“Oh, I’m sure. I guess I’m just old-fashioned that way,” Annie said, then their attention was snagged by the bell chiming. Instinctively, they both stared at the door. Mia’s heart did a double take when she recognized Lou. So much for a relaxing Sunday. She took a deep breath. She’d finish her purchase and head to the cinema early, have a stiff drink on the terrace in front. All thoughts of the possibility of Annie’s bookshop ceasing to exist were pushed to the back of her mind. These days, when faced with Lou—who now could only represent the mistakes Mia had made in the past—she had to go into survival mode.

Seeing as Mia was the only other customer in the shop, Lou had looked her straight in the eye. She’d given no sign of recognition as far as Mia could tell.

“Are you all right, Mia?” Annie asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I’m fine. Can I pay for this, please? I need to get going.”

“So quickly?”

Mia nervously shuffled her weight from one foot to the other. “Yes. Sorry.” Taking that deep breath hadn’t helped one bit. God, she really needed to push Kristin to get moving on the new Pink Bean plans. Find a suitable space. In fact, instead of going to the theatre early, Mia would walk along King Street with wide open eyes and search for suitable spaces herself. The sooner they found one, the sooner she could stay away from the Darlinghurst branch and avoid Lou altogether, because this was starting to do her head in.

“Is it because of Louise? You’ve been jumpy ever since she walked in.”

“You know her?”

“Yes. Her mother and I have been volunteers at the same soup kitchen since we were in our twenties. I’ve known Louise since she was a little girl.”

The mention of Lou as a little girl felt like another blow to Mia’s stomach.

“I take it you know her as well and things didn’t end well?” Annie waggled her eyebrows in quick succession a few times.

Mia shook her head. “I really need to go now. I’ll see you next week.”

“As you wish,” Annie said, a smile in her voice.

Lou still lingered by the door, undoubtedly kept at a distance from her family friend by Mia’s presence, but Mia hoped she would move farther into the store as Mia left so she didn’t have to pass too close.