BooksBarbecue
Back The Library
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. THE LIBRARY
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. Questions for your Book Club
  55. Acknowledgements
  56. About the Author
  57. Become an Aria Addict

Two nights turned into two weeks. They spent their time in a companionable silence reading their respective books. It was what they did after he’d done some revision – it was an easy routine they had slotted into. Reading with a brief interval for drinks, tea for her and Coke for him, and a discussion about the latest book club read that Maggie was enjoying. She studied the edge of the paperback. ‘I’ll have finished it by tomorrow. You can read it after me if you like?’ suggested Maggie.

Tom was nearing the end of his latest romance. Maggie was enjoying sharing suggestions with him but even though he was branching out into other genres it was nice to see that he still had a soft spot for the romantic novels that had got him hooked on reading.

‘I might,’ he said with a sigh. He picked up his book and almost immediately put it down again. ‘You don’t read much about alcoholics,’ he said. ‘You know, in novels. Why do you think that is?’

‘They don’t make the best heroes.’

‘I guess.’ Tom picked his book back up.

She watched him for a moment. He was stretched out on the sofa, his head resting on the arm one end and his feet against the other. ‘Nobody starts out intending to be an alcoholic, Tom. It’s nobody’s choice.’

There was a long delay before he replied. ‘But he’s choosing to be one now.’

Maybe she wasn’t explaining it well enough. She didn’t want to fall out with Tom over it. They resumed their reading; each delving into other worlds where they could switch off from being themselves and most importantly avoid the things in the real world they could do nothing to alter.

*

On Saturday they got the bus into Compton Mallow together and Tom seemed to be on red alert in case he saw his father. Maggie was ready for the man, having rehearsed her side of the conversation a number of times in her head, but there was no sign of him. He hadn’t called again either. Maggie wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad one. Tom had no signal on his phone when he was at Providence Farm but he’d had no text messages either. She loved having Tom to stay but she knew deep down he should be with his father.