Chapter Thirty-Three
Thirty-Three
Shelby looked up from her laptop, realizing it was dark and she hadn’t even noticed the sun setting. When the world around her disappeared, that was when Shelby knew she was writing productively. And after a quick email exchange, Claudia signed off on the idea of two competing Provincetown bookstores with romantic tension between the protagonist and the newcomer. She suggested the title Bookshop Beach . Shelby felt back in business.
Seagulls lined up on the wooden planks and thick twine dividing the shrub-filled sand and the bookshop. Emily stood on the beach, wondering why her competitor agreed to share the space. She wanted to take the gesture at face value, but it was difficult to trust Jackson Lowe. It was even more difficult, after the news from her doctor, to trust herself. She didn’t know how she was going to get through the summer...
Colleen knocked on the apartment door. She’d been expecting her; she wanted to tell her the news about the beach space in person. And Colleen wanted to get out of her place for an hour or two.
“Hey. Come on in,” she said, opening the door for Colleen.
She was dressed in baggy jeans and one of Doug’s Center for Coastal Studies T-shirts. Her hair seemed to have grown inches in just a few days. Her eyes looked slightly puffy.
“I would’ve been here sooner, but Doug was late. He wanted to have dinner together. Anyway, thanks for agreeing to meet up here instead of my place.”
“No problem. Your hair looks really long.”
Colleen nodded. “It’s growing like weeds. I think it’s a pregnancy thing.”
Shelby suggested they go down to the beach. They’d missed the sunset, but there was a bright crescent moon and her phone told her it was a breezy seventy-five degrees. She packed a tote with towels and water and cookies from Connie’s Bakery. Outside, she heard the Miley Cyrus song “Party in the USA” playing at a nearby restaurant’s outdoor seating.
“I should do more things at night,” Colleen said, kicking back on the oversize towel, resting on her elbows. “Maybe I wouldn’t feel like the summer was passing me by.”
“If it’s any consolation,” Shelby said, arranging herself a few inches away, “I’m not going out much, either.”
Colleen seemed dubious. “Really? That’s not what I’ve heard.”
“What do you mean?” Oh—of course! Doug mentioned seeing her on the beach with Anders.
“Okay, I went out last night. But it wasn’t a big deal.”
Colleen shook her head. “I can’t believe I had to pry it out of you.”
“I hardly call that a ‘pry.’ I would have told you. I’ve just been busy. And more focused on the store than my personal life.”
“Do you have any idea how bored I am? It’s your job, as my friend, to keep me posted about things like this. At least one of us has a life this summer! So what’s going on?”
Shelby felt herself flush. “I’m not sure. Something, I think. But who knows. Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I have good news about the bookshop: Justin changed his mind about Land’s End using this space for events.”
“Really?” Colleen said, sitting up straighter.
Shelby nodded. “He still has to get it past the committee or whatever, but I get the sense it’s a done deal.”
“What changed his mind?” Colleen said.
Shelby shrugged.
“Maybe he wants to impress you.”
Shelby rolled her eyes. “Absolutely not. And it doesn’t matter why; it’s great for the store.”
“Great for the store, and good timing. With my parents coming to town for the baby shower I feel like I need something to make them bullish on the store. They’re certain Hendrik’s Books is a sign we’ve stayed too long at the party.”
“I don’t know why they feel that way.” Shelby scooped up sand with her nails and rubbed it between her fingers nervously. She closed out the “drawer” every day, and the store seemed to be doing okay, as far as she could tell.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s not even rational. But I’m getting a lot of ‘We told you so’s.’”
Shelby frowned. She was surprised to hear that. “What about Anders’s book event? Were they happy about that?” They’d sold out of the inventory they ordered for his reading, and the Cape Cod Times covered it. Shelby emailed a link to Annie and Pam.
“I think their attitude is, we need those numbers once or twice a week, not once a month. And yeah, partly it’s my fault for not being more aggressive scheduling events. But the tourist traffic had always been enough—more than enough. It’s like, everything’s changing and at the worst possible time.” She put her hand on her belly and lay flat on her back, looking up at the stars. Shelby followed her gaze. The constellations were like old friends she hadn’t seen since she moved to Manhattan. She turned to Colleen, propped up on her side, resting on one elbow.
“The summer just started,” she said. “Let’s look at July Fourth as the real starting mark. The past few weeks have only been a warm-up.”
Colleen nodded, but didn’t seem convinced. “I’m sorry to put this all on you. I know you have your own work. It’s just... I don’t know what I’d do without you.” A foghorn sounded in the distance.
“You don’t have to think about that,” Shelby said, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”
At least, not yet.