The English Rose

Turkey Sandwiches and Love Hearts

The English Rose had gone through a few drastic changes in the last month including their new part time unpaid employee who had a habit of borrowing books throughout her shifts. Sales had doubled since the older woman started working there. She had a certain charm about her that had people buying more than they intended. Sales was apparently one of Bella's specialties. The shop was making a decent profit and both Henry and Hermione attributed that to all of Bella's hard and unpaid work. Valentine's Day was right around the corner and Henry was outside hanging up the pink fairy lights Hermione had requested be put around the windows. Inside, the book shop owner was moving a ladder around to hang various love hearts from the ceiling. "Love hearts, sunshine?"

"Oh stop," Hermione was dangling one of the purple and pink ones over the cashier's counter. "It's festive."

Henry took his coat off and went over to the window switching on the lights. "Is it festive or is it that you are finally in love and want to celebrate the holiday."

"I've had other Valentine's before Papa."

"Yes," he conceded, "but I don't think you've loved any of them the way you love Bella."

Hermione stopped to think about that. She climbed down the ladder and Henry took it along with a few strings of paper love hearts to the other room to hang them up. She was quite certain she had loved in the past but after having met Bella, she was sure that that wasn't the case. Bella was magical and their relationship was like no other she had previously experienced. The older woman cared for her deeply and always sought to take care of her even when it wasn't needed. After the ball and everything calmed down, the pair had decided that they would in fact pursue their relationship because there was an unexplainable connection that neither of them wanted to lose. Bella had started coming in on the weekends to help out around the shop. She was quite popular among the regulars. Bella would come in later in the afternoon mostly after Henry went home for the day because she still wasn't completely comfortable being around him knowing that he knew about her mental health issues.

"I do love her differently, papa," Hermione said with a smile in her voice as she leaned against the door frame and watched him hang the love hearts. "She makes me very happy."

"I'm sure it goes both ways, sunshine," he laughed. "Am I ever going to get to visit her while she is working? She always seems to conveniently not be here when I'm here. Is she trying to avoid the 'what are your intentions with my granddaughter?' speech?"

"I think you just make her nervous."

"Well," Henry came back down the ladder and took his cap off, scratching his head, "that's just silly."

"Is it though? Think about it Papa," she smiled. "You are my absolute favorite person and she knows that. She also probably knows that I've told you things about her and I'm guessing it makes her a little uncomfortable. I think she just doesn't want to be judged. I believe that she thinks of you as her first real friend."

"She has nothing to worry about. I see how happy she makes you. We all have things we go through daily and I would never hold a person's past against them. You tell her that I think of her as a friend as well and that I'd like to have dinner sometime and discuss literature."

"I think she'd like that," she smiled.

"Don't worry," he laughed. "I'll be on my best behavior and would never do anything to upset either one of you. I mean after all, she is an employee here now. I should at least get to know the staff, especially if she's dating my granddaughter."

"I'll talk to her about it," Hermione hugged her grandfather, "but I'm not making any promises or putting any extra pressure on her. She's been doing very well the past month."