The Oddest Little Romance Shop

by Beth Good

Genres: Women's Fiction; Romance; Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

'I love Beth Good's quirky style!' - Katie Fforde Izzie has the perfect plan for a perfect life. Work hard, get married, settle down, start a family. But when a mysterious Valentine's day card arrives, asking in a bold scrawl, 'Will you marry me?', it upends everything. Because Izzie thought she'd found Mr Right - and the card isn't from him. Puzzled, she sets out to discover the identity of her secret admirer . . . and is shocked by the truth. Torn in two directions, Izzie doesn't know what to do. Should she stick to the plan, or is it time to take life in a bold new direction? Another quirky, charming novella in the 'Oddest Little Shop' series from popular romantic comedy writer Beth Good.

Release date: August 30, 2018

Publisher: Quercus Publishing

Print pages: 96

Sample

Izzie put her hands over her eyes and counted to ten. ‘One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . .’ She paused, momentarily distracted by a buzzing sound near her head. ‘Erm, five . . . six . . . seven . . . ei—’

A voice said softly, ‘Don’t move.’

Obediently Isabel froze, hands still covering her eyes, mouth wide open, mid-eight. For she knew that voice.

‘Keep perfectly still. It’s a bee.’

She forgot all about counting to ten and gave a little squeak of fear. She hated insects. Especially insects that stung.

‘A b . . . bee?’

‘Like I said, don’t move.’

She felt a gentle wafting of air over her cheek, then he murmured, ‘You can open your eyes now. It’s gone.’

Izzie lowered her hands and opened her eyes.

She saw a pale, slightly freckled face and a broad jaw. Thick dark hair with an uneven fringe. Long gangly arms and legs, and a skinny body between them.

Lewis. The boy who sat beside her in class and sometimes shared books with her, or helped Izzie sharpen her pencil in the teacher’s big desk sharpener that she found awkward to use.

‘Thanks,’ she whispered, staring at him.

‘No problem.’

‘Was it really a bee?’

He nodded solemnly. ‘A big one.’ He made a gesture with his hands as though describing its size. ‘A bumblebee.’

She shuddered. ‘Double thank you, then.’

‘You’re welcome.’

She liked Lewis. And though he did not say much, and especially nothing like, ‘Can we be best friends?’ as a girl might have said, Izzie knew Lewis liked her too. She could see it in his large dark eyes and his shy smile, and the way he often waited for her after class so they could walk to the school gate together.

He frowned slightly. ‘Though bees don’t sting unless you threaten them. That’s wasps.’

‘I hate wasps.’

He nodded. ‘Me too. But this was a bee.’

She tidied her hair. ‘I was meant to be playing hide-and-seek.’

‘Can I play too?’

Izzie hesitated. ‘It’s girls only.’ His face fell, and she bit her lip. ‘But I’m sure you can join in if we ask nicely.’

But Lewis shook his head, already backing away. ‘Doesn’t matter.’

‘I can ask for you.’

‘I’ve changed my mind.’ He grinned suddenly, hair falling into his eyes as he tilted his head to look back at her. ‘But thanks, Izzie.’

She nodded, a little disappointed when he turned and ran back to his friends in the playground. She thought about the way he had said her name. Izzie. Not the stuffy Isabel the teacher always used. Izzie. Like they were already best friends.

Lewis had to go and help with the summer mural they were putting up in the hall, so she did not see him for the rest of the afternoon. Numeracy had never seemed so dull. She sucked on the end of her pencil and stared out of the window. Bees came to the glass and droned there, buzzing hopefully against the half-open windows, and the teacher jumped up to close them.

Izzie remembered how Lewis had wafted the bee away so bravely. Hadn’t he been scared that he would get stung?

When the bell rang for the end of school, she grabbed her cardigan and rucksack, and ran wildly to the back entrance of the school.

Sure enough, Lewis was there, waiting for her.

‘Hey,’ she said breathlessly, nearly tripping over in her haste to join him.

He nodded, looking casual. ‘Hey.’

‘You want to walk to the gate with me?’

‘Sure.’

There was a long sunlit path from the entrance to the school gates where the parents waited, and as usual it was packed with kids spilling out of classrooms and heading home.

Lewis walked easily, long arms swinging by his sides. He kicked a pebble and they both watched as it bounced away.

Suddenly bold, Izzie caught his hand and squeezed it.

He stopped dead and gazed at her in amazement. Then turned his head to stare down at their hands, the two of them joined together like a man and woman about to get married.

‘What did you do that for?’

She shrugged her shoulders blithely. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Let go.’

Izzie held her breath for a moment, staring back at him, then shook her head mutinously. ‘No.’

His eyes widened, then he tried to pull away. But she held fast, clamping her fingers tight round his hand and leaning back like a dog refusing to let go of a stick.

‘Izzie,’ he said in gasping panic, ‘everyone can . . . can see.’

‘See what?’

‘THAT WE’RE HOLDING HANDS!’

Heads turned curiously at his high-pitched yelp, and Lewis’s eyes widened even further. His face was flushed and there was sweat on his forehead.

‘Please let go, Izzie,’ he begged her.

She did not know why, but she shook her head stubbornly. ‘Nobody’s looking. And I like holding hands,’ she explained. ‘Why don’t you?’

‘Because . . . because . . . I don’t want a girlfriend!’

She stared, speechless. Was that what they were doing by holding hands? Becoming boyfriend and girlfriend? Was that what she wanted?

She imagined him wafting away that bee while her eyes were closed, then leaning forward to kiss her.

Oh!

Her tummy felt funny, and she knew that was indeed what she wanted. For her and Lewis to be boyfriend and girlfriend.

Only she did not quite know how it worked.

Or what it really meant.

But she knew it sounded perfect.

‘Hey, Lewis, you going out with Isabel now?’ one of the other boys shouted, deliberately shoving into him as he passed.

Sally from the next table in her class had heard the sudden burst of laughter and turned to stare. She gasped at the sight of them standing with hands locked, then nudged her best friend, Plum. The two girls giggled, heads together, then stopped and chanted loudly, ‘Izzie and Lewis sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!’

Now everyone was staring. There was no way they were coming back from this, Izzie thought in sudden consternation.

Lewis, red as a beetroot, wrenched his hand away from her loosening grip and ran for the school gates.

Horrified and pretty scarlet-cheeked herself, Izzie ran after him. ‘I’m sorry,’ she shouted. ‘Really sorry! I didn’t mean it like that. Please come back.’

But there was no chance to apologise properly.

His parents were already there at the gate to collect him, she saw as she drew closer. His dad was pushing a buggy, and she could see a tiny, dark-haired figure in it: Lewis’s baby sister. His mum bent to give Lewis a hug, then his dad hugged him too, ruffling his dark hair as Lewis muttered something that made them both laugh. Then they began to walk away together, his dad still in charge of the buggy.

Lewis and his family lived quite close to the school. Izzie knew she could run all the way home after him and still get back to the school gates before her own mum even noticed that she had disappeared. Her mum was often late because she was coming straight from work on the bus.

But Lewis glanced. . .