Read The Bookshop on the Corner for Free Online Page B

cheese Nina had never tasted before, smothered in homemade chutney, with a crisp pickled onion on the side. She smiled to see it; she really was starving, and Alasdair’s face was friendly and kind.
    Suddenly, together with the smooth beer, the meal made perfect sense, and she consumed it all sitting at the bar, her book propped in front of her.
    Alasdair beamed approvingly. “I like a girl who enjoys herfood,” he said. “That’s our cheese, you know. Got some goats up on the moor.”
    â€œWell, it’s lovely,” said Nina appreciatively.
    The door creaked open behind her and she turned around. Another old man, heavyset, with deep wrinkles around his blue eyes and an old hat entered the bar. He sounded gruff.
    â€œHas that bus been through?” he said.
    â€œAye, Wullie!” said one of the other men. “Here’s your latest van buyer!”
    Wullie looked at Nina and his cheery face turned suddenly grave.
    â€œYouse are having me on?” he said to his jubilant companions.
    â€œUh, hello?” said Nina nervously. “Are you Mr. Findhorn?”
    â€œMmm,” said Wullie. “Aye.”
    â€œI answered your ad.”
    â€œI know . . . I didn’t realize you were a young lass, though.”
    Nina bit her lip crossly. “Well, I’m a young lass with a driver’s license,” she said.
    â€œAye, I’m sure, but . . .” His brow furrowed. “I’m not . . . I mean, I was expecting someone a bit older, like. Maybe from a trucking company.”
    â€œHow do you know I’m not from a trucking company?”
    There was a pause in the quiet bar. On the other side, underneath the taps, there was a kind of squirming, groaning noise, and Nina realized there must be a dog back there.
    Wullie thought it over.
    â€œAre you from a trucking company?” he said finally.
    â€œNo,” said Nina. “I’m a librarian.”
    The two old men cackled like Statler and Waldorf, until Nina had to give them her special “silence in the library” look.She was starting to lose patience. Ten minutes ago she’d been all ready to call it off and go home. Now she wanted to show this stupid man she was perfectly capable of whatever he didn’t think she was capable of.
    â€œIs this van for sale or not?” she said loudly.
    Wullie took his hat off and nodded at Alasdair, who poured him a pint of something called 80 Shilling.
    â€œAye,” he said in a resigned voice. “I can let you have a test drive in the morning.”

    Nina felt suddenly exhausted as Alasdair showed her up to a small, basic, but very clean and tidy whitewashed room with bare floorboards. It looked out over the back of the pub, away from the village and across the great dipping hills beyond, the sun only now making its way below the horizon.
    There were loads of birds chattering around the window, but apart from that there was absolutely no noise; a distant car, maybe, but no traffic, no sirens, no garbage trucks or people shouting out on the street or neighbors having a party.
    She sniffed the air. It was so fresh and clean it made her head spin. She swallowed a glass of tap water; it was freezing cold and utterly refreshing.
    She had thought she would lie awake in the comfortable white-linened bed and draw up a list of pros and cons and things that might help her decide what she should do next. Instead, with the birds still singing outside the window, she was fast asleep by the time her head hit the pillow.

    â€œWhat kind of sausage do you want?”
    Nina shrugged. She didn’t know how many kinds of sausages they had.
    â€œWhichever’s best.”
    The landlord smiled. “Okay then. We’ll give you some Lorne sausage from Wullie’s pigs. That’ll be fitting.”
    Nina had slept like the dead until something had woken her like an alarm clock at 7 A.M. Peering blearily out of the little dormer window, she had realized