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“One of those cream doughnuts, and a chocolate eclair please.”
The woman nodded, grabbing a pair of metal tongs and taping the cakes up into a pink stripy box. She fastened it with a handmade sticker before sliding it over the counter.
Olivia handed her the fiver that Paige had shoved into her hand, and Paige grabbed the change. “Thank you!”
They stepped back out onto the warm pavement and sat down on the wooden bench right outside the shop to eat their cakes.
“This is so freaking good,” Olivia said around a mouthful of eclair, licking the chocolate off her fingers.
Paige took a tentative bite out of her own doughnut, trying—and failing—not to get jam and cream everywhere. She wiped her mouth with her fingers, lacking the grace with which Olivia had done the same, and took another bite.
They finished eating in silence, and then sat for a while, soaking up the sun and the breeze and the smell of the sea.
“Want to see what’s upstairs?” Olivia suggested when she caught Paige eyeing the sign for the knickknack shop outside the bakery.
“I am curious,” Paige admitted, dusting the sugar off her hands. “I’ll just have a quick look, if that’s okay.”
Olivia nodded, jumping to her feet, and they headed up the covered stone staircase by the side of the patisserie. At the top of the stairs was a wooden door, propped open with a cracked ornamental vase.
Inside was a dimly-lit room, the air heavy with the scent of dust and incense. There was something alluring yet eccentric about it all, and Olivia gently nudged Paige inside when she hesitated on the doorstep.
“Look at this place,” Olivia said with a quiet sort of wonder. “I feel like I’ve stumbled into some kind of witch’s lair.”
The room was illuminated by old brass lanterns that flickered with an ochre glow, elongating the shadows that stretched across the walls. Rickety wooden shelves extended the length of the room, crammed with knickknacks and ornaments and other curiosities, old maps and posters pinned up on the patches of plaster wall in between.
On the other side of the room was a small desk and cash register. Paige had been half-expecting to see an old man sitting at the counter, as ancient as the relics in the shop, but instead there was a woman, perhaps in her early- to mid-twenties, with dyed black haired and heavy jewelled necklaces wrapped around her neck.
“Morning,” the woman said when she noticed Paige’s gaze, glancing up from the book she had propped open in her lap. “Give a holler if you need any help.”
Paige offered her a smile before drifting over to a shelf in the corner, which had a display of nautical-themed items; a boat made entirely of carved driftwood, and some jewellery crafted from shells and seaglass. A necklace caught her eye, and she lifted it carefully from the display stand. The chain was silver, decorated with pieces of wire-wrapped seaglass and a bluish-white pearl.
“That’s pretty,” Olivia said over Paige’s shoulder, her hair tickling Paige’s neck.
“Yeah,” Paige said, setting the necklace back down before inspecting a bracelet adorned with a starfish charm.
“Looks like they’re all handmade,” Olivia said, picking up a brown tag attached to the stand. “By someone named Isla.”
“That would be me,” a voice said from behind them, and they glanced at the woman behind the counter.
Olivia smiled at her. “You’re very talented. Are all the materials local?”
The woman—Isla—nodded, the jewellery around her neck clinking as a half-smile touched her lips. “Yes. The shells and glass are all from the beach. You can find a lot of great treasures in the sand, if you’re patient.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Olivia said.
The woman went back to reading, her expression unchanging.
“There’s a lot of nice things here,” Olivia said, showing Paige a dusty trinket box she had found, the lid carved with whales. “I might grab something for my mum. She loves stuff like this.”
Paige wondered if her mother would even bother to appreciate any souvenirs she brought back. She would most likely shove it in a drawer and forget about it.
They looked around for a bit longer, until Olivia found a small vase covered in glass flowers to buy for her mum, then headed back out into the blistering summer heat.
CHAPTER SIX
After leaving the antique store, Olivia begged Paige to check out some of the fashion and accessory boutiques that dotted Whiterock's main high street.
“Let's check this place out first,” Olivia said, stepping off the pavement and into a small clothing store. An air conditioning unit blasted them from overhead as they stepped inside. “They have a sale on.”
