41. Friday Night
FORTY-ONE
Friday Night
STEVE
Friday evening rolled around after a busy week. Steve walked into Between the Lines, arriving early for their first, proper - as Tara called it - date. He ducked into the Biographies section while Tara helped another customer. Lydia approached him.
“Need help with anything, Steve?”
“No thanks. Just waiting for Tara.”
“Sure thing.” She gave a knowing smile and headed up to the front desk, where Tara handed a bag of books to a middle-aged man who thanked her and exited the shop.
Lydia leaned closer so only Tara could hear. “You know, if he’s in here often enough, maybe he can start helping us close.”
Tara’s head shot up. “Who?”
“Your friend, Steve. He’s back.” She gave Tara a sideways glance as Steve pretended to look at some books while they stood behind the counter. Lydia tucked some books on the shelf behind the register and pushed the book cart toward the back of the store.
Steve offered a confident smile from behind the row of books. Unimpressed, Tara walked toward him. “The self-help books are in the next aisle.”
His smile dropped. “Cute.”
The shop bell sounded. Just as Steve took a breath to say something else, an excited young boy rushed in like a whirlwind.
“I finished it! I finished it,” an excited voice filled the store.
“Elliot!” His mom was right on his tail. “Elliot! Slow down!”
Turning to give the young boy her full attention, Tara shared in his excitement. “Already? You only took that book home last weekend.”
“Yeah, but…um….” He stuck his hands in his pockets and stared at the floor while his mom cleared her throat.
“Go ahead, Elliot.” His mom did her best to keep her amusement in check. “Tell her why.”
He stared at the floor and blurted out his response. “I got in trouble for breaking the microwave and couldn’t play video games.”
“Uh oh.” Tara stifled a giggle. “How’d you manage that?”
He looked up at his mom, who arched her brows. “I, uh… wanted to see what would happen if I put a wadded-up ball of tin foil inside.”
Snorting out a laugh, Tara wrinkled her nose with a smile. “Didn’t work, did it?”
He released the most dejected sigh. “No.”
“But you liked Beyonders ?” She hoped to bring back his excitement about the fantasy trilogy he’d started.
Steve stood back and watched from the next aisle over while Tara expertly helped the enthusiastic young reader rave about his latest read.
“Yeah!” Elliot perked up. “Do you have the next one? Mom? Can we get the next one? Please?”
Tara shared a smile with Steve over Elliot’s enthusiasm.
How could any mom ever be upset with that kind of enthusiasm over a book? The microwave? Sure, but reading? Never.
“Sure do. It’s right over here.”
Steve moved out of the way as she led Elliot and his mom to the kids’ section, where she grabbed book two and handed it to him. Tara was a natural. She knew off the top of her head exactly which book the young boy was talking about and loved and which book to give him to continue the series.
Looking up at his mom, Tara couldn’t resist asking. “We have one copy of book three. As fast as he went through the first one, do you want to pick that up as well?”
The boy’s expectant wide eyes turned to his mom.
“Depending on how long you’re grounded, that is.” Tara shared a conspiratorial smile with his mom. “Either way, you’re going to love the rest of this adventure. Brandon Mull tells a great story.”
Steve’s movement a couple of rows over caught her eye. When she lifted her gaze, he winked in her direction. Her face lit up while Elliot was still pleading with his mom.
“Can I, Mom? Please?”
Seeing him bounce like that made Steve wonder if the boy was excited about the book or just had to go to the bathroom. Tara probably had him covered in either case, but in the end, it was for the book.
Steve understood why she loved her parents’ bookstore. That kind of excitement and enthusiasm was infectious.
“Yes, you may,” his mother said. Tara pulled the third book off the shelf and offered to hold his two books at the counter while they wandered around the rest of the shop.
She placed them there just as Lydia finished ringing up another customer. “These are for Elliot. They’re still looking around.”
“Got ‘em.”
“Thanks, Lydia.”
Tara turned toward Steve, whose smile exuded confidence.
The shop bell rang again, drawing their eyes as Logan walked in.
“Hey, Tara.”
Tara broke out a smile and greeted him with a quick peck on the cheek. “Logan. It’s been a while. Good to see you.”
“Great to see you, too.” He smiled down at her, easily a good half foot taller than her own five feet, eight inches. “My sister said you were in town.”
They exchanged pleasantries as she welcomed him into the shop.
“I’m meeting someone here.” He glanced up and saw Steve. They exchanged curt nods.
She shot him a conspiratorial glance. “Meeting someone? I’m intrigued.”
“Not like that.” He assured her. He walked over to Steve and shook his hand. “Hi, Steve. I have some good news for John that you’ll want to hear.”
That piqued Steve’s interest.
Tara overhead him. “Oh. John’s helping us out in the back today. I’ll go get him for you.”
“Thanks.”
Tara disappeared into the back and returned with John, who greeted Logan with an awkward wave.
Steve watched her wish Lydia goodnight, then lock the door behind her and flip the hanging sign to closed.
“Is this for real?” John almost bounced with excitement.
“Yes, it’s for real,” Logan promised. “You’ll just need to fill out some paperwork, and you can start in two weeks.”
Tara walked over to them just as John practically tackled Logan with a big hug.
Logan laughed.
“Looks like you’re in a good mood, John,” Tara said.
He wrapped his arms around Tara to give her an equally enormous bear hug. “I got approved for the apartment I wanted, and I get to work with Mr. Mitchell!”
Tara met his hug with a squeal. “That’s fantastic! I’m so happy for you. When do you start? Do you need help moving?”
Steve thought her face lit up nearly as brightly as John’s upon hearing his good news.
“Pretty soon. I’m sure Steve wants to get rid of me.”
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you need, John. You know that.” Steve shook his hand and brought him in for a man hug. “Congratulations on the new job.”
“This calls for a celebration.” Tara hugged John again. “I want to hear all about it.”
“Can we get pizza?” John grinned from ear to ear as his eyes darted from Tara to Logan to Steve.
Steve couldn’t deny the sinking feeling he felt in his chest. He was looking forward to some alone time with Tara tonight, but this was too important a moment to pass up.
Tara’s smile dropped the tiniest bit as she met Steve’s gaze but tilted her head with a shrug. “DiMonaco’s?”
“Yeah.” Steve clapped a hand on John’s shoulder. “Logan? John? Care to join us for dinner?”