Soul Love Read Free Page B

banged my head as I backed out from underneath the table and into an ambush of cobwebs
that had been hanging in wait for me.
    By the time I had got to my feet he had walked over to a shelf, pulled out a book and handed it to me.
    ‘“Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,”’ he said, then he nodded, turned and walked out of the shop, leaving me with a book of quotations in my hands and
wearing a fetching cobweb headdress.
    Not the most promising of introductions. Plus, I still hadn’t really been able to take in what he looked like without a book in front of his face.
    I dislodged the letter that was wedged under the door. I didn’t want any more surprise visitors. To keep myself busy, I dug out a box of felt-tips from under the counter and added Customers preferred! to the tatty Browsers welcome sign. Then I sat back and began to relax.
    About an hour later a loud ring shattered my calm.
    ‘The bells! The bells!’ Julius did a terrible Hunchback of Notre-Dame impression that he seemed to think was hilarious and I stared at the old lady who’d just walked in. With
her purple hair and bright red lips, she looked like she belonged on the set of an ancient horror movie.
    She plonked down a pile of books on the counter, pointed at my sign and said, ‘I prefer customers myself. Mind you, you don’t get as many time-wasters in the hairdresser’s
where I work.’
    ‘I’m not buying today,’ I said, eyeing the pile warily. I hadn’t worked out how to use the cash register yet, and I didn’t know if I was allowed to buy books.
    ‘Aren’t you? Well, I’m sure you know your business.’ She went over to a shelf and began flicking through some tatty paperbacks.
    Julius looked up. ‘That’s Ava. She’s another regular.’
    Ava straightened her brightly coloured cardigan. ‘I’m quite capable of introducing myself, thank you very much, Julius.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘I expect Sarah has already
briefed you about the Rampant Romantics.’
    ‘L’amour, toujours l’amour!’ Julius gushed.
    Ava was still looking at me expectantly. ‘The Rampant Romantics,’ she repeated slowly, as if I were stupid. ‘Sarah must have told you about us.’
    ‘Not exactly,’ I mumbled. ‘I’ve only just arrived.’
    ‘We have an arrangement. We circulate our romantic fiction around the village and the shop. If any should be sold in the shop then Sarah gets to keep the money.’
    In a swift move she replaced the books on the shelf with her copies and whizzed the others into a string bag. She also put down a paper bag on the counter.
    ‘I brought this in for Sarah. Is she feeling any better? She’s got to eat. Heartbreak is a terrible thing.’ She leaned in so close to me that I could smell her
peppermint-flavoured breath. She grabbed hold of my arm and squeezed it tightly, saying, ‘Mind you, I never quite trusted that Kai. He has a roving eye and a finely cut calf muscle. Mix that
with a few rhyming couplets, and you’ve got a lethal combination.’
    ‘People say I have good legs,’ Julius cut in. He stood and rolled up his trouser leg.
    Ava rolled her eyes again and said, ‘I can’t stand round chatting all day. I’ve got some heads to wash.’ She wiggled out of the shop in her tight pencil skirt.
    Julius watched her every move and whistled, ‘What a woman!’
    Another hour passed by and I was still struggling to get the computer to work when Julius got up from the chair and stretched.
    ‘Would you care to join me for a spot of afternoon tea at the café?’
    ‘No thanks. I’d better go and check on Sarah. She ought to have been here by now,’ I mumbled. I wasn’t in the mood for drinking tea with an old fogey.
    ‘After tea I’ll pop back and keep an eye on the shop for you. Sarah let me hang on to my set of keys,’ he said.
    When Julius had gone I peeped into the bag that Ava had left. Inside it was a large piece of bread and butter pudding. The sweet spicy smell was irresistible so I