Page 49 of The Breakup Bookshop

I consider pointing out that Finlay, as a dog walker, would have no issues picking up dog shit, but I’m not sure that’s much of a win for Finlay. I still haven’t got round to asking Donna about the weird vibe between the two of them or what broke them up years ago, when she’d been so in love. Finlay said Donna wanted to concentrate on opening her business, but somehow I didn’t buy that. Donna had been obsessed with him when she was younger. What changed?

Donna takes a deep breath and passes Pete the book that we use to signal who is speaking. He shakes his head, instantly passing it back to his daughter.

‘Ah, no, love,’ he shakes his head. ‘I’m just here for the company, really.’

‘Come on, Dad,’ Donna urges. ‘Why don’t you try speaking about Mum for a bit?’

‘No, no. You talk, love. You should say how you feel about your mum. I’m just here to support you.’

‘Dad, I’m here to supportyou,’ Donna whispers quietly. ‘I’m okay. At least, I think I’m okay. But I’m worried about you.’

Donna’s eyes fill with tears as she looks into her dad’s eyes. He takes her hand and squeezes it. ‘I’ve got you, love. As long as I’ve got you, I’m just fine.’

Donna nods. ‘Oh, I know, it sounds stupid fixating on Lewis. Honestly, I was over him before we even broke up. It’s just… I’m tryingnotto think about what really matters. I think about Mum all the time. Talking about other things is a distraction, you know?’

‘I know, love.’

I feel my eyes welling with tears at the short exchange. Father and daughter, both so concerned about the other that they barely think about themselves.

‘Shit,’ Eilidh whispers in my ear. ‘Now I feel bad.’

‘I don’t want to speak this time,’ Pete says. ‘But you do it. Talk about your mum now. Say what you really feel. Go for it, Donna. You’ll make me brave.’

‘Okay.’ Donna coughs, accepting back the book. She takes a long, deep breath and looks at the floor as she speaks. ‘I’ve been looking through old photos. Mum’s in barely any of them. That made me really annoyed at her. She’s not in the pictures because she was always self-conscious about how she looked and she made sure she was taking them. And now I’m really pissed off because she’s not here any more and I don’t have any pictures to remind me of her.’

The whole room is still for a moment. No one knows what to say. I look up at Pete.

‘I’ve got some,’ he whispers, his voice getting louder as he continues. ‘I knew she hated having her picture taken, but I took some anyway. She was so beautiful, I couldn’t not.’

Tears shine in Donna’s eyes. ‘You did?’

‘Of course I did. You should have said, love. I can show you them, if you like?’

‘I’d love that.’

Pete takes his daughter’s hand again, as a lump rises in my throat. Eilidh starts to fan her face with a book, tears glassing her eyes at the exchange.

Just then, the bookshop door pushes open and Jen walks in, head down, tears streaming down her face. Donna and I jump up to greet her.

‘It’s Evan,’ she sobs. ‘He dumped me. I didn’t know where to go and then I realized you were all here and—’

‘Ah, Jen,’ I say, bringing her in for a hug as she sniffs loudly into her shoulder. ‘Come and sit down.’

‘I knew you should watch out for him,’ Donna rages. ‘Wee eejit that he is. I never trusted him. His eyes are too far apart.’

‘He told me helovedme last week,’ Jen blows her nose in the hankie I hand her. ‘Then he broke up with me tonight, right after his mum’s birthday dinner. And I picked out that cookbook for him! Said he’s been thinking about it for a while. How can he say that when he just said he loved me?’

‘Men,’ Eilidh rolls her eyes. ‘No offence, Pete.’

‘None taken.’

‘Lads that age don’t know their arse from their elbow,’ Donna says, shaking her head. ‘They’re only thinking with one body part and it’s neither of them.’

‘I don’t want to talk about it any more,’ Jen shakes her head, blowing into the hankie. ‘I just knew you were all meeting here tonight, so I thought I’d come along. I can’t tell my mum – she’s never liked him. She’ll only sayI told you so.’

Jen blows her nose again and passes the book to me.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to talk any more, Jen?’ I ask. ‘We’re here to listen if you do.’