Page 28 of The Breakup Bookshop

He nods, pulling his jacket on. ‘Well, some of us have a schedule to stick to. We can’t just swan around with a latte doing whatever we feel like.’

‘Swan around? I’ve been working my arse off to get my shop in shape for opening,’ I say. ‘All that’s left now is an empty space for the mural that you’ve been refusing to paint.’

‘Mural?’ Finlay repeats, glancing at us both over the table.

Rory rolls his eyes. ‘Ava wants me to paint a mural in the bookshop.’

‘Did you guys know he’s an artist?’ I ask with a flick of the wrist, as though I am painting in the air. I’ve clearly had too much whisky. ‘Trapped behind the front desk of a DIY store,whichI said I’d look after for him, by the way, while he paints,whichI also want to pay him for.’

‘I didn’t know you painted, Rory,’ Eilidh says.

‘I don’t,’ Rory replies, his expression now hard.

‘Ah, you should do it, mate,’ Finlay urges. ‘I reckon you’d enjoy it. Wasn’t that what you wanted that shop for? A space to work in and display local artists and some of your work?’

Rory stands up and shakes his head. He looks livid, as if Finlay has just outed him as the customer with a wire fetish. Sothat’swhat Rory planned to do with my bookshop. He was going to take it over as his artist’s studio and shop, right next to his family’s store, until I swooped in and snapped it up.

No wonder Rory hates me.

I swallow and look away, hoping to avoid further conflict. It’s not like it’s my fault. I had a dream too. I just happened to get the last bid in to secure the shop, that’s all.

The barman nods goodbye before calling for last orders. We file out of the door into the dark of the night. It’s still pleasantly warm, so I shrug my jacket off and hold it close to my chest.

Across the road from the pub’s entrance, a couple are in the middle of a full-blown argument. A ‘stooshy’ as Granny would have said. Eilidh links arms with me as Rory fixes Piper’s lead.

‘Susie and Cormac McFall,’ Finlay whispers. ‘They’ve been back together for five minutes and already fighting again.’

‘You always know everyone’s business!’ Donna exclaims. ‘You’d think he worked in the hairdresser’s.’

‘They got back together? I thought Cormac was leaving Susie for her cousin?’ Eilidh whispers back.

‘Second cousin,’ Finlay nods, knowingly. ‘That didn’t last.’

‘Ullapool has a lot of drama, for a small place. And it feels like people really want to talk about it,’ I muse. ‘All I’ve heard so far is people splitting up and falling in love. Either that or they’re hooking up by the bins.’

‘Who’s hooking up by the bins?’ Donna asks.

‘Oops,’ I say, covering my mouth. ‘That was supposed to be a secret.’

Rory rolls his eyes at me. ‘A couple of frisky teens. No big news flash.’

‘They were outside the shop, just before I practically begged Rory to paint my mural and he refused.’

‘Ah, come on, you hardly begged,’ Rory says.

‘Is that what you want?’ I stop to look at him directly. ‘You want me to tell you that you’re the most amazing artist I’ve ever met and that I’d be lucky if you would grace the walls of my bookshop with the sheer genius that is your paintbrush? Do you want me to—’

Eilidh, Donna and Finlay exchange a glance as Rory raises an eyebrow at me.

‘Fine, I’ll do it,’ he mutters, as I continue my rant.

‘—announce on my social media page that I’ve hunted high and low for someone to paint my mural and even though there is a guy that could do itright next door, he refuses and I…’ I stop for a second, absorbing his quiet words. ‘Wait, did you just say you’d do it?’

He nods. ‘It won’t be at 8.56 a.m. tomorrow because I’ve got to see a man about a dog, but aye. I’ll do it. Come on, Piper. Night, everyone.’

Rory throws a wave in the air as he walks away.

‘See, Ava, he is lovely,’ Eilidh says with a smile.