by Kim Nash
Puzzled, Grace didn’t really think she had a choice in the matter. She took the keys that Archie handed to her, and his face broke into a grin as they drew towards the high street.
They walked down the street, past Elizabeth’s bar, before they suddenly stopped. Grace wondered what on earth was going on. At this point, Vinnie took over giving out the instructions.
‘Put the key in the lock, Grace.’ She looked up and saw that they were standing outside the empty shop on the main street, the one she’d always dreamed of owning.
‘Don’t be silly, Vinnie!’ she laughed. ‘It’s hardly going to fit, is it?’
‘Put the key in the lock, Grace,’ he repeated calmly.
She looked at the big black heavy door with the brass handles and searched for the lock. She slotted in the big iron key and looked up at Vinnie, puzzled as it clicked into place.
‘Now turn the handle,’ Vinnie told her.
She looked at him totally bewildered, her heart pounding with apprehension and confusion. She had no idea what the hell was going on.
As she turned the handle, Vinnie placed his hand on her back and gently guided her into the shop. There on the floor making a path to a huge wooden fireplace in the centre of the first room were what seemed like a million tea lights twinkling away in glass jars.
She glanced around at the vastness of the room. It felt like she’d known this place for years. It felt like home. Again, she looked towards Vinnie, bewildered.
‘But I don’t understand. What are we doing here?’
‘It’s yours, my darling! You told me your dreams and I just want to make them all come true. This is your chance, Grace. This can be the bookshop you want it to be. You just have to follow your dreams. You always find a way, and I admire that quality in you so much. If you think something is right, you’ll do everything in your power to make it work. And now this is something you can make work.
‘I’ve done the easy part. I’ve signed the lease on the building, now you need to tell me how we can move to the next step and make it the bookshop that you’ve always wanted.’
‘Vinnie, what have you done?’ Grace put her hands to her mouth. ‘I just cannot believe my eyes and ears right now. Thank you, thank you, thank you.’
She turned and hugged him so tight he could hardly breathe.
‘Vinnie, before Archie came into my life, I just existed. When he was born, he completed my life but I was only truly happy when it was just him and me. And when Mark and I split up, I thought that my life was just going to stay the way it was. But then I worked out that even though I was alone, it was actually OK and I found that I didn’t need anyone to complete me. That I was enough. That it was up to me to make myself happy, no one else.
‘Since the day I opened up my front door and found you standing there, my life has changed so much. You make me so very happy. I love you so much. It’s almost like a guardian angel has been watching over me and sent you to me!’
She glanced skywards and smiled. Once she’d started to trust in her own judgement, trust in herself and realise that she had a right to be happy as well as making others happy, she’d found true love. She’d had to love herself before she could truly and fully love someone new.
‘Mum, that’s not all! You have to follow the lights,’ Archie was jumping about excitedly.
She stepped through the room, her heels tapping on the wooden floorboards, and followed the two lines of candle jars, which led to the fireplace, where on the wooden mantelpiece lay an old, worn book.
‘Open the book, Mum!’ he instructed her. He went to stand next to Vinnie and put his little hand into his. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Archie look up into Vinnie’s eyes, his eyes shining with love.
Grace looked down and her hands were shaking as she opened the cover of the book. Hidden inside it was a delicately wrapped black velvet box and she gasped as she opened the box with trembling fingers. Inside was the most exquisite white gold ring, its centrepiece a beautiful aqua aura crystal, in a stunning setting of what looked like a million sparkling diamonds.
Look up, darling! she heard her mum’s voice say. She lifted her gaze from the ring, and glanced up at the mirror above the fireplace.
‘MARRY ME!’ it said in bright-red lipstick.
Another gasp escaped her mouth as she turned to look at Vinnie. Archie and he looked first at each other, nerves getting the better of both of them, then looked back at her. It felt as if time had stood still.
Vinnie stepped towards her and took both of her hands in his.
‘Well, how about it?’ he asked nervously after what seemed like minutes, but was only a second or two.
‘How about what?’ she replied, laughing as he grimaced then grinned as he got down on one knee.
‘Grace, I’ve adored you since the minute you opened your front door to me. I want to be with you every morning when I wake up, and every evening I want you to be the last person I see. Please, Grace, will you do me the honour of being my wife?’
Grace flung herself at him and dropped to the floor, wrapping her arms tightly around him. ‘Yes, yes of course I will!’
She looked over at Archie who was beaming from ear to ear, then opened her arms and was nearly knocked over as he flung himself at them both.
That was the moment that she not only became a fiancée, but also the proud owner of the Amazing Grace Bookshop.
* * *
Breaking out of the memory, Grace turned to the registrar as he said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, friends and family, we are gathered here today to celebrate the joining together in matrimony of Grace Christine Carnegie and Vincent Walter O’Loughlin…’
* * *
Grace’s heart caught in her mouth as she stood outside the bookshop that had lived inside her imagination for so long. She took a deep breath, made her wish and pushed open the heavy glass door. A Tibetan windchime bell tinkled quietly as she gently closed the door behind her and entered the room. It was everything she had dreamed and hoped it would be and more.
Brown leather winged-back armchairs were strategically positioned around the warmly lit room, the smell of cinnamon and spice-scented candles making it so inviting and cosy.
Grace smiled as she noticed him sitting on a squashy, fawn-coloured leather bean bag near the fireplace, a book open on his lap, reading. His glasses were perched on the end of his nose, and he was totally mesmerised by the book and oblivious to everything else going on around him. For a few moments, she just stood and stared at him while her heart melted a little bit more.
A bookworm, just like his mum, she thought as she tiptoed across the distressed wooden floor and bent down to kiss Archie. He looked up at her and his broad grin lit up his face.
‘Oh hi, Mum. I was just reading this awesome book.’ He got up and hugged Grace and gave her that special smile, the one he saved just for her.
‘I just wanted to see what it looked like from outside,’ she said.
‘Again though, Mum? That must be the tenth time today. And what did you think this time?’ he asked, far more grown up than the twelve years he’d been on earth.
‘I just love it! I think it’s pretty much perfect!’ she replied.
‘It is pretty cool,’ he said with a big grin. ‘I can’t wait till it opens tomorrow morning.’
‘Me too,’ said Grace. ‘Come on, dude, time to get you home. Big day tomorrow.’ She ruffled his hair and looked around her at the shop one last time before tomorrow’s grand opening.
The bookshop was the talk of the town. The three-bedroomed flat above the shop had been featured in a national paper the week before, which described the luxury accommodation as ‘the perfect backdrop for those looking to explore their creative side’ and since then the phone had been ringing non-stop with potential writers and authors, interested in booking it as a writer’s retreat. The French doors from the flat’s lounge opened up onto a huge terrace above the shop, which was decorated with rattan sunbeds, chairs and tables with a br
eathtaking view of the rolling green countryside. ‘Authors,’ said the piece, ‘could not fail to be inspired to write in such a stunning location.’
She couldn’t believe that her childhood dream of owning a bookshop had finally come true after all this time, and that the following day would be the start of a whole new adventure for the O’Loughlin family.
* * *
My darling big, brave girl. You have travelled such a journey, and I am so incredibly proud of you.
You learned through heartache and tears that you had to believe in yourself and love yourself and all your flaws enough to stand up for yourself and let go of those who don’t treat you right. Loving yourself is not selfish; it’s essential to growing, achieving your dreams and to developing wonderful relationships with others.
Yes, you are a mother, but that is not the be-all and the end-all of your life. You deserve happiness and to have dreams and goals of your own too.
When you realised all that, you let love into your life and I can see how much you and Vinnie adore each other. And you have a beautiful family. When your children go off into the big wide world, and have their own adventures, that’s when your next adventure can start too.
I love you Grace, you are amazing.
Until we meet again.
Mum
Xxx
A Letter From Kim
I would love to say a huge thank you for reading Amazing Grace. Grace goes on quite a journey in the book, and I feel like I’ve experienced a journey of my own over the last few years and although there are some similarities to Grace, there is an awful lot that I’m glad we don’t share!
One thing we do have in common is grief.
Grief is devastating. You think you have control of it, but then one day – WHAM! It hits you like a ton of bricks and you realise that you’re never going to see, hear or touch that person ever again. And you have to move on, without that huge presence in your life. And it’s hard. So hard! If you are grieving, please do talk to someone, please don’t bottle it up. Eventually you do learn to live a different life without those very important people in it. Grief is something you never get over, but with help, you can get through it.
I do hope you enjoyed Amazing Grace. If you did, I would be super grateful if you were able to write a short review. I’d love to hear what you think, and it makes such a difference helping new readers to discover my debut novel.
You can also contact me, via my Facebook page, through Twitter or my website.
Thanks
Kim
xxx
www.facebook.com/KimTheBookworm
www.twitter.com/KimTheBookworm
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Acknowledgments
The list of people who have offered help and encouragement on my writing journey so far is endless. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to each and every one of you, whose involvement, in whatever way, has been invaluable and appreciated more than I can ever put into words.
The biggest thanks of all go to my son, Oliver. The love of my life. Thanks for putting up with me writing and talking about my book. I hope I’ve made you proud and show you that if you want to do something, you have to make it happen. You are my world, son. I love you to the moon and back and back again!
Thanks to my sister, Lisa, who has become my surrogate mum. Thank you for your love, your support and your delicious Sunday dinners! Love you guys!
Big love to my buddies, Lisa Baker and Sara Moseley; two of the most inspirational and amazing people that inspire me every time I speak to them and make me realise that anything is possible, you’ve just got to go and work out how to make it happen.
I have so many blogger and author friends who have supported me along my journey, and who have become amazing friends, and who have taken the time to read and review my debut novel. Unfortunately there isn’t enough room on the page to thank everyone individually but thank you for being so fabulous and being wonderful champions of Amazing Grace.
Huge thanks to my colleagues at Bookouture HQ. I am inspired by you guys on a daily basis, your talent knows no bounds and your support has been incredible. And to the Bookouture authors – you are again a wonderful group who have cheered me on offering advice and encouragement every step of the way. Big love and thanks go to Angela Marsons, Carol Wyer and Patricia Gibney, who if they haven’t heard from me for a few days check in with me to see if I’m ok because I’m so quiet! LOL! To Sue Watson and Emma Robinson, my soul sisters, and to Susie Lynes for making me roar with laughter when a hilarious message pops up on my screen!
To Olly Rhodes, thank you for taking a chance on someone you never even knew a few years ago, and allowing me to become part of your company and part of the publishing world that I never dreamed I could be part of. You are a force of nature and I admire everything you have done. Thank you for your patience, your faith and your trust in me with your middle child.
To my book club friends, Bookworms United! God, I love you lot! You’ve all become such good friends and we’ve had some fabulous times since our book club started. What amazing memories we’ve made and wonderful friendships formed. I cannot thank you enough for your love and support. Long may our book club continue and long may we continue to ask ‘who was the author’ and ‘what’s it called’ for years to come.
To Miranda Dickinson. You and your #WriteFoxy workshops have been such an inspiration to me. Thank you for being part of my journey.
And finally, thank you from the bottom of my heart to Keshini Naidoo and Lindsey Mooney for having faith in me, for loving Amazing Grace and giving me the opportunity to be a published author. I’m still pinching myself! Special thanks to Kesh for pushing me out of my comfort zones and making this book be the best that it can be and for putting up with all my whingeing and whining along the way.
First published in Great Britain in 2019 by Hera
Hera Books
28b Cricketfield Road
London, E5 8NS
United Kingdom
Copyright © Kim Nash, 2019
The moral right of Kim Nash to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781912973064
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.