20. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
Betty
T he bright sunlight streams through the small bookstore window midday, yet all I can think about is last evening. Olivia and I sat on the pier until two in the morning. It’s been too long since we’ve last done that.
It used to be a weekly ritual whenever our shifts aligned with closing. We’ve gotten away from it. Rather, I’ve gotten away from it. Another shift in my life that I somehow thought was a good idea.
My mother’s voice nags in the back of my head. About time you left that bar. And those people. You can do better. You are better.
She’d been screaming at me with versions of the same thing for years. I’ve always ignored her advice. I’ve embraced taking a different path from hers, fighting her every step of the way. I carried my teenage rebel years well into my twenties.
But things shifted last year. After Laredo, after what I went through, her words took on a different weight, a perspective I never thought I’d see. Her words penetrated, no longer sounding cynical or alarmist but protective and smart.
The store is eerily quiet. It normally is midday. We typically get a morning rush when people first head to the beach. The stack of paperbacks near the register featuring the hottest new releases and beach reads usually gets picked over.
But by midday, like now, it becomes stone silent before filling again late afternoon when the sun sets.
I straighten the display of Ricco’s autographed memoir just to keep busy. Tonight, there is another event with him, another food drive collection. I’m not counting on Laredo making an appearance. His one-letter response to my text last night said it all.
Laredo – K
An image of him celebrating the set with Ricco and Everett flashes in my head. Them surrounded by women closer to Everett’s age than mine, wearing barely there skirts, bikini tops, and stars in their eyes. I’m sure Laredo closed the bar while picking out my replacement. I’m not even worthy of a full-sentence response. Can’t be bothered to be distracted from Miss I won’t remember her name tomorrow at the end of the bar.
My blood races. I’ve done this to myself. I’ve climbed back on the Laredo roller coaster. My forgetful memory promised me it was my favorite. It had always delivered dangerous thrills and adventures that left me joyous. At least, it did a year ago.
I was reckless then. I didn’t care. I didn’t think. Didn’t consider what I could lose. What was at risk. Now, when the deadly ride returns, I look at it differently. All I see is the bright yellow and black caution tape. I force myself to look before leaping. I can now see it doesn’t possess seat belts. It doesn’t carry a first aid kit for emergencies. Only now do I read the fine print at the entranceway: Ride at your own risk. Laredo takes no responsibility – ignore this warning at your own peril. Don’t claim you weren’t warned.
Full stop.
This time, I have no one to blame but myself.
The door to the bookstore swings open, and I look up, expecting to see my little sister, Margo. It’s nearly noon, and I convinced her to swing by to join me for lunch. We’ve texted back and forth since the Chuck incident. I apologized for being overly protective, and she promised to be more communicative with her movements. We both want to enjoy our limited sisterly time together this summer and don’t have time to fight.
My gaze follows a dark-haired woman who enters. Her determined strides let me know she knows exactly what she’s looking for and where to find it. She navigates the aisle and stops at the romance section. She bends and grabs a book off the bottom shelf, pivots, and heads straight to the counter.
The location of the book has me curious. Usually, customers that determined head right to the bestsellers next to the register.
The bottom shelf is where we keep older books that still have a good following but were released some time ago. Think Fifty Shades of Grey and such.
The woman pays, and I spot the title of the book, Taking the Job by Kelsie Rae. My hand races to cover my opened mouth. Kelsie Rae is my favorite author in the world. Taking the Job is a hilarious rom-com featuring a take-no-prisoner woman who never gives up pursuing her man and her happily ever after. I love every word of the novel. It’s a few years old, but it was the first book I placed on order when I started working here, and this is probably the first copy sold.
The woman nods at me on her exit, and I’m too flabbergasted to speak. The door never closes as another woman walks in. She, too, marches directly to the same location in the romance section, bends, and grabs a book. What the holy hell?
My gaze tracks her at the counter, only shifting when the chime of the door pulls my attention to yet another woman. And another. Each headed to the same section.
This day has suddenly taken a strange twist.
My feet march toward the register, not stopping until I’m breathing down the neck of the last person on the line.
“Thank you for your purchase.” I capture the attention of the woman. “I’m curious. What made you pick this book today?”
A soft smile spreads on the woman’s face. “Some nice young man on the boardwalk stopped me and said I had to read it. Life-changing. Even gave me a twenty to purchase if I put a trinket on the shelf.” I twist and tip up on my toes, but I can’t see the bottom shelf from here. “By the way, this is your last copy,” the woman says as she hands the twenty to the cashier. “I do love a good romance where the main character is relentless.”
Laredo.
This stunt has his fingerprints all over it. I shared with him last year my love of this novel. I’m shocked he remembered. Olivia’s words echo in my head: You are not as forgettable as you may think.
I race to the romance section, curious to solve the mystery of the trinket. Not one, but five. Five green sour apple Blow Pops, my favorite treat replacing my favorite book.
I feel the heat of a blush forming on my cheeks. I can’t remember the last time something made me blush. Then I do. It was Laredo.
Footsteps approach me from behind, and my heart pounds in my chest. It’s got to be him. He’s here. He does care. Why have I been resisting something I want so badly?
“I’m so happy you’re here.” I leap to my feet, turning to hug him.
But it’s not him.
It’s my sister, Margo.
“Wow, Mom didn’t even give me that reception when I came home from college.” She laughs and takes the hug I intended for another. Her gaze lowers to my hand, the one holding a fistful of lollipops. “I know I’m a few minutes late, but if you eat those, you’re going to ruin our lunch.”
I brush away her comment with a head shake. “These?” I look over her shoulder toward the register. “These are for the counter.” I lead Margo down the aisle and reluctantly place the treats on the counter.
The cashier gives me a we don’t sell candy here look. “Can you hold these for me while I take lunch?” I avoid an explanation by turning to face Margo, who holds a similar confused expression. “What?”
She snickers. “Are you going to tell me who that reception was meant for? I know you were just with Olivia yesterday, so it can’t be her.”
I wave the back of my hand at her. “No one. Now, can we go? I’m starving.” We head toward the door just as it opens. My feet halt at the sight, Margo bumping into my back.
“What the…”
Laredo stands in the doorway. He’s wearing a tan polo shirt and cargo shorts, an outfit I would have never suspected he owned. In his hand is a singular item that will connect the dots for my impressionable younger sister.
“For the counter, huh?” She elbows me and steps in front of me, eyes glued to the green-and-white custom bouquet made of lollipops in Laredo’s hand. “Now I know who you were really excited to see.”
I freeze. My feet remain rooted in place as two sets of eyes lock with mine, and I watch my two worlds collide.
“Hi, I’m Margo, Betty’s sister. I do not know who you are, but you’re totally coming to lunch with us.”