The Bookshop on the Corner (37 page)

Authors: Jenny Colgan

“And she's left that bird of hers outside,” said another lady disapprovingly. They all muttered among themselves. Polly felt like rolling her eyes but didn't. To some people she would always be the new girl, she knew. She moved along to the next person in line.

“What can I get you?” she asked politely.

“Have you got any of those yummy loaves with the little bits of sausage in them? I love them.”

“No,” said Polly, with a last glare at Jayden, who pretended she wasn't there and suddenly looked very busy. “We don't.” The shop bell dinged.

“Hey, Poll, you left Neil outside!” said a big booming American voice.

The shop, very small to begin with, suddenly felt smaller still as the shadow of Huckle fell over the counter. He was very tall, long-legged, broad in the shoulders, with a thick head of yellow hair that made him look larger still. Even now Polly was sometimes amazed that he was her boyfriend; he looked like he'd stepped out of an ad that would have lots of desert and cacti and cowboy hats in it.

“Seriously, man,” said Huckle. Neil was sitting on Huckle's jacket sleeveâhe didn't normally do thisâgazing at Polly with a wounded expression.

“I didn't leave him anywhere,” said Polly, exasperated. “Birds aren't meant to be
in the workplace. He should be hopping over to the rocks and trying to pick up a lady puffin.”

“Or another boy puffin,” said Huckle. “I don't think you should be prejudiced.”

Polly looked straight at him.

“Are you calling me a bird homophobe?”

“I'm just saying we need to be open to all of Neil's choices.”

“Except the one about letting him in the shop!” Huckle sighed. The old ladies gathered around to examine Neil (or, Polly reckoned mischievously, to get their hands on Huckle's bicep). When they'd finally cleared, she leaned over to kiss her boyfriend.

“Hey,” she said, breathing in his lovely warm scent, slightly tinged with the oil from the motorbike he rode everywhere. “Not out and about this morning?”

Huckle shook his head. “Sure am! I just popped in to tell you: Dubose is coming.”

Polly bit her lip.

“Seriously?”

Her heart started to beat a little faster. She'd never met Dubose. She'd never met any of Huckle's family. Dubose was his younger brother, and something of a black sheep.

“What's he up to?”

Huckle rolled his eyes.

“Don't let me start. Apparently he needed a break.”

Polly looked confused.

“Isn't he a farmer?”

“Yes,” said Huckle. “Exactly. Farmers don't get breaks!”

“Like bakers,” said Polly.

“Except tougher,” said Huckle.

“Oh yeah.”

Huckle shook his head.

“He's left Clemmie in charge.” Clemmie was Dubose's girlfriend.

“Isn't she any good?”

“She's great! She's fine. But running a farm . . . it takes a lot of effort.”

Huckle's brows drew together. It wasn't often that he looked cross. Polly thought it was cute.

“When is he showing up?”

“A couple of weeks, I think. He's âbumming about.'” Huckle gave a resigned smile. “He doesn't like making plans or being tied down by anything like notice. It's okay if he stays, right?”

“Well of course, but oh wow. Do you think he's going to like me?”

Huckle rolled his eyes.

“Dubose likes everyone,” he said. Polly looked at him.

“Is that a note of jealousy in your voice?” she asked slyly.

“Is there a new young man coming?” said Mrs. Corning.

“Oh, it's all excitement around here these days.” When Polly and Huckle had first met, he had been a beekeeper nearby, and she had sold his honey through the shop. After their first attempt at romance hadn't worked out, he'd gone home to his native Savannah,
Georgia, and worked in an office job there. But he hadn't been able to readapt to an indoor, air-conditioned, corporate life after six months in the fresh open air of Cornwall, and he had come back againâhis father had been born in the United Kingdom, which helped a lot with the passport situation. Now, with so many people downsizing and moving to the country, where they had perhaps a couple of goats, some chickens, and a hive or two, he'd become a traveling apiarist, consulting and helping people concerned about maintaining bee stocks and reversing the trend of the declining bee population. He also still had an interest in his original cottage, which was now occupied by an elderly couple who happily enjoyed the flowers and let Huckle manage the hives in return for a couple of jars of honey every month or so. It was a very cheerful arrangement.

He wasn't making a lot of money, but then apart from a bit of diesel for the bike, and a big veggie box once a week from a local farmer, they lived pretty simply, him and Poll. They didn't need much. Well, he thought occasionally, actually, to do up the lighthouse and buy out Polly's business properlyâshe was still under license to Mrs. Manse, the original owner, and had to funnel a great deal of the profits that wayâthey would need a ton of money. But they didn't have it, and that was absolutely fine, he told himself, because what they did have was more than enough.

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Praise for Little Beach Street Bakery

“I loved
Little Beach Street Bakery
. Losing myself in Jenny Colgan's beautiful pages is the most delicious, comforting, satisfying treat I have had in ages.”

âJane Green

Praise for
Christmas at the Cupcake CafÃ©

“Jenny Colgan's
Christmas at the Cupcake CafÃ©
is an evocative sweet treat.”

âJojo Moyes,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Me Before You
and
One Plus One

“Like all of Jenny Colgan's books,
Christmas at the Cupcake CafÃ©
is sheer indulgence from start to finish.”

âSophie Kinsella, #1
New York Times
bestselling author
of
Shopaholic to the Stars

Also by Jenny Colgan

Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery

Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop

Little Beach Street Bakery

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris

Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams

Meet Me at the Cupcake CafÃ©

The Good, the Bad, and the Dumped

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Operation Sunshine

West End Girls

Where Have All the Boys Gone?

Do You Remember the First Time?

Working Wonders

Looking for Andrew McCarthy

Talking to Addison

Amanda's Wedding

Credits

Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa

Cover photograph by Garry Knight

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

P.S.â¢ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.

THE BOOKSHOP ON THE CORNER
. Copyright Â© 2016 by Jenny Colgan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

This book was previously published in the UK under the title,
The Little Shop of Happy-Ever-After
, by Little, Brown Book Group in 2016.

FIRST EDITION

Stacked books illustration Â© yuliana/Shutterstock, Inc.

EPub Edition September 2016 ISBN 9780062467263

ISBN 978-0-06-246725-6 (paperback)

ISBN 978-0-06-256752-9 (hardcover international edition)

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About the Publisher

Australia

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