Read Online The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald - Free Book Online Page A

‘Harlequin have sold six billion books. They publish over a hundred new titles a month. They’ve sold one and a half million books in Sweden alone, and there are barely nine million of us. Believe me, even if you include the fanatics with drawers full of them, it’s a statistical fact that every woman has come across at least one.’ She looked at Tom. ‘The majority of men too, probably.’
    â€˜Ah’. He seemed slightly taken aback.
    She shrugged. ‘I worked in a bookshop.’
    â€˜And you sold a lot of Harlequin books there?’
    â€˜No, actually. Jilly Cooper and Judith Krantz were about as close as we got.’
    Andy pushed another beer over towards each of them and shook his head at her money.
    â€˜So, Sara,’ he said. Their book talk was clearly over. ‘What is it you’re doing here?’
    â€˜I’m on holiday,’ she said decisively. ‘And I need to talk to someone about Amy’s house. I haven’t paid a thing to stay there. It doesn’t feel right.’
    â€˜Paid,’ said Andy. ‘Who were you planning on paying? Tom?’
    Tom looked as though he found the whole topic distasteful. But it wasn’t
right
, staying there completely free.
    â€˜Amy wanted you to stay there,’ said Andy.
    â€˜There must be someone I can pay.’
    â€˜She wouldn’t have let you pay,’ said Andy.
    â€˜But we’d agreed on it. She
promised
I’d be able to pay my way. It was completely impossible for me to bring enough books to pay her that way, you see. Not when SAS only gives you twenty-three kilos of baggage.’
    â€˜There was no chance she’d have let you pay, not once you’d got here,’ said Andy. ‘What does it matter, anyway? She wanted you to stay. And she’d been ill for so long that if she invited you over for two whole months, she must’ve known there was a risk she’d die during your trip. Sorry, Tom, but that’s how it was.’
    â€˜She knew she was going to die?’ Sara asked idiotically.
    Amy knew she was going to die?
Her grip on the beer tightened.
    â€˜She’s always been ill,’ Andy said, sounding troubled. ‘Several years. But only bed-bound more recently. It didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. You, on the other hand, did.’
    Why had Amy invited her here if she had known she might die during her stay? Who invited someone to their
deathbed
? Sara felt strangely betrayed. She had never found meeting new people easy. The thought of staying with someone for two whole months had terrified her, but there had been something in Amy’s letters, in the knowledge that she also loved books, which made her feel brave, made her want to take that chance.
    â€˜Maybe you should go to Hope instead,’ said Tom. ‘There’s a perfectly decent motel there. It might be more comfortable for you.’
    â€˜Hope!’ Andy blurted out. ‘Why would she do that when she’s got a free house here?’
    He pushed a small glass of liquor over to her. She sipped cautiously from it and pulled a face. Whiskey. Maybe it would help. She knocked it back, coughed, and nodded thanks as Andy refilled it.
    Behind the bar was the refrigerator, covered with advertisements for Coors and Bud, a string of coloured lights hanging above it. They twinkled before her eyes and reflected prettily in the mirror. It all seemed annoyingly festive.
    â€˜There’s really no reason for you to stay here,’ said Tom. His voice sounded distant. How could someone invite a complete stranger to visit when she knew she might die during the stay? It was incomprehensible. Sara took another gulp of whiskey.
    â€˜But, Tom, you’re the one who’s always defended Broken Wheel. Even when we were young, you never thought about leaving. I wanted to get away, go to the gay bars, and Claire wanted to do something big, but you … you always planned on staying