Danielle
The ‘Help Wanted’ sign in the door is starting to fade with age, but it’s okay. She hasn’t been able to find the right person, and most people don’t want to work for minimum wage in the summer when there’s so much more to do. And they can make better money working in hospitality .
Who doesn’t love coffee and books in the same place?
She slides the bake case open, restocking it with the homemade pastries she had picked up from her parents on her way in, and starts two pots of coffee. She checks their cold brew supply, and sets out new boxes of tea options.
This is easy work, methodical work. Tasks she doesn’t have to think so hard about before she flips on the lights and unlocks the door for the day.
The village comes alive in the summer. It’s a prime season for tourists with kids being on summer break looking for a place to camp, but still being close enough to civilization that they can get Wi-Fi.
The world doesn’t stop for anyone, even in a place as beautiful as Adirondack Park.
The weather is mild and the mountains are beautifully green and primed for hikes. The lake water is cool and refreshing, the number one spot for fun .
School is almost out, and the ice cream stands have thrown their windows open for the summer, restaurants have added new menu items, coffee shops have started seasonal drinks.
At any given time, you can look out on the lake and see boats and jet-skis zipping by, making waves in the warm summer sun. People are on the beaches with coolers from sun up to sun down.
Lake Placid is an all-seasons kind of place. There’s something different and attractive about it all year, but the summer crowd was, by nature, lively and exciting. Every year brings something new and Danielle is ready for it to begin.
Her phone buzzes in her pocket, her best friend, Emerson, is already up and getting her day started.
Em 3: heading into town to shop for Harper today! I’ll swing by in a couple of hours!
danielle: can’t wait to see you!
Em 3: you just saw me last night
danielle : it’s already been too long 3
Em3 : Jack says to watch it, I’m taken.
danielle: Baby, I loved you firs t
Em3 quoting one direction at me definitely makes me want a divorce
danielle: I wanna be yours, don’t you wanna be mine?
Em 3: this is Jack. Stop talking 1D to my wife, Spencer. I’m the one who put a ring on it
danielle: yeah, yeah.
Em 3: he loves you, don’t worry
danielle: love you both! Coffee on me when you get here xx
Em 3: we only come for the coffee, D.
Danielle grins, tucks her phone back into her pocket, and heads to the front door. She flips the lock at the same time as she flips the sign to ‘OPEN’ and her day begins.
Her first customers are two twin brothers who like to give her grief whenever they come in. David and Frank have to be in their mid-eighties, and come with the unsettling habit of calling Democrats, demonrats.
They think it’s charming, she thinks it’s annoying, but they love to wander around and be in the store when they don’t have much else to do .
They’ve been in Lake Placid their whole lives, and sometimes will bring in antiques to show her, like today. Frank had brought in the first film reel he had ever owned: a black and white, silent film from the 20’s that was stamped RKO.
They also leave with two new books each, today, which is unusual for them, and she treats them to a cup of coffee.
Her mother says she won’t turn a profit if she keeps giving them drinks for free, but Danielle doesn’t mind. They’re just about the only ones in town she’ll do it for and only once in a while.
Her second customer is a tatted tourist who she immediately wants to be friends with.
She’s direct and hilarious and in town from North Carolina, for the weekend.
She even offers up the hot take that the Adirondacks have nothing on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Danielle doesn’t have a response to that.
The furthest south she’s ever been is Philadelphia for their senior trip to the Liberty Bell in high school .
A lot of people come from all over the world, just to see what all the fuss is about when it comes to the Adirondack Mountains. And who could blame them? 6.1 million acres of privately-owned land in Upstate New York, it’s itching to be explored and loved by anyone willing to see it.
She thinks that it’s one of America’s best-kept, not-so-secret, secrets. People come here to hike the High Peaks, but it’s not a National Park, so it’s not as big of a draw as other places in the country.
Danielle isn’t sure there’s a better place to live.
The rest of her morning ebbs and flows with regulars. Most of whom she really enjoys, but some who intrigue her. They’re an odd bunch, the ones that shop at Spine Crackers, but it makes the days pass quickly and keeps her entertained.
There’s Kendrick, the guy who confuses her bookstore with a record store on a weekly basis and asks when they’re getting the new Rolling Stones record; Dan, the man who sits in the window of the café area from noon until six every day reading his newspaper or doing work on his computer; and Tori, who says she likes the idea of books but not reading them .
At around noon, and ambulance goes by and Danielle pauses her conversation with someone she’s ringing out to listen to the sirens.
“I hope everything’s okay,” the customer says, watching it pass through the window as a police car follows behind it.
“It was probably an accident at the lake,” Danielle says, not thinking too much of it. “It happens when it’s so busy. That’ll be nineteen forty-three, please.”
Each time the bell on the door rings, Danielle looks up and expects to see Emerson coming in with Jack. They had just seen each other for a movie night the night before, but living in such a small town it was rare that a day passed without seeing her.
They had been friends since they were kids, going from elementary school all the way to high school together and only separating when they went to college.
Danielle had stayed local, going to Paul Smith’s so she could be close to home.
Emerson had stayed in New York, but had gone all the way across the state to University of Buffalo to follow Jack.
Danielle had been Maid of Honor at their wedding, and she was their daughter Harper’s godmother .
The four of them were like a little unit outside of Danielle’s blood family. If they weren’t together, it was rare that they weren’t texting, or calling each other.
“These summer tourists are driving me insane already,” her friend and employee, Cara, says to her. She’s balancing a stack of Mass-Market paperbacks in her hands as she emerges from the stock room and office in the back.
She’s twenty-four, and heading back down south to go to grad school when the fall comes. She’d come to the Adirondacks for her undergrad and decided to stay year-round in Lake Placid. She had told Danielle it was to get out from under her brother’s shadow, and hadn’t given any details beyond that.
“It’s only the first day,” Danielle says with a laugh. “You’ve got a long way to go if you’re annoyed already.”
“Just… people,” Cara says with a shudder. Danielle laughs, and goes to check the coffee. “Have you heard anything from Jet or Ainsley about how their cabins are doing?”
“Why would I hear anything from either of them?” Danielle asks. “I only see them when they come into the store, and that’s not super often anymore. ”
“I’ve heard rumors that some hot shot hockey player is in town,” Cara says, “but no one will confirm or deny. I’m guessing he’d be staying in one of the cabins if it’s true.”
“Rumors,” Danielle shrugs, “I would have heard it from someone other than you if it was true.”
“That’s accurate,” Cara replies. “I just wasn’t sure and wanted to ask. People here tend to pass information around faster than the newspaper.”
“You have to love a small town,” Danielle says with a shrug. She checks her watch. “We can probably get away with closing a couple of hours early today. We’ve already hit what we need in sales, so if you want to head out you can. I can take care of closing myself.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve got it,” Danielle says with a nod. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and sends a text to Emerson letting her know she would be heading home early. It buzzes in her hand and she swipes to a text from her mother.
mom: dad and I are going to head to your house
danielle: is everything okay?
mom: we’ll tal k
She doesn’t think anything of it, mind already set on finishing up her closing tasks and what she needs to do on her way home.
Danielle swings by the grocery store after she’s closed for the day, thinking that she’ll make a cake for Harper’s birthday tomorrow. Emerson had never gotten around to ordering one, and it wasn’t a birthday without cake.
Especially when Harper was turning six. It’s not every day a girl turns six.
She hadn’t realized how much she actually needed for the rest of the week, just for herself. Her arms are loaded with reusable grocery bags when she comes through the door in her garage and steps into her kitchen.
She grins when she sees both of her parents, and sets her bags on the counter.
They’re dressed in dark colors, which is unusual for them in the summer, but they’d also probably just gotten back from Church. It was Saturday, after all, and with their small church offering evening services it always worked out better for them .
“Hey!” she says, throwing her keys by the coffee maker so she won’t forget them in the morning. “I hope you guys don’t mind that I closed early. The weather was so nice I think more people were on the lake than in town.”
Her parents, technically , owned the bookstore. They had inherited it from her grandmother when she decided she couldn’t run it anymore. Danielle is just in charge of the day-to-day operations and making sure they keep their heads above water while her parents work their real jobs.