Chapter 4
After lunch at home with her aunt, Hannah decided to head downtown. She eased her uncle’s charcoal-gray BMW sedan out of the garage and waited longer than she needed to pull onto Shore Road. She hadn’t driven a car in several years and even though it came right back to her, she still felt a little nervous, especially as it wasn’t her own car.
Downtown Chatham was less than a ten-minute drive away, and she found a parking spot right on Main Street, which was lucky. Someone was pulling out just as Hannah drove up. She parked and put her laptop in her oversized tote bag and got out of the car. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and there were lots of people out and about.
Hannah strolled along, popping in and out of shops that looked intriguing. There was a great boutique that had some gorgeous shoes and sweaters. She was tempted by a really cute pair of dressy shoes, but didn’t really need anything, and she was trying to be careful with her spending. She’d read about other authors who blew through their six-figure advances in a year and then their next book didn’t sell and they were dropped by their publisher.
If she had to, Hannah knew she could always go back to doing administrative work, even if it was just a temporary assignment. There was always a demand for it. But she hoped she wouldn’t have to. Her sister had thought she was jumping the gun by quitting a perfectly good job that had great benefits. Sara had always been the more conservative, practical sister. Whereas Hannah had always dreamed of being a full-time writer, and as soon as she received the first installment of her advance, she’d put in her two weeks’ notice. And had never regretted it.
She spotted the bookshop and admired the books in the display window before stepping inside. The arrangement was attractive with a dozen or so different titles stacked on a bright blue beach towel. The books were mostly bestsellers across a variety of genres, with a few authors she wasn’t familiar with as well.
Hannah had so many memories of this shop when she was growing up in Chatham. The same owner had run the shop for as long as she could remember. When she stepped inside it still had a wonderful timeless feeling of peace about it. People were browsing the many sections, and two little kids were sitting on the floor in the children’s book area. They were flipping through picture books while their parents chatted nearby.
The shop had a slightly different look, with a fresh, fun feel to it and lots of smaller tables scattered here and there highlighting different genres. And there was a large rectangular table right by the front door that featured local authors. Hannah was a little disappointed that her book wasn’t on it. Or anywhere else that she could see.
But she still enjoyed browsing and noticed that all of the smaller tables had little sticky notes with staff recommendations and thoughts on various books. It was fun to read the notes and consider their suggestions. Hannah picked up two new novels by debut authors that looked intriguing and made her way to the counter to pay.
The woman at the counter had a name tag that said ALISON.She looked familiar to Hannah. She was about her mother’s age and she smiled as Hannah handed her the two books she’d chosen.
“Did you find everything you were looking for?” Alison’s voice was warm and friendly.
Hannah nodded. “I did. The store looks great. I really like the little note cards you have with a lot of the books. It helped me decide.”
Alison’s eyes lit up. “Oh! That’s wonderful to know. That was my daughter Julia’s suggestion.”
“I also wanted to introduce myself. I’m a local author. I grew up here in Chatham and am staying here for the summer, working on my second book.” Hannah felt like she was rambling a bit. She wasn’t used to randomly introducing herself to bookstore owners.
Alison seemed interested. “We love local authors. What is the name of your book?”
“Time Flies. I write as Hannah McIntosh, but my real last name is Brewster.”
Alison’s eyes widened and Hannah saw sympathy there. “Hannah, I am so sorry about your mother. We were friends and worked together at the magazine for years. I’m Alison Page.”
That’s why she looked familiar. Hannah vaguely knew her daughter Julia, too, though she’d been a year ahead of her in school and they hadn’t hung out with the same crowd.
“Of course. I’ve been living in Brooklyn for close to ten years and don’t get home as often as I’d like. How is Julia?”
Alison beamed. “She’s great. She makes jewelry and has a shop a few doors down. You know, we’re actually totally sold out of your books. I have more on order, but once you hit the New York Times list, people came in looking for it.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Would you ever be interested in doing a signing?”
Hannah didn’t hesitate. “I’d love to.”
“Good. We can do a Saturday afternoon, maybe in a few weeks. The books should be here in a few days and I can order more for the signing as well.” Alison smiled as she rang Hannah’s books up.
“I’m here all summer, so any weekend works for me.” The summer stretched before her and Hannah had no plans. A signing would be fun.
“Okay. Let me get your email address and I’ll check the calendar and let you know. It will be fun!”
While Alison ran her credit card, Hannah fished around in her purse for one of the cute business cards she’d had made and seldom used. They came in handy when she visited bookstores. Then Alison handed her a cute green paper bag with her two books.
“Here you go! I’ll talk to you soon about setting up that signing.”
Hannah wandered into the connecting coffee shop and immediately liked the vibe. It had a welcoming feel, with lots of small tables. She set her shopping bag and laptop on a corner table and went to order coffee. There were a few others in line and several people sitting by the big windows that looked out over Main Street.
Hannah decided on a caramel latte and a chocolate-chip cookie. She settled at her table, opened her laptop, and took a sip of her coffee and a bite of her cookie. Both were excellent. She read her story from the beginning and was relieved to see that it was better than she remembered. She made small tweaks here and there as she read and by the time she finished, she had a few new ideas for scenes.
Before she knew it, two hours had passed and she’d written two new scenes, and for the first time in a long time, she felt good about her story again. Her phone rang just as she was closing her laptop and getting ready to head home. It was Sara.
“Are you coming to dinner with us?” Hannah asked.
“Yes! Tom agreed to watch the kids. Where are you? I hear voices in the background.”
“At the coffee shop by the bookstore. I’ve been here for a few hours. I’m on my way home now.”
“A few hours? Does that mean the writing went well?”
Hannah smiled. “Yes. I got some good words in today.”
“That’s great news! We can celebrate over dinner.” Hannah tossed her laptop and phone in her tote bag and stood to leave. It had been a good day. She felt happy and optimistic that she might actually fix her book and she looked forward to catching up with her sister and aunt over dinner.