CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Okay, but Irene.” Faith inhaled deeply. “You understand how that isn’t good for business. You may only ‘borrow’ five dollars a day, but you work five days a week. That’s a hundred dollars a month. Twelve hundred a year.”
“Doesn’t seem like that much.”
“But if I could buy and resell books with that twelve hundred, the store could earn thousands. So you see, it’s not just the five dollars you’re taking now, it’s the profit we could make spending that five somewhere else.”
Irene huffed. “Your mom and I had an understanding.”
“Was that a spoken understanding? Did you actually ask for permission, and she granted it?”
“We were such good friends. I didn’t feel the need to formalize it.”
There was probably a half-truth in there somewhere. Knowing her mother, she probably did know what Irene was doing but was too nice to put the kibosh on it.
“That’s what I thought,” Faith said. “You understand it’s got to stop, right?”
“Well, I never.” Irene threw her nose in the air. “I’m going home to think this over. I may have to reevaluate my position here.”
“I’d hate to lose you. But do what you feel you must.” Faith refused to be blackmailed just because she and her mom had been friends.
Irene grabbed her coat and her stolen coffee and stormed out. Faith guessed it would only take one afternoon with her husband to bring her back.
Until then, Faith would have to fill in. She was behind the counter, working the cash register, when Nick came in. Tiger jumped up next to her as if angling for a better view.
“Oh, sure. Now you show up. Where were you for that last convo?” she muttered to the cat as Nick approached.
“Long time no see,” she said. It had only been an hour since she left him at the coffee shop. She hesitated to read too much into why he might be here already, but it couldn’t be a bad sign.
“My surgery’s next week,” he said. “Gotta stock up on books, since I’ll be back in bed for a while.”
Oh, yeah. That made sense. So he wasn’t here to ask her out or declare his reciprocal “like” for her. Bummer.
“You workin’ the counter today?”
“By default,” she said. “I had a chat with Irene—told her Page Turners could no longer support her coffee habit—and she left early to ‘reevaluate her situation.’”
“She thinks she should be able to keep taking money?”
“Claimed there was an unspoken agreement between her and my mom.” Faith put unspoken in air quotes. “And to be honest, my mom probably did know, but she wouldn’t have the heart to say anything. Jesse wasn’t actually wrong about her being a pushover.”
“What will you do if she doesn’t come back?”
Faith shrugged. “Hire someone new, I guess. You have a lot of free time. You need a job?”
“What do you mean? My daily schedule is packed,” he said. “I walk to town, get coffee, read in the park, then have lunch at the diner.” He stopped. “Wow, I just realized I’m a young Mr. Huckabee.”
“You’re much better looking,” Faith said. “And you can hear.”
“Yes, well. I already have a job.” He crinkled his nose. “What’s that smell?”
“Oh, I put some essential oils in an air diffuser. They’re good for you.”
“If you say so.”
“It’s scientifically proven. Look it up. I got some new crystals in too. You should try one for healing.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna pass on that.” He smirked.
The bells on the door jangled, and Denver walked in. He’d called a few times since sending the flowers, but Faith had successfully avoided a conversation. With Irene gone, there was no escape.
“Traitor,” she mumbled as Tiger jumped off the counter and headed down the hall. Nick wandered to a nearby shelf of nonfiction but covertly glanced in their direction.
“Hey, Faith,” Denver greeted. “I stopped by for a haircut, and they said you weren’t taking appointments anymore.”
Faith was tempted to flirt with Denver to see if Nick would get jealous, but her conscience thumped her on the head and said no.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m trying to get this place on track first. Then maybe I’ll take on more hours at the salon. Sorry about that.”
“S’okay.” His eyes darted around the store and, spotting Nick, he lowered his voice. “I also wanted to ask if you were free tomorrow night. There’s a new movie at the Reel Deal. Thought we could check it out.”
Amara’s recommendation to date him flitted through Faith’s mind. But now that push was shoving, she couldn’t do it. A, she didn’t want to, and B, making Denver think he had a shot would be unfair to him.
“I—”
“I’m heading out, Faith,” Nick called. “But I’ll see you tomorrow night at Tess’s?”
An involuntary sigh of relief gushed from her lips. “Yep. I’ll be there.” She waved as Nick left.
“Oh, you already have plans,” Denver said. “That’s cool. Maybe some other time.”
Nick had saved her. Given her an excuse to back out gracefully. And she could have left it at that. Could have let Denver leave clinging to hope that maybe, someday, she’d go out with him. But Tess was right. It was wrong to keep leading him on.
“Denver, you’re a really nice guy, and I appreciate the offer,” Faith said. “But I don’t want to risk our friendship by getting involved. I think it’s best that we don’t date.” Okay, so, perhaps not the firmest of noes, but pretty good for a first timer.
“That’s fair,” he said. “And thank you for being honest. Talk to you later.” He made a beeline for the door, like he couldn’t get out of the store fast enough. She felt bad, but had to admit, it would be better in the long run.
Five minutes after Denver left, Nick returned.
“What. Did ya hide in the bushes until you saw him leave?”
“No,” he said. “Just took a walk around the block. Sorry if I overstepped, but you didn’t look too excited about his offer.”
“It’s fine.” She waved a hand dismissively. “I handled it.”
“So, listen. I was thinking about what you said last night.”
“About how I like you?”
He chuckled. “Yes, that. You know if we get involved, it’s only temporary, right? That I’m going back to Boston as soon as I can walk without a cane.”
“I understand that, yes.”
“Anything we do will be short term. Just for fun. To kill some time.”
“If this is your way of asking me out,” she said, “your technique could use some work.”
He rolled his eyes. “I just want to be sure we know the ground rules. That way no one gets hurt.”
“I’ll be fine, Nick. What about you?”
“I’ll be fine too. So, unless you said yes to Denver, do you wanna grab dinner tomorrow? Tess is off doing her campout thing. Plus, it’s really the only time I have before surgery.”
“So pragmatic,” she said. “I can totally tell you and Tess are related.”
“Is that a yes?”
Before she could give it much thought, the answer was already leaving her mouth. “Yes.” Hopefully, this wouldn’t turn into one of those things she jumped into without thinking and regretted later.
“Cool.” He bought a stack of books and left.
Thirty minutes later, Ruby showed up for work, and Faith had a second awkward conversation about “borrowing” from the till. Ruby broke down in tears, instantly contrite, telling Faith there were extenuating circumstances, and it had only happened once. She claimed to have paid it back the next week, and Faith believed her. If that made her a gullible fool, so be it.
She spent the rest of the day in her office, making plans. It was only September, but the holiday gift-buying season was quickly approaching, and she was already thinking ahead.
The summer tourists had departed, taking a sizable chunk of revenue with them, but the lull was temporary. The next big rush was late fall when people came for the autumn leaves. That was followed by Christmastime when they came to vacation in a cozy cabin in the snowy woods. Faith saw the break as the perfect opportunity to change things up.
Each night after closing, she’d sneak around like a Christmas elf to rearrange bookshelves, stock new merchandise, and set up displays of new products.
That evening, after Ruby left, Faith hauled out the totes of seasonal décor she’d found in the break room to swap out the summer motif for oranges, reds, and browns. With Tiger’s help, she decorated the reading space in the front corner with fall garlands, apple cider-scented candles, and a variety of fake pumpkins. Finally, she stacked fall-themed books on the center table.
“Ta-da,” she said when finished. “Looks perfect.”
Tiger showed his agreement by leaping onto one of the chairs, curling up, and promptly falling asleep.
“You’ll let me know if you change your mind and want to come home with me, right?”
Tiger didn’t budge.
“I take it tonight’s not that night.”
She packed up her stuff and headed home, returning late. The empty pizza box on the counter told her Hope had talked her dad into ordering in. At least they’d figured out dinner on their own. It wasn’t great for her dad’s heart issues, but for now, she’d count it as progress.