The Rainy Day Bookshop

Chapter Seven

Emma

The job ahead of her was overwhelming.

Emma looked at the stacks and stacks of boxes and tried not to panic. This was her first real chance to make progress in cleaning

out the bookstore and she had so much to do, she didn’t quite know where to start.

All week long, she and her staff had been boxing up books in preparation for the town’s street fair sidewalk sale that would

start the next morning and run throughout the next week.

She was really hoping to get rid of a lot of the extra inventory, especially dusty tomes that were twenty or thirty years

old and should have been cleared out years ago.

She was all for having a large inventory. Reading tastes varied and not everyone enjoyed the same book. A good bookstore tried

to cater to everyone.

But readers also needed to be able to find what they were looking for without having to wade through overcrowded shelves stacked

two or three deep with outdated titles.

They also needed an environment for shopping that was pleasant and organized, not a wild jumble where nothing made any sense.

She planned to clear out the extra inventory then move out the shelves so she could paint behind them.

It might take her all night, but her mom had agreed to feed Olive and put her to bed so Emma could make some progress.

She didn’t mind hard work. She had a goal and needed to demonstrate to her mother she was capable.

She was immersed in her work, a fascinating audiobook playing through her earbuds, when she heard a knock.

She glanced at the large clock above the checkout counter. She had ordered a pizza for her dinner but hadn’t expected it for

another ten or fifteen minutes.

Maybe they were having a slow night.

She had left instructions for the pizza to be delivered at the rear door but maybe that message didn’t make it across to the

driver.

She hurried around a bookshelf to the front of the store as she heard a second knock.

The tall, muscular figure on the other side of the glass door made her catch her breath.

Not a delivery driver, then, unless Bryce Kendall was moonlighting.

He wore a snug T-shirt and jeans. With his hair slightly shaggy and that sexy beard, he looked delicious enough to eat with

a spoon.

Maybe she didn’t need pizza, after all.

She sighed, half tempted to turn around and retreat into the bookstore interior, pretending she didn’t see him. She had thought

about him entirely too much since she came to town nearly two weeks ago.

That would be the coward’s way out, though. She was better than that, right?

She disarmed the security system, which really wasn’t anything to write home about, and opened the door. “I’m sorry. We’re

closed. Maybe you didn’t see the sign.”

“I did. And I’m fully aware of the bookstore’s hours. But I saw you in here when I was walking past and thought you might

need a hand.”

He had a dog with him, a sleekly elegant silver lab. Emma couldn’t resist kneeling down to the dog’s level, always a sucker for a gorgeous canine.

“Hi there. What’s your name?” She scratched the dog behind the ears and was rewarded with a happy sigh.

“This is Pearl. She’s my best girl. She comes along with me to jobsites.”

“Hi, Pearl. Nice to meet you.”

The dog gazed up at her with a probing look that left her feeling disconcerted.

Something in that wise expression reminded Emma of her childhood dog, though the two animals didn’t resemble each other in

the slightest. Heidi had been a miniature dachshund and had been bad-tempered to everyone except Emma, whom she had adored.

“It’s kind of you to stop,” she said, straightening back to Bryce’s level. “But I’m sure you’ve already had a long day. You’re

busy working on the Stormhaven project, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“How’s that going.”

“Slower than I would like but we’re trying to restore what we can, not simply rip everything out and start over.”

“You mean like I want to do here? If I had my way, I would burn the whole place down and start over from scratch.”

He smiled. “How about I help you stay out of the slammer on arson charges? I’m happy to help. I love The Rainy Day Bookshop

and will do whatever necessary to keep the doors open.”

Did he truly love the bookstore or was he simply being loyal to Rosie?

She pushed down her instinctive annoyance. Emma knew she had no right to resent their close relationship or her mother’s trust

in him. He had been here for Rosie when Emma had been off screwing up her life.

While she wanted to tell him she could handle this by herself, that would simply be stupid. He was here, offering to help her. She would have to be either foolish or pigheaded to refuse.

“Thanks.” She forced a smile. “I actually could use some muscle. Originally the husband of one of our staff members planned

to be here tonight to move boxes for me but their granddaughter has been playing in a soccer tournament down in Coos Bay and

made it to the finals.”

“Oh, that must be Jenny and Paul Cortez. Their granddaughter Annabel is a real star.”

Did he know everything about everyone? Of course he did. This was Wood Briar, where people thrived on gossip.

“I can pay you in pizza. I have one that should be here any minute. In fact, I thought you were the pizza delivery when you

knocked. I’m afraid it will be vegetarian.”

“I like vegetables, only not mushrooms.”

“Too bad for you, I ordered extra mushroom. You’ll have to take them off.”

“I can do that. Now where can I start?” He looked around the chaos. “I’m sure you have a plan here, but do you want to explain

it to me?”

She sighed. What had looked so good on paper now seemed impossible.

“The overriding plan is to brighten up the place.”

“That’s a good place to start.”

“The town sidewalk sale starts tomorrow. We’re going to try to unload as much inventory as we can during the sale. Obviously,

I can’t leave the books outside tonight, especially where it’s Oregon and there’s always a chance of rain, but I thought we

could move them closer to the door perhaps so the staff can take them out first thing in the morning.”

And by staff, she probably meant herself.

“I can help with that. What else?”

“I want to repaint the place. I picked a warm white that will look much nicer than this disgusting color.”

He looked around the space. “Repainting. That’s a big job. You’ll have to move all the shelves.”

She sighed. “I know. I wish I could close the store for a few days and do it all at once. Since that’s impossible during the

tourist season without taking a big hit, I figured I could work in stages. One wall at a time. I wanted to start behind the

checkout counter, since that is what most customers hopefully see as they’re paying for all their books.”

“I can help you move the shelves out of the way. Where are you planning to put them?”

“We have a storage room next door filled with odds and ends. I’ll have to make room.”

“Got it.”

“If I had my way, I would start over with all new shelving.”

“What don’t you like about them?”

“The shelves against the wall are fine even though they go all the way up to the ceiling, but I feel like the interior shelves

are too high. You can’t see over them, they don’t allow light to filter into the aisles and it makes the whole place feel

so cramped and small, though it’s actually a decent space. But I’m afraid I would need brand-new shelves and I’m not sure

Mom wants to budget for that.”

He went to one of the shelves in question, which stood well over eight-foot high. He studied it from several angles.

“These are decent and appear well-built. Instead of starting over, what about cutting them down and painting them a lighter

color? That would brighten up the place, plus it would make the book covers pop.”

She moved beside him and couldn’t help noticing that he smelled good. Really good. Like sandalwood and ocean breezes. She wanted to lean in and sniff his neck.

She ignored the impulse and focused on his suggestion. “Is that even possible?”

His half smile made her insides jump. “Anything is possible. You just have to work out how to do it. We could take the upper

two rows of shelves, reusing the same top surface. It will reduce your shelf space, but I think you have good instincts. Some

open space above the shelves will take away some of that claustrophobic feeling in the aisles and will make the entire store

feel bigger.”

“We could really do that?”

“Absolutely. It wouldn’t be hard. I can take care of that for you, if you want.”

Emma blinked, not sure why he had offered, especially when she had been so rude to him that first day she had bumped into

him in the bookstore. “That’s very nice of you but why would you offer?”

“Why not? I love to work on projects like this in my spare time. I have a good workshop in my garage.”

She suddenly was intensely curious about him. Where did he live?

Was he married? Her mother had never said anything like that, but Emma couldn’t imagine the women of Wood Briar leaving a guy like Bryce

alone for long.

“Are you sure your wife wouldn’t mind?” she asked, taking a chance.

He raised an eyebrow. “I was not aware I had a wife.”

Well, that was something, at least.

She could feel her face heat. “I guess I made an assumption.”

“Why would you make that particular one?”

“I don’t know. It seems like in small towns like Wood Briar, people settle down early. My mom was twenty when she and my dad got married.”

“Nope. Not me. No wife, no fiancée, no girlfriend. I am cheerfully single.”

“I guess that’s why you’re spending your evening with your best girl. Who happens to be a dog.”

“I thought I was spending my evening with you.”

Something in the way he looked at her made her insides tingle. Before she could formulate a response, she heard a sharp knock

coming from the back entrance.

“That must be the pizza,” she said, grateful for the interruption.

“I can grab it if you want.”

She shook her head. “It’s fine. I paid online but I need to get to know the pizza delivery people in town, since I suspect

I’ll have a lot of late-night deliveries here over the next few months.”

She hurried to the back door and opened it. On the other side was a young teenager with shoulder-length hair and braces.

“Hey, Jack.” Bryce gave the young man a smile. “I wasn’t aware you were delivering pizza these days.”

The boy made a face. “Trying to earn some cheddar since my truck needs new tires.”

“That’s right. I thought I saw you driving a sweet Chevy.”

The teenager looked delighted to talk about his ride. “I bought it from a friend of my grandpa’s in Corvallis. It’s in great

shape. Has a lot of miles but the engine and the transmission were replaced a few years ago.”

“Tires can be spendy. If you want, I can see if we might be hiring anybody on our cleanup crew this summer. We usually take on a couple of high school kids to clean up jobsites at night. Pick up nails, throw away scrap lumber. That kind of thing. Pays pretty good and the hours can be flexible, to work around your pizza gig.”

“That would be great!”

“I’ll be in touch.”

Bryce was obviously well-liked around town, Emma thought as she listened to the two of them talk about the kid’s new truck.

What a strange set of circumstances. For most of her life, Emma had been the good girl. Teacher’s pet, winner of the spelling

bee, singled out for the accelerated learning classes.

Bryce, on the other hand, had struggled in school. He had been bullied by some teachers, she could see now in retrospect.

In elementary school, she remembered him being pulled out for extra attention—resource classes, they called them—as he had

struggled to read.

He had been the class troublemaker, always the first one to talk back to teachers or be sent to the principal’s office, something

that would have mortified her.

Their paths couldn’t have been more different back then.

And then the accident happened, and her life changed forever.

Now she was the recovering addict, a single mom who had barely enough in the bank to cover the pizza, while Bryce was universally

well respected, by every indication.

When the two seemed to be wrapping up their conversation, she slipped the teen another tip, though she had already added one

to the online order. She could remember too well her own days of waiting tables and delivering food as she struggled to make

ends meet after Olive had been born.

“Thanks for the pizza,” she said.

“You’re welcome, ma’am. Enjoy.” He closed his padded, insulated bag and after bidding a farewell to Bryce, he hurried out the door. Before it closed behind him, she could see a pickup truck even older than her own beat-up Honda.

“Where would you like to enjoy this feast?” Bryce asked after they were alone once more in the bookstore.

Emma considered their limited options. They could sit at the counter, lean against the checkout counter in the front or try

to crowd into the tiny chairs at the children’s table. She really did need to come up with some sort of café to draw people—or

at least add a few seating areas for people to curl up with a book or have a conversation with a friend.

“How about the office? There’s a desk chair and a guest chair. Neither is comfortable, but I suppose it’s better than sitting

on the floor. I’m afraid we both might get stuck if we tried to sit in the kids’ chairs.

“I would pull you out,” he assured her.

“Not if you were stuck, too. We would be trapped here all night, until my staff came in tomorrow morning.”

“We would think of something. I could write a note and attach it to Pearl’s collar and send her out to flag down a passerby.

She’s a genius. I’m sure she would find someone quickly.”

She had to smile at the whimsical picture he painted.

“Why don’t we save Pearl all that trouble and sit in the office, where we’re almost guaranteed not to get stuck?”

She led the way. It did look less cluttered in here than when she first arrived, as she had already started packing away some

of the extraneous items. Mugs, half-empty candy containers, scratch pads.

She didn’t want to throw anything away that might be a cherished belonging of her grandmother’s so she had boxed it all up and put it in the storage area of the bookshop. As soon as she could manage it, Emma planned to bring down her grandmother for an afternoon to sort through things.

Yet, one more thing on her list. Emma sighed, feeling overwhelmed all over again.

She could do this. She was a strong, smart woman who was willing to work as hard as necessary to prove herself.