Merry and Bright

Chapter Eight #2

Ro afforded me a patient smile. “I can see that you do like him. Perhaps taking small steps is the right approach.”

I let my head fall back with a groan. “I know the timing is bad. But Ro, if you could have seen him at the store last night. The way he stops and reads the blurbs on the back cover of a book, and how he smiles when it’s something he likes.

Or today, when I texted him back as I was leaving the vet clinic.

His smile, my god, it just lights him up. ”

Just then, Bright crash-tackled Merry in their basket and they rumbled for a little while, just cute as hell. Merry even gave him as good as he got. “You show him, Merry,” I said. “Don’t let him bully you.”

I looked to Ro to see if she was watching the cuteness, but she was watching me. Her smile was softer now, more genuine. “You know what I think?”

I braced myself for more of her wisdom. “What do you think?”

“I think we need pizza and wine.”

“Oh my god, yes. Great idea.”

I was at the store early. I’d given the boys their breakfast, packed up their bag so Ro didn’t have to worry about that when she brought them down later, and decided coffee from the diner was in order to get me through what I hoped would be a fantastically busy day.

My first day as a bookstore owner.

Hartbridge’s very own Fox and Fables Bookstore.

I was dressed in my sensible and comfortable brown pants, with my sensible and comfortable loafers, a fawn-colored button-down, and my umber colored sweater vest that was mostly hidden by my big brown coat.

If fall colors were a person, it’d be me. Odd, given my name was Winter.

I was going to wear a bowtie but thought that might be overkill. I was nervous but oh so excited as I walked up the road and turned onto Main Street, my breath steamy plumes, and I stopped.

With snow on the ground and beams of sunlight cutting through the clean, crisp air as it came over the mountains, and all the cute storefronts and heritage awnings, it stopped me in my tracks.

It was so beautiful.

And I took it as a sign. There was no way today could be anything but amazing.

Jayden wasn’t at the diner when I walked in, but Crystal served me. “Morning,” she said brightly. “Big day for you, huh?”

“Yes. I’m really excited,” I said. “But mostly relieved that the wait is over.”

“I bet. Everyone in town is excited. It’s all they’ve been talking about.”

That made me so freaking happy to hear. “Oh, thank you. I sure hope so anyway.”

“What can I get for you?” she asked. “Your usual coffee order? Is your aunt Ro with you, or just the one?”

“Just the one for now. She’ll be down later.” Then I made the mistake of looking in the cabinet. “And I’d better have one of those bear claws.”

She nodded sagely. “Wise choice. You’ll need the sugar today.”

“And a treadmill if I keep this up,” I added, because oh lord, there were so many good things in this town.

She slid my order onto the counter and rang me up. “Don’t forget they’re lighting the Christmas tree tonight,” she said. “And it’s December first. Main Street gets all prettied up today.”

“I just stopped out there before because of how pretty it was, with the snow and the sunbeams over the mountains. Like, how is this place even real?”

She laughed. “You haven’t seen anything yet. Just you wait, when you close the store this evening, do yourself a favor and take a look at Main Street. You’ll see what I mean. Christmas is coming to town. Santa will be here before we know it.”

And I was so looking forward to it.

Christmas had always been a weird time for me.

I would normally go see my mother for lunch, give her a gift, sometimes get one in return, and exchange pleasantries neither of us truly meant, before I’d then go spend the afternoon and dinner with Ro.

She’d usually make some joke about how she should smudge me with burning sage, then we’d laugh and have a wonderful dinner together.

Just us.

And we’d done that for years. The first time had been when I was twelve and my mother had taken herself on a cruise over the holidays, leaving me with Ro. Ro had made sure it was the best Christmas ever—and it was—and every year thereafter, we’d made it our tradition.

But this year it was different.

We weren’t in Boise anymore. We had no obligation to deal with the wicked witch of the west—as Ro had every right to call her sister—and we could enjoy the whole day together, just the two of us.

The way it should be. Ro was the only motherly figure in my life, and I adored her with every fiber of my being.

I made a mental note on my way back to the store to begin a list of food that I could order to make for Ro’s Christmas lunch.

She deserved something special this year.

Well, every year, but extra special this year. And a gift . . . I need to think of a gift.

A thought I put out of my mind as I readied the till, re-perfected the table display, made sure the mood music was at the perfect volume, and that the storeroom was tidy and the stock of all the super popular fiction books I’d been posting about on the store’s website were easy to grab.

And the two copies I had of Never Let Me Go were still there. Was it likely I’d sell both copies today? No. Was it possible? Maybe.

At least, I reasoned, it’d be amazing if I did.

With that in mind, I took one copy and popped it behind the counter, wrote his name on a holding card, and slipped it inside at the top.

Ro arrived just after eight-thirty, coming in through the back door with the basket of two very bright-eyed little white-and-ginger monsters trying to escape from their blankets, and not ten seconds later, Evie knocked on the back door.

“I saw you come in,” she said. “I’m so excited to babysit today. ”

I noticed then she had a baby-carry-pouch thing strapped to her body under her coat.

She saw me notice it and grinned. “I used this for my dolls when I was young,” she explained.

Then she lined it with one blanket, shoved both kittens in it and tucked them in so their little faces were peering out, picked up the bag with all the kitten stuff in it, and waved us goodbye.

“I’ll be across at the center all day. I’ll bring them over so you can see them, so you don’t miss them too much.

If it slows down for you, that is. It’s looking pretty busy out there already. ”

“It is?” I said, looking out the front. I’d noticed people but not any more than usual.

“Yes, Win,” Ro said. “They’re lined up on the sidewalk toward Main Street.”

“They are?” I went to the window and tried to peer up the road instead of out across to the youth center and café. Oh, they were right! There were people. Actual people.

Oh, and Jayden was setting up his stall.

It was busy out there, and they were waiting for me to open.

I turned to Ro, a little teary-eyed. So relieved and excited, but mostly relieved. “We still have twenty minutes, but there are people!”

She came over, gave me a quick hug, then pulled back and put her hands on my shoulders. “You can do this, Win. Open early. Don’t keep your customers waiting.”

So with a deep breath, and putting all the hard work behind us, I made my dream a reality. I unlocked the door, and Fox and Fables was officially open for business.

It was non-stop for hours. The first time I even looked up, it was after two.

I hadn’t stopped, not even once. There was a steady stream of customers, excited and asking questions, loving all the bookish merch, games and puzzles, and putting in requests for books I didn’t have but was more than happy to order.

It was better than I expected.

Jayden came in with a grin. “We are sold out and packing up,” he said, personally delivering two cups of tomato soup and two cheesy bread rolls. “For you guys.” He nodded to the youth center’s café across the way. “Those guys had a steady stream as well. The kids are doing great over there.”

“Giving the kids job experience is a great initiative,” I said.

“It is. Gunter’s a great guy.” He looked around my store. “Have you got any books left?” he asked with a laugh. “You’ve been flat-out all day!”

“I’ll definitely need to put an order in later,” I said. “It’s been great. Better than I expected, honestly.”

Someone came to the counter with two books in hand, and Jayden took that as his cue. “Enjoy the rest of your day. We’ll see you tonight down at the tree lighting.”

“Thanks for the soup!”

He waved as he walked out, and I focused on the customer. “Ah, great series,” I said, nodding to her selection.

“Ooh, you’ve read this? I read the first book and loved it so much.”

“I sure have. I basically read anything I can get my hands on. But book four in this series will be out in March, I believe.”

This pleased her immensely and we chatted about these books, then other books, and then another customer lined up behind her, and she frowned. “Oh, sorry to keep you. I could talk about books all day long.”

“Me too,” I said, handing over her paper bag of books. “Maybe we should have monthly book club meetings.”

Her face lit up and she gasped. “I would so be here. Please say you’ll do that.”

I’d kinda said it as a throwaway comment, but the more I thought about it . . .

The next customer put his books on the counter and Ro stepped in to ring him up. “I’d come along,” he said. He was an older gent, and his books were popular political spy reads. “Hartbridge needs something like that for us readers who don’t go out much.”

“Oh, do I get that,” I said, agreeing wholeheartedly.

The other woman nodded. “Absolutely.”

When they left, Ro handed me the cup of tomato soup Jayden had left for me.

“Have something quick to eat. It’s delicious,” she said.

“Monthly book club meetings is an amazing idea, and a great way to get folks into the store regularly. Sounds like you’ve found a little niche community group already,” she said with a proud smile.

Another customer came up to the counter with a question about a certain edition, and Ro commandeered me out of the way. “I can help you with that,” she said, and I took a moment to have a bathroom break, then to have my soup.

It really was amazing.

This whole day had been amazing. So far, anyway. I couldn’t have asked for a better opening day.

More customers came in, even though it slowed down a little by mid-afternoon. There was a steady stream of browsers and buyers, and between Ro and me, we were either serving customers or restocking, or tidying shelves and displays.

Non-stop.

Busy enough that I didn’t always get a chance to greet customers every time the bell chimed over the front door. So while I noticed that three people came into the store, I was busy serving a customer and didn’t really pay them much attention.

Until a familiar face came up to the counter. “Hello,” Wayne Clark said. He was with a woman who was clearly Deacon’s mother because of how much they looked alike. And I’d thought he looked like his dad . . .

“Oh, hello,” I said.

“Winter, this is my wife, Vicky,” Wayne said.

She smiled fondly at me. “So nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. This is my aunt, Ro,” I said, introducing her because she’d magically appeared like a genie.

“So nice to meet you,” Ro said.

But I looked around the store for Deacon and found him at the shelves, searching for something. He was shaking his head, and I knew he couldn’t find what he was looking for. “Deacon,” I called out.

He turned to face me, his expression a mix of sad and disbelieving. “Never Let Me Go. You sold them.”

“I sold one,” I said. Then I held up the copy I’d put aside for him. “I kept one just for you. See?” I pointed to the little slip of paper. “It has your name on it.”

His smile . . . his smile was everything. Like it lit him up from the inside.

Hell, like it lit me up from the inside.

He came over to the counter, his gaze going from the book to my eyes and not leaving. Full eye contact, unwavering, unbroken. “You kept it for me,” he said quietly.

I wasn’t really prepared for how intense an effect his gaze would have on me.

It made my heart stutter, butterflies tickled my belly, and I was lost to it in that moment.

Like the world fell away. Until Ro’s hand on my back broke the spell and I realized they were all waiting for me to speak.

“Of course I kept one for you,” I managed.

Great.

Just great.

Deacon and I just had a moment. In front of his parents, in front of Ro.

Embarrassed, cheeks burning red, and ignoring the way Ro and Vicky were smiling at each other, and most definitely ignoring how Wayne was smiling at me, I patted my hair down and cleared my throat.

“Deacon,” I said. “Would you like me to ring this up for you now, or are you happy to browse a little longer?”

Vicky took Wayne’s arm. “Oh, we’re happy to browse. Take your time.”

“And I was going to go check on Merry and Bright,” Ro said, pulling on her coat. “See how they managed with lunch. Be right back.” She grinned at Vicky and Wayne as she raced out the door.

And that left me with Deacon. He was still staring at me, smiling at me, still making my heart thump absurdly out of rhythm. “I like you,” he said quietly.

Oh.

Did he mean to say that out loud?

Pretty sure he hadn’t meant to. But he had. He had said that. To my face. And those butterflies that were fluttering in my belly were now a flood, and my heart . . .

Well, my heart went and said the quiet part out loud. “I like you too.”