The Little Bookshop of Love Stories. Jaimie Admans

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СКАЧАТЬ it like I do, and to retire to the beach in Cornwall. I’ve wangled myself a flat at an assisted living facility on the southern coast, mere steps from the door to the sand. It’s all I’ve ever wanted for my autumn years.’

      His words make me tear up, and I pick up my tea and turn away for a moment to compose myself under the guise of taking a sip. Pure joy gives way to a little nudge of fear. What if I let him down? Beyond a few Saturday shifts in the now-closed local library when I was sixteen, I don’t know anything about bookselling, and even less about owning a business. Is passion for reading really enough? It feels like it is at the moment, but I can’t begin to imagine how much learning I’ve got ahead of me.

      Like he can read my mind, he pats my shoulder with an age-spotted hand. ‘I was in engineering when I took over. I’d never even considered working in retail. I learnt as I went, and it wasn’t always a smooth curve, but the rewards are worth it. Seeing customers happy when they finally come across a book they’ve been searching for. People asking for recommendations and then coming back to tell you how much they’ve enjoyed something you’ve recommended. Seeing children’s faces light up as they get lost in the magic of a story. It’s not always easy – the hours can be long, the constant carrying and stacking of books is physically hard work, and you’ll often have slow weeks when you feel guilty for taking even minimum wage for yourself. But this shop has stood here for a century and a half. I can’t imagine a world without it. I’ve always found it worth any hardship that has come my way.’

      I kind of appreciate that he doesn’t make it out to be all flowers and rose petals. I know he’s always worked extremely hard in this shop. It seems like he’s dedicated half his life to it. I only hope I can be worthy of the gift he’s giving me.

      ‘I’m not going to lie to you, Hallie,’ he continues. ‘The shop isn’t in the best financial position. There have been a few … shall we say, lean years? I’ve feared closure more than once, but Once Upon A Page has always managed to bounce back, and I believe it will again, but it needs someone new at the helm, someone to reinvigorate it.’

      Reinvigorate it? Me? I do the opposite of invigorating things. There are straw-stuffed scarecrows standing in fields that are better at invigorating things than me. ‘How bad?’ I swallow hard.

      ‘You need customers. Lots of them. Something to pull people in. This is a busy little street and plenty of folks walk past, but I mostly rely on my few regular and loyal customers. Without something to breathe life back into this shop … I think we’ll be lucky to see Once Upon A Page still open by the end of the year.’

      Flipping heck. I knew the shop had been quiet when I’d come in lately, but I’d always blamed it on the time of day because my hours can be quite odd around my shifts at the pub.

      ‘But if I thought that would faze you, I don’t think your ticket would’ve come out of that hat.’

      I gulp. It does faze me. He’s not just giving me a bookshop – he’s giving me a bookshop I have to save. Or lose in a matter of months, thereby wiping out a legacy that goes back 150 years.

      ‘There’s still time to back out, Hallie …’ he offers gently, holding out a pen.

      I take it and twist it in my hands, turning it over and over between my palms. ‘No.’ I push down my fears. This is the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s inconceivable to think of walking away because it’ll be a challenge. Maybe a challenge is what I need. My life needs reinvigorating too. Maybe me and the bookshop can reinvigorate each other. ‘I love this place. No matter what it takes, it’s not going under on my watch.’

      ‘I knew you’d say that.’ He signs some of the papers and hands them to me, getting up to go and fiddle with something at the counter and giving me time to scan through the documents. Title deeds and Land Registry transfer of ownership forms. I try to read them but most of the words go right over my head, and I sign the dotted lines he’s pointed out anyway.

      ‘Congratulations.’ He sits back down and clinks his mug against mine in a toast. ‘You’re the new owner of Once Upon A Page. How does it feel?’

      ‘Like I could do with a few books on how to run an ailing bookshop?’

      He laughs as the bell above the door jingles the arrival of a customer. Buntingorden is always active. We’re in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and tourists love the quaint charm of the high street. People come for holidays in the hills of the surrounding area, the scenery is beautiful, there are plenty of rivers and lakes that make popular holiday spots, and the walks are endless and loved by locals and tourists alike.

      The customer comes over and asks if Robert’s got a book I’ve never heard of, and he thinks for a moment and then directs him to aisle seven and tells him to look on the third shelf along at the bottom, and I can’t help but be impressed that he could know that without looking it up on whatever stock system he uses.

      He must notice because he laughs again. ‘When you’ve worked here for over forty years, you’ll know the place like a well-read book too … I’ll leave you the basic instructions, but I don’t want to tell you what to do. This is your bookshop now. I want you to put your stamp on it and do things your way. It’s survived for so many years because new people do fresh things and keep it up to date. Your generation understand what people want better than this old fogey does. You can do whatever you want to make sure it stays here for centuries more.’

      It makes me feel a bit teary again as he sorts out the paperwork, keeps what he has to file with his solicitor and gives me the relevant documents that I need. I get the feeling he’s been preparing for this day for a long time.

      He disappears into the shelves and hobbles back with a book from the Nineties about how to succeed in retail and gives it to me as a present because it’s the closest thing he’s got to ‘How To Run A Bookshop’, a fictional book that I really wish existed.

      He hands it to me with an aged grin. ‘I hope the old place brings you as much happiness as it’s brought me, Hallie. I have a sneaking suspicion it will.’

      It makes me feel more excited than I’ve ever been before and more nervous too. Everything in my life has always gone wrong and I can’t help worrying that this is destined to be the same. It’s more than I ever dreamed of and I don’t know how I can ever be worthy of continuing the sprinkling of magic this shop brings to our little corner of the world.

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