was back again. ‘Open your mouth,’ she said, and before he had time to reply, she’d shoved the thermometer under his tongue. He waited for a few moments until she removed it again and frowned.

  ‘What does it say?’ Harry asked.

  ‘I don’t think it’s right,’ Kate replied. ‘It’s awfully high. Higher than I’d have thought, even looking the way you do.’ She shook her head. ‘I’ve got one of those brilliant forehead scanning digital ones that I bought when the boys were small. Shame it’s back home in Cambridge. I wonder if the local chemist has
one?’

  ‘Honestly, Kate, don’t worry about it,’ Harry said. ‘Give me the paracetamol and I’ll be as right as rain in an hour or so.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Kate said darkly. ‘There’s no way you can handle Artemis Bane’s event in this state.’

  She reached over and placed a cool hand on his forehead. ‘You’re really hot.’ She grinned briefly. ‘And I don’t mean that in a good way!’

  ‘Thanks.’ Harry tried to smile wryly but it came out as more of a grimace. Her hand felt good on his forehead, though. He wanted her to keep it there.

  ‘Don’t talk back,’ Kate admonished gently. ‘Now, you stay here and I’ll ring Eloise Padgett and tell her she’ll have to take Artemis home again.’

  ‘We can’t do that,’ Harry said. ‘He’s fully booked for the rest of this year. We’ve got local and national press coming and the fans outside will never forgive me. I’ve got to get things sorted.’ He tried to get up off the bed but was floored by another dizzy spell. He groaned. There was no way he was going to be able to stand up for five minutes, let alone entertain a shop full of customers and an eccentric author.

  ‘Well, there’s only one thing for it then,’ Kate said firmly. ‘Joan and I will have to handle it.’

  ‘Joan’s still laid up with the flu, too,’ Harry groaned. ‘And I can’t ask you to step in. You don’t know anything about this event.’

  Kate smiled. ‘I did a few cheese and wine evenings at the estate agents when I worked there. How different can this be?’

  ‘But he’s a complete pain in the arse,’ Harry said. ‘I can’t ask you to just take over.’

  ‘You didn’t. I offered.’ Kate, obviously well used to going into crisis mode, was already standing back up.

  ‘But you don’t know where anything is,’ Harry replied.

  Kate rolled her eyes at him. ‘It’s a bookshop, Harry, not the Bank of England. I’ll manage. And Corey’s an Artemis Bane superfan, so I’m sure if I need more information about the guy and his books, he’ll be more than able to assist me.’

  ‘Aren’t you up to your eyeballs in paint?’

  ‘Nothing that can’t be put aside for one day,’ Kate said. ‘And you’re in no state to go anywhere except to sleep, so don’t even try to argue.’

  Harry knew she was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to agree. Artemis and his customers wouldn’t thank him for passing on this bug, whatever it was. He just wasn’t used to letting go of the reins.

  Finally, closing his eyes again, he let out a long sigh. ‘Okay. But please check anything you’re unsure of with me. There’s a folder of stuff for the visit under the shop counter, including the questions that I was intending to ask him for the interview part of the signing. His chair’s already down there, and the water and lemons are in the fridge out the back. I’ll keep my phone on as well, just in case you need me.’

  ‘I’ll nip out and get you some cold and flu remedy and a decent thermometer from the chemist,’ Kate replied. ‘And you’d better strip off and get into something more comfortable to sleep in.’ She eyed his brown cords and button-down shirt. ‘After I’ve gone, of course, unless you need a hand?’

  Harry gave a wry, weak smile. ‘I think I can manage.’

  As Kate squeezed his hand and got up from the side of the bed where she’d been sitting, Harry struggled to sit up as another dizzy spell seared through his addled brain. As Kate left, Harry couldn’t help but think that perhaps it would have been nice to have asked her to help with his buttons.

  28

  As soon as she left Harry’s flat, Kate took several deep breaths. Her heart was thumping out of control, and her palms felt suddenly sweaty. She knew nothing about the logistics of organising an author event, and though she was confident that Harry had planned everything down to the last detail, she also had a sneaking sense that a lot of it had taken place in Harry’s head. He was a gifted bookseller, but she got the feeling that organisation wasn’t exactly his strong point.

  Walking back into the shop, she went straight behind the counter and was relieved to see a folder of stuff to do with the visit tucked away on a shelf under the till. Hopefully Harry had left enough information in there for her to get on with things. It was mostly copies of the emails from Eloise Padgett, with Bane’s requests highlighted so Harry didn’t get any of them wrong. Kate glanced towards the front window of the shop, where the camped-out students were already being joined by other eager fans of Artemis Bane. ‘So, what do we need to do?’ she said out loud, trying to get to grips with the task ahead of her. If only Joan wasn’t sick, too! She suddenly felt very, very out of her depth, and like she’d bitten off far more than she could chew.

  Harry wanted Artemis to be in his armchair at the back of the shop, according to the notes. The centre reading tables had already been cleared away, and a stack of chairs for the audience were tucked away by the stockroom. She needed to get the armchair and the side table in place, but that wouldn’t take long. The caterer was coming with the nibbles and booze at four, and then doors opened at five thirty for kick-off at six. Hopefully by then, Artemis would be in a talkative mood and the audience would just lap it up.

  As if on cue, Kate’s mobile rang. ‘Hello?’

  Kate could hear Harry coughing at the other end of the line.

  ‘Yes, I’m still here, obviously. No, don’t even think about it. I’ve got it all under control. Yes, I’ll make sure it’s all sorted out. Yes, I know where the hardbacks are. Go back to sleep. Bye.’

  As Kate hung up the phone once more, she reflected that keeping Harry out of things and in his bed was going to be far trickier than handling Artemis Bane.

  29

  Later that day, having conceded that she couldn’t keep the shop open all day alone, and then come back and run the event, Kate had popped up and told Harry that she was going to close the place early and get herself ready for the evening. As she was letting herself into Tom and Aidan’s house, it occurred to Kate that she had absolutely nothing to wear for the event itself. She hadn’t expected to be doing anything remotely sociable, apart from the odd visit to the pub, so hadn’t bothered packing anything dressy. She didn’t have time to go trawling around the shops this late in the day, but she didn’t think paint-splattered jeans and a stripy top were going to cut it, either. Checking her paint brushes were soaking in some white spirit, she wondered if Florence could help.

  Florence, thankfully, had just got back from an antenatal yoga class, and was sitting with her feet up on the sofa when Kate hopped over the wall that divided the pathways up to the terraced houses front doors.

  ‘Come in,’ Florence called through the open sash window. ‘I left it on the latch.’

  Kate opened the front door and joined Florence in the lounge.

  ‘I’ve got a bit of a wardrobe emergency,’ she said without preamble.

  ‘Oh yes?’ Florence raised a speculative eyebrow. ‘What would that be, then?’

  ‘I’m going to the Artemis Bane book event this evening, and whereas yesterday I thought I’d just be sitting at the back with Corey, minding my own business, instead, Harry’s sick so I’ve have agreed to run the thing.’

  ‘Yikes!’ Florence exclaimed. ‘That’s one hell of an ask for someone you’ve only just met.’

  ‘I know,’ Kate said, ‘but when I popped in to see him earlier, he looked so rough, I couldn’t just leave him to it. He’s got a raging temperature and I’m pretty sure he’s caught that flu that’s been doing the rounds. I didn’t have much choice but to step in. And I’ve always been pretty good at crisis management, having raised three sons.’

  ‘Well, he’ll certainly owe you one, if not several, after tonight.’ Florence grinned. ‘But back to business. You’ll need to borrow a frock.’

  ‘Exactly.’ Kate grinned back. ‘I figured you might have a few that you’re not using at the moment, and I wondered if I could be cheeky and raid your wardrobe.’

  ‘You’re lucky,’ Flore
nce said, rising from the sofa with some difficulty. ‘I was going to fling everything in bags in the attic until next summer, but I’m suffering from a serious dose of pregnancy can’t-be-arsed at the moment, so all the stuff I can’t wear right now is still in my wardrobe. Come on up.’

  Kate followed Florence up the steep stairs to the first floor, and then, at Florence’s invitation, sat herself down on the end of the king-sized bed that dominated the room. Watching as Florence threw open the doors to the built-in wardrobes, she grimaced slightly as she saw the riot of colour that was Florence’s clothing. She’d rather hoped that she could snag a little black dress from her sister-in-law and have done with it, but it seemed that Florence’s taste was a little more vibrant.

  ‘So, I’ve got quite a lot of summer dresses.’ Florence perused her rails for a few moments before pulling out a few options. ‘What do you reckon?’

  Glancing at the selection of dresses that Florence brought to the bed, Kate tried to feign enthusiasm. Colour wasn’t really her thing but determined not to upset a very, very pregnant woman she decided to at least give Florence’s dresses a go.

  ‘Let’s start with this one,’ Florence said, thrusting a pink and purple maxi dress at Kate.

  ‘I’m older than you,’ Kate replied. ‘And I’m a bit worried about my bingo wings!’

  ‘Don’t be daft!’ Florence replied. ‘With all that painting over the past few weeks, you must have triceps like Joe Wicks.’