‘Sort of. A temporary one, anyway.’ Laura produced a flyer from the table behind her. ‘I’m helping to set up a literary festival. In the summer. I do hope you’ll be able to come to some of the events?’

Fiona inspected the flyer.

‘Of course, we can’t promise all those authors will be able to attend but some of them will.’ Laura sounded a little more confident than she felt, knowing as she did that authors were sometimes very late making up their minds and some were known to pull out at the last minute. She dismissed this negative thought and smiled at Fiona.

Fiona inspected the flyer. ‘Oh, it’s a bit far, isn’t it?’

‘Well, maybe you get up a group of you and arrange to stay over. It’s a really beautiful area.’ She felt like a travel agent selling a holiday destination, even if it was all true, and tried not to look so eager.

‘Mm, that would be fun and lots of us could use a break from our families. Can I take this with me?’

‘Of course! Here, take several.’ Well, she did need to drum up trade, after all.

Grant came up. ‘It’s going well, isn’t it? And I’ve given away lots of your flyers. I must say, people have been really sweet, saying how much they’ll miss us.’

‘Not that woman over there, helping herself to crisps by the bowlful. I don’t think she’s ever been in before.’ Laura tried not to sound resentful, but she was, a little.

Grant glanced across. ‘Don’t malign her. I sold her a birthday card once. She’s one of those people who doesn’t use us but likes us to be here.’

‘She buys all her books from charity shops,’ explained Laura to another regular customer who joined them. ‘I think she believes it’s faintly immoral to buy them new.’

‘Now don’t you go knocking charity bookshops,’ the customer said. ‘There’s many a new author I’ve discovered by buying their books for virtually nothing. Then I’ve bought everything else they’ve written new!’

Laura rewarded this jolly woman by emptying her bottle into her glass. ‘I know, you’re a star, and I don’t really mind people supporting charity shops, of course I don’t. It’s when they try to make out they’re more virtuous than the rest of us who wantonly buy our books new-from-a-shop.’

The woman chuckled. ‘So what are you both going to do now?’ It was a question they were being asked frequently.

Grant said, ‘Well I’m applying to a couple of big bookstores, but Laura here is running a literary festival. Flyer, please.’ He held out his hand.

Laura produced one. ‘Of course, not everyone on this flyer will be able to come but—’

‘Oh, that looks huge fun!’ said the woman. ‘Good for you!’