Chapter One

Sophie tried valiantly to push her enormous set of luggage through customs without running over small children or crashing into walls, with only a modicum of success. Bursting through the doors in the arrivals area, she scanned the crowd nervously – Auntie Barbara had arranged to have her bookshop assistant, Matthew, pick her up and drive her back to Hay-on-Wye.

She'd been to Hay several times as a child and teen, but had always driven with family from London, never having been to Cardiff. She remembered being enchanted by Hay as a child – old city streets, lots of green hills and valleys, and storefront upon storefront upon storefront of bookshops. Old, used books stuffing every available bookshelf, window front and desktop. She had sometimes wondered if being surrounded by so many books during those brief visits are what led her to study literature in college as a way of recapturing the magic of wandering through those shops.

The sleepy town of Hay was a far cry from the packed-to-the-gills atmosphere of Cardiff's airport.

The only thing she really knew about Cardiff was that a rift supposedly existed here in the universe Doctor Who, and that Captain Jack Harkness and his Torchwood cronies had a lab beneath the Roald Dahl Plass.

Clearly, she spent more time watching BBC America than working on her dissertation these days, she thought ruefully as she caught her purse before it crashed to the ground.

Again scanning the crowd for a familiar face (though she couldn’t imagine who she would remember from years ago), she finally spotted a hastily written sign with "Sophia" written on it, held by a man about her same age who also looked a bit anxious as he scanned the crowd.

She managed to wrestle her cart towards him, and then skidded to a halt with a smile. "Hi. I'm Sophia. Call me Sophie," she said with a grin, holding out her hand to shake his.

The young man smiled nervously. "Hello. I'm Matthew? Matthew Royston? I work for your auntie?" He took her hand and gave it a firm shake, though with a look of trepidation.

"Those all sounded like questions, Matthew," Sophie said, gratefully turning over her cart to him to push. "Are you really Matthew? Or are you an imposter? Are you really…a Brian?"

He looked confused. "Yes, I really am Matthew. Wait, are you really Sophie? If I pick up the wrong person, or lose Barbara's niece in Cardiff…"

Sophie laughed. "Relax, Matthew. I'm teasing you – I'm a bit punchy from the long flight. Sorry."

"You really are American, aren't you?" Matthew said, guiding her towards his car in the car park.

"Did the ugly accent give it away?" Sophie grinned as she gratefully sank into the front seat of the car (on the wrong side, of course) after helping Matthew shove, twist and cajole her luggage into the boot.

"Just a bit…" Matthew said shyly.

Within minutes, Matthew had them steered clear of the airport traffic and onto a B Road, heading towards much greener surrounds and away from the bustle of the city. Sophie covered her mouth to yawn for the third time and struggled to stay awake to make conversation.

"So are you originally from Hay, Matthew?"

Matthew nodded shyly. "Born and raised, I'm afraid. My parents used to live in Hay near your Auntie Barbara, so I've known her almost my entire life. We moved closer to town when I was quite small, so you and I didn't meet much when you came for visits. Your auntie gave me a job a few years ago, which has been fantastic. She said you have…plans for the shop?" He asked with trepidation, casting a sideways glance in her direction.

Sophie discreetly yawned again. "I have a few ideas, but I want to take stock of what we have to deal with first. Auntie Barbara said the profits of the bookstore have been down in the last few years, and thought I could help. I'm sure you've done a great job – Auntie Barbara is always going on about how much you know about the books in the shop. I'm sure you're going to be invaluable as I get started…"

Matthew nodded, his face tinged with concern. "You aren't going to…fire me?"

"What?" Sophie burst out, looking aghast. "No. NO. Definitely not. You're just going to help me turn a profit again."

"Turn a profit…" Matthew said slowly. "Right. Okay. I can do that. I think."

Sophie yawned again, and then apologized. "I'm usually a bit more sparkling than this – sorry."

"No apologies needed," Matthew hastened to interrupt her. "You must be exhausted. I'm tired if I have to drive to Hereford, much less fly across the Atlantic."

"Don't travel much, then?" Sophie asked, masking a grin.

"Cardiff is pretty much my limit, but for occasional trips with family, I'm afraid," Matthew said with a tinge of embarrassment.

"That's a good thing," Sophie smiled. "I've moved and moved and moved my whole life, and I'd much rather have roots somewhere, believe me."

"Why so much moving?" Matthew ventured, guiding the car onto a different, smaller road.

"Army brat. My dad got transferred a lot, so I was always the new girl in school, or having to pack up my bedroom again. They are stationed in Germany right now, so I'm actually closer than usual, which is weird. So, I'm used to moving and meeting new people, though it never really gets easier. But I can pack quickly, though I've never had to pack to live in a different country. At least England isn't totally foreign…"

"Right," Matthew said. "You have English family?"

"On my mom's side," Sophie agreed. "My grandparents and cousins and everyone still lives over here, but closer to London. Auntie Barbara is the furthest away – she's my mom's aunt, actually, though we've always been close."

Matthew nodded as Sophie yawned again. "You know, I won't be offended if you want to take a nap. We still have over an hour to go…"

Sophie smiled gratefully, snuggled down into her seat, and within a minute of that permission was fast asleep.

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