Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
“Do you have any books about witches, but not scary witches, nice witches?” Eleanor peeked down over her cash register to see an adorable little girl, perhaps seven years old, looking up at her… and wearing a witch’s hat.
“Oh, my goodness,” Eleanor said. “I assume you mean books about nice witches just like you?”
The little girl beamed, revealing a gap-toothed smile. “Yeah! I’m a witch, but I don’t do mean spells,” she said earnestly. “I do really nice spells.” She pulled a wand from her pocket and Eleanor practically melted. “Do you want me to do a good luck spell on you?”
Eleanor smiled. “I would love a good luck spell.”
The girl waved the wand in an elaborate flourish, then pointed it Eleanor while doing jazz hands with her free hand.
“There you go,” she said brightly. “Now you will have good luck for seven days.”
Eleanor gave a little shiver as though she could feel the spell settling on her.
“Amazing. Now, my first act with good luck is going to be finding you some books about nice witches.”
Eleanor led the little girl, as well as her mother, who trailed behind, over to the section where she kept illustrated chapter books. She found a few different books that the girl seemed excited about, including some that were the start to a series.
“Thank you,” the child’s mom said as the little witch plopped directly down on one of the beanbags that Eleanor had put over by the kids’ books.
“We’re here on a weeklong trip, and she breezed through all the books I brought with us in about two days.
I’m thrilled that I raised a reader, of course, but if she could be a tiny bit slower, I wouldn’t mind that. Books are heavy for packing!”
Eleanor grinned. She could relate. She’d struggled through a few overburdened suitcases because of her reading in the past.
“Well, we’re here if you need to supplement the ‘to read’ pile again while you’re in town,” she said cheerfully.
“We appreciate it,” the mom repeated, crossing to her daughter’s side as the little witch waved her over to show something in the book she was reading.
The next customer she helped was Micah Peterson, an older gentleman who had taken to coming in once a week or so to purchase a new spy novel.
Eleanor had taken to ordering things for him specifically.
He was currently happily making his way through all the James Bond novels, although she had a few espionage stories set in World War II that she thought he would enjoy too.
“Ms. Eleanor,” Micah said, waving a paperback at her. “This Ian Fleming person knew his business. Did you know that my grandson looked this fellow up on the internet and it turns out he was a real spy? Isn’t that just fascinating?”
“It sure is, Micah,” Eleanor agreed. “Goodness, you’re moving through these books really quickly. You’re going to get me in trouble with Garrett if you aren’t doing your building hobbies anymore. Has he been seeing you around the hardware store recently?”
Her tone was teasing; Micah’s frown was a bit more serious.
“That boy would agree with me that you are nicer company that he is,” Micah grumbled.
Eleanor laughed.
“You’re probably right there, although that just means that you’re both flatterers. You have the next book that you want to get?”
“I sure do.”
She and Micah made a little more small talk, then the old man headed out, his next spy novel clutched happily under his arm.
Eleanor took the quiet moment in the shop as an opportunity to work on restocking shelves.
One thing she’d learned about running the bookstore for these first few months was that every moment that she wasn’t helping a customer needed to be dedicated to doing the things that couldn’t get finished while she was talking to someone.
It was nonstop. She…
She loved it.
Eleanor had just made her way through the science fiction and historical fiction sections when her door opened and June came in with her son, Benjamin.
Eleanor grinned at seeing some of her favorite regulars come through the front door.
“Hey there, you two,” she greeted. “How are you doing today?”
Mother and son both smiled, but Eleanor detected a bit of weariness in both their expressions… and a touch of worry in June’s face too. Eleanor caught her friend’s eye, and June subtly tilted her head in Benjamin’s direction.
Roger that, Eleanor thought. It would wait until Benjamin was out of earshot.
“Benjamin Caldwell,” she said in a serious tone that made him giggle. “Don’t tell me you have already read that book I recommended to you?”
“I sure did, Ms. Eleanor,” he said, trying to mimic her somber tone.
Eleanor pressed a hand to her chest. “But that would mean that you are a phenomenal reader.” She dropped her voice low, made it conspiratorial. “Does your mother know about this?”
Benjamin’s eyes were bright. “Yeah, I told her all about the book!” he said excitedly.
Eleanor shook her head in disbelief. “And your teacher? Does he know you are so good at reading?”
“I got an A plus in reading,” he reported excitedly.
“Well, goodness gracious. That is pretty amazing. I guess you’d better go look to see what catches your eye over in the kids’ books section so that you can keep building up those skills, huh?”
“That’s a really good idea,” he said seriously. “Can I go look, Mom?”
June gave him a look that plainly showcased all the love she held for her son.
“Of course, sweetie,” she said. “You can pick two to buy, if you want.”
Benjamin pumped his little fists. “Awesome! Thanks, Mom!”
He skittered off to the small kids’ section, which was close enough that June could keep an eye on her son, but far enough away that Benjamin wouldn’t overhear a quiet conversation… and that kids could feel like they really did have their own special space, free from prying adults.
Eleanor laid a gentle hand on June’s arm.
“Is everything okay, sweetheart?” she asked softly.
June rubbed the back of her hand over her forehead, brushing a strand of her blonde hair out of her eyes. She looked a tad pale. Her freckles stood out a little more starkly than usual against her skin, and there were shadows beneath her green eyes.
June had been a single mother for several years, ever since tragically losing her husband, Keith, who had been her high school sweetheart. Ever since that loss, she had worked tirelessly to make sure that Benjamin had everything he needed, leading her to work multiple jobs.
June hesitated, her eyes darting toward her son.
“I think so,” she said, although there was definite doubt in her tone. “Benjamin just seems… a little out of sorts today.”
“He was a perfect sweetheart just now,” Eleanor observed.
June smiled. Eleanor was a mother too, and she knew that everyone loved to hear nice things about their kids.
“Oh, yeah, not in a bad mood or anything. If anything, it’s the opposite.
He’s been sort of worn out and snuggly, sort of like how he was when he was younger.
Not his usual energetic, ‘I can do everything myself, Mom’ self. ”
Eleanor frowned. She didn’t like the sound of that.
It wasn’t even June’s explanation that bothered her as much as the look in her friend’s eye.
Eleanor had experienced that sort of mother’s intuition on her own before, that sense that something wasn’t quite right with her son, Jeremy.
It had turned out that what looked on paper like a stomach bug had really been appendicitis.
Getting him to the doctor early, instead of waiting until his symptoms had gotten more serious, meant that his surgery had been routine and his recovery swift.
The experience had left Eleanor even more firmly in the camp of believing that moms knew their kids best.
“Oh, honey, that’s stressful,” Eleanor commiserated. “You’re thinking it’s more than a bug?”
June wobbled her head from side to side. “I’m hoping not. I’m going to re-evaluate after he gets a little bit of rest. Although I’m not terribly consoled by the fact that when I suggested we head home for a nap, he agreed.”
“Oof,” Eleanor said, pulling a face. “Yeah, a seven-year-old who is happy about nap time? That’s a sure sign he’s not feeling his best.”
“Right?” June sighed. “But every year, autumn comes, and colds and flus and all kinds of other nasty bugs come with it. We’ll see where we are in a few days. And in the meantime, I’ll try not to freak myself out.”
“Stay off the internet,” Eleanor recommended. “Trust me. That is not a good road to go down. I once had myself halfway to convinced that Jeremy had smallpox when, spoiler, he just had the chicken pox.”
This, at least, got a smile out of June.
“Girl, if you think I’ve never done that to myself…”
They both chuckled, which at least put them with smiles on their faces as Benjamin returned, two books in his hands.
“Okay, Mom,” he said excitedly. “So this one is about a time-traveling dog. And this one is about a pirate, but they’re not bad, they’re good, because they steal from other pirates and give it to people who need stuff.”
“Those sound awesome,” June said approvingly.
“Which one am I going to read first, though?” Benjamin asked, with all the solemnity that such a question merited. He was pondering this as he walked toward the cash register.
“At least books seem to be making him feel better,” Eleanor said encouragingly to June as they followed in the little boy’s footsteps.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Eleanor,” June quipped back. “Books make everyone feel better.”
Eleanor had no response to that, other than a grin, because she agreed wholeheartedly.
June and Benjamin paid for their books, then Eleanor walked them to the door.
“Call me if you need anything,” she murmured to June on the way out.
June gave her a nod. “I will. Thanks.”
“Any time,” Eleanor said, meaning it. She knew that she had been beyond fortunate to find her group of friends so quickly after she arrived in Magnolia Shore.
After all, she’d lived in Indianapolis for decades and she hadn’t gotten such a tight-knit group to have her back, not in all those years.
Instead, she had spent the time focused on her marriage and her family, and while she didn’t regret that, because of course she loved her son more than anything, it hadn’t provided the same kind of support she’d gotten from her friendships here.
No, her life in Indianapolis had ended in an unexpected divorce after twenty years of marriage, and practically nobody who was even sorry when she left town.
Not that Eleanor was inclined to feel sorry for herself, of course. She loved her life here. Aside from Jeremy, her son, moving to Magnolia Shore was the greatest thing that had ever happened to her. And that was even before she’d met her boyfriend, Garrett Wilder.
Even then, meeting Garrett hadn’t exactly gone swimmingly, Eleanor reminisced with a smile.
The first few times that she and Garrett had encountered one another, he and Eleanor had gotten on about as well as cats trapped together in a bag.
Over time though, they had learned that their friction was actually due to sparks.
Garrett had used his expertise, gained as the owner of the local hardware store, to help her turn the ground floor of her home into the bookstore of her dreams and, in the process, they had fallen…
Well. Neither of them had actually said ‘the L word’ yet. But increasingly, Eleanor had been feeling very L word-like feelings. Admitting it to herself, though, made her feel nervous in that half giggly and excited, half scared kind of way.
After all, she hadn’t ever expected to have such an intense emotional connection again in her life, let alone so quickly after her divorce.
And she hadn’t quite worked up the courage to ask Garrett how he was feeling about the potential of their relationship lasting a long time.
He had his own demons. Who didn’t, at their age?
And his fiancée, Maria, leaving him just before their wedding had left deep wounds, even if those wounds had ten years to heal.
But Eleanor wasn’t really worried about those things. It was all part of the process. And she wasn’t in any rush. Why would she be, when she was enjoying where she was so very much?
She bit back a grin as she began unpacking a box of new romance books.
She had always loved reading about romance and she still did.
But these days, she found that her thoughts were less along the lines of if only that were my life and closer to my life really is as amazing as what happens in these books…
Okay, well, her life wasn’t quite as dramatic as all of the books, she reasoned as she shelved an epic romantic fantasy book about a sorceress princess in a love triangle with the prince to whom she was betrothed and her mysterious and brooding bodyguard.
But Eleanor would take her quiet life in her cozy bookstore over magic and political intrigue any day.
She tended to her last few chores while some late-afternoon customers filtered in and out, making a few purchases to carry them through a quiet fall evening in coastal Massachusetts.
Eleanor was happy to help anyone find a book to love, of course, but she had to admit that she was pretty pleased when it was time to close up shop.
She had dinner plans with Garrett. Reading about love was great, but it had nothing on her very own second chance at a happy ending.