Leila clearly couldn’t understand a word of what Vera was saying and she looked to June for reassurance.
“Also, you used the wrong cocoa powder in the chocolate cake yesterday,” Vera continued, raising her voice to try to make Leila understand. “You used drinking chocolate, but you want something for baking.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a pot of Bournville cocoa powder, which she thrust at Leila. The woman stepped backward in alarm. Vera stood for a moment with her hand stretched out, then put the Bournville down on the shelf and walked away.
•••
The journalists all left by late morning and things quietened down. June hadn’t had a moment to rest and her eyes were itchy from lack of sleep, so she stepped outside and sat down on the bench opposite the library. She and her mum used to sit in this exact spot when June was a child, eating jam doughnuts on a Saturday morning. June felt a familiar pang of longing at the memory and turned to look into the library window. Mrs.B and Mary Cooper-Marks were standing together by the front door, talking with intensity.Chantal was reading to a couple of ladies from the retirement home, the ninety-four-year-old nodding as she listened. Vera and Leila were sitting together at a table by the window, bent over a recipe book; Vera was trying to explain something, waving her hands around with force. June smiled to herself and closed her eyes, allowing the sun to warm her face.
“I thought you might like a cup of tea.”
She looked up to see Stanley approaching, holding two mugs. He handed her one.
“Thanks, Stanley. How’s your headache?”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
He sat down next to her and for a few minutes they remained in silence, enjoying the peace and calm.
“I can’t believe we’ve done this,” June said after a while. “Until this week, the most exciting thing to happen to me was winning the reading prize at school.”
“Life could be full of excitement, if you allow yourself to live a little.” Stanley nodded across the road, and June turned to see Alex walking down the pavement on the other side of the Parade. He was staring at his phone screen, his hair falling in his eyes. June looked back and saw that Stanley was watching her with his gap-toothed smile. “Alex is a fine young man, isn’t he?”
June took a sip of her tea.
“I’ve seen the two of you together in the library, talking about books. He seems to have something of a soft spot for you.”
“Don’t be daft.”
“Time is precious, my dear. If you have romantic intentions toward Alex, you should tell him.”
“It’s not like that between us—we’re just friends. And he has a girlfriend.”
“Really? He’s never mentioned anyone to me.”
“He’s really private about her for some reason, but I know she exists.”
Stanley frowned. “June, I apologize if this is too forward. But I would hate for you to end up like me, alone and with a life full of regrets. You have an opportunity here and you should seize it with both hands.”
“You shouldn’t have regrets, Stanley. I know you’ve made some mistakes, but it’s not too late to change things with your son. Why don’t you fly out to America to see him?”
“I wish it were that simple.” Stanley looked in through the window of the library and exhaled. “I will never regret what we’ve done here, though. This has been marvelous.”
“It’s been surreal,” June said. “I can’t believe all these strangers came to support us today.”
“Oh, I can.”
“Don’t get me wrong—it’s brilliant. I just don’t understand why the WI ladies would come and protest for a library they’ve never been to before.”
Stanley looked at her. “Did I tell you why I got involved with this library campaign?”
June shook her head.
“After Kitty and Mark moved to America, things went downhill for me. I had been drinking heavily before, but with them gone, I didn’t even try to restrain myself. Within twelve months I’d lost my job, my house, everything. I moved around a lot back then, finding somewhere to sleep for a while before being thrown out, like some kind of vagrant. I even lived in a tent for a while.”
“Oh, Stanley, I’m so sorry. That’s awful.”
“But here’s the thing—wherever I ended up, and however much trouble I was in, there was always a library. A place that was safe and warm and dry, where no one would judge me. Libraries were my only light in some very dark times. And so when the council threatened this place, it felt like a threat to every library I’ve ever sought sanctuary in—an attack on every librarian who had ever come to my aid. And I think that’s why these people are here today. As Mrs.Bransworth said, this protest isn’t just for Chalcot. It’s for all the libraries out there.”
June watched Stanley as he spoke. All these years she’d thought she had no friends, and the whole time he had been there for her every single day: kind and patient and loyal. How had she been so blind? She reached across and put her hand on top of his.