Chapter 15
After a more chaotic morning than usual when Cody almost missed the bus because he couldn’t find his favorite green sweatshirt, which he had to wear that day, Sara breathed a sigh of relief when her last child was out the door. She had just enough time to jump in the shower, dry her hair, change, and get to the bookstore by nine thirty.
Alison wasn’t there, but Brooklyn unlocked the front door to let her in. They had a half hour before the shop opened.
“Welcome! We got a new shipment of books in yesterday. I figured we could start with that, unboxing and putting everything on the shelves. Then I’ll show you how our computer system works. It’s not hard but it can be a little intimidating at first. I made a cheat sheet to help, and it’s right next to the register.
“Great! Sounds good to me.”
Brooklyn led the way to the back of the office where several cardboard boxes were stacked. She opened each box and first checked the contents against a printout of the order Alison had placed. Once everything was in order, they carried the boxes out to the shelves and put everything away.
“It’s all alphabetized by genre. If you’ve read any of the books, let me know and we can have you fill out an index card with your thoughts—if it’s one you’d recommend, of course.”
Sara laughed. “Can you imagine if I put something like ‘worst book ever’ or ‘DNF’?”
“Did Not Finish is the worst. I know more people do that these days, but it just feels wrong to me,” Brooklyn said. “I hate giving up on a book. I feel like if I bought it that I owe it to the author to finish. Usually it gets better. Though I admit, I do DNF occasionally if I’m just not feeling it.”
As they chatted, they shared notes on books they’d loved and it turned out they had similar taste. They both loved a suspense author who was wildly popular and wrote dark, twisty psychological thrillers.
“I actually almost didn’t finish that book,” Sara admitted. “I thought the beginning was slow. But so many people raved about it and said it was unputdownable, so I picked it up again one night and couldn’t stop reading. The mid-book twist changed everything.”
“Totally. And it’s one of the few times where the movie was as good as the book.”
“The ending got people talking, too. So many hated it, but I actually loved it,” Sara said. “They were basically horrible people that got exactly what they deserved—each other.”
Brooklyn smiled. “I thought the ending was perfect, too.”
They discussed books they were currently reading as well.
“My aunt is a literary agent and I just recently read a book she is submitting soon. It was so good, it will be interesting to see where it lands.”
Brooklyn looked intrigued. “What is it about?”
“It’s about a female sheriff in a small town. It is loaded with twists that I did not see coming.”
“Very cool. Alison mentioned that your sister is an author, too. I read her book when it first came in and loved it.”
“She is. I’m super proud of her.”
“Romantic comedies are big sellers for us. Especially when they are set on the Cape or by a beach somewhere.” A few minutes later, she pulled a dozen copies of Hannah’s book out of a box. “We sold out last week. There were a few people that placed orders, so we’ll need to call to let them know the book came in.”
After they put all the books away, and called the customers who had ordered Hannah’s book, Brooklyn spent the next hour showing Sara how to use the computer system. It tracked all the books in the store and was also how they placed orders for new books. It wasn’t difficult, but Sara was grateful for the lesson and the cheat sheet that Brooklyn made for her.
It was a quiet morning, which Brooklyn said was typical for a Monday. “People tend to start coming in more just before lunchtime and it stays busy all afternoon.”
Sara didn’t mind the slow start. It gave her time to get her bearings and learn her way around the shop.
“Oh, I’m not sure if Alison mentioned it, but employees get a forty percent discount. That’s one of the nice benefits about working here.”
“That’s great.” Sara grinned. “I will probably be reinvesting a good chunk of my paycheck here. I may have a book-buying addiction.”
Brooklyn laughed. “We all do. I think it may be a requirement for the job!”
“Should I offer to help everyone that comes in?” Sara asked.
“I usually wait to see if they look like they want my help. Some people clearly know what they are after and go right to it. I don’t want to be a bother if that’s the case. But I’ll always ask them when they bring their book up if they found everything they were looking for. Usually they have, but now and then, they want help finding something else.”
An elderly woman came up to the counter a moment later holding the newest Danielle Steel hardcover. Brooklyn smiled at her.
“Hi, Mrs. Winston. Did you find everything you were looking for?”
“Yes, dear. I have all of Danielle Steel’s releases marked on my calendar and I make sure to come get each one.”
Brooklyn watched as Sara took the book, scanned the barcode into the register, and took the woman’s credit card and ran it through the processor. She printed out a credit card slip and after she signed it, Brooklyn put the book and receipt in a paper shopping bag and handed it to her.
“Here you go. Hope you enjoy!”
The woman smiled. “Thank you, dear. I know I will.”
As soon as she left the store, Sara turned to Brooklyn. “I’m impressed that you remembered her name.”
“Mrs. Winston is one of our regulars. She’ll be back in a few weeks for Nora Roberts’s new release. Or her sister will be in. They both read a lot and like to share books.”
“I used to do that with my sister, when we were younger,” Sara said. With the five-year difference, they mostly had different friends growing up, but after graduating, before Hannah moved to Brooklyn, they grew closer. Even after Hannah moved, for the first few years they talked more. But once Sara had her third boy, she didn’t seem to have time like she used to. And Hannah was busy with her new life in the city. They still talked but not as often. Now that Hannah was in Chatham for the summer, Sara hoped they’d be able to catch up more often.
“Do you want to see if that woman needs any help?” Brooklyn asked.
Sara glanced at a woman who had just walked in and was looking around the store, trying to decide where to go. She walked over to her.
“Good morning. Are you after anything in particular today?”
The woman looked to be a little younger than Sara. She was carrying a tote bag that had a child’s sweater hanging out of it. Sara guessed that she had popped into the store for a quick break.
“I’d love to find something light and easy to read. Women’s fiction that I can escape into, maybe a series of some kind with a woman my age?”
Sara smiled. “Have you read Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series or Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove?”
“I watched Virgin River on Netflix. That’s exactly the kind of thing I like. I haven’t read the Debbie Macomber series.”
“I think you’ll like that. It’s also a series, on Hallmark, I think. But the books are really wonderful.” Sara led her to the section that had Debbie’s books and after a quick look at the back-cover blurbs, the woman grabbed the first three books in the series. Sara rang them up for her and after she left, Brooklyn looked pleased. “Nice job. If she likes those three books, there’s plenty more in the series.”
The rest of the morning went quickly as the store was steady with customers and Sara split her time helping them find something to read and ringing up sales at the register. At a little before twelve, Brooklyn asked if she felt comfortable handling things alone for a half hour.
“I’m just going to eat lunch in the office. If you get slammed, don’t hesitate to come get me. When I come off break, you can take a half hour as well.”
It stayed busy, but Sara managed and was glad she didn’t need to interrupt Brooklyn’s lunch. She’d been so busy rushing around earlier that she hadn’t thought to pack a lunch. And a half hour wasn’t a lot of time, so she just went to the coffee shop and ordered an onion bagel with cream cheese and a cup of vegetable soup. She’d just settled at a table when her sister came in, with her laptop. Sara waved at her and Hannah headed over to her table.
“Are you already done for the day?” Hannah asked.
“No, I’m just on a quick lunch break. As soon as I finish here, I’m heading back until two thirty. How did your morning go?”
“Good. I’m going to grab a bagel, too. Be right back.” Hannah set her stuff down, then went to order her lunch, and returned a few minutes later with the same thing Sara had ordered, right down to the onion bagel and chive cream cheese. Hannah laughed when she realized it.
“Great minds think alike. My morning was good. A little more fun than shadowing Spencer. Natalie likes to chat. How did it go for you?”
“The computer system is a little tricky to get used to, but I think I’ve got the hang of it now. It was slow at first but it’s been pretty steady for the past hour or so. It’s really fun, actually. Oh, and we got a shipment of your books in. You could stop by and sign them if you want, and we’ll put a gold sticker on it that says ‘autographed.’”
Hannah nodded. “I’ll be sure to do that before I leave for the day.”
“How’s Aunt Maddie? Did she give you an update last night on how things went with Uncle Richie?”
Hannah frowned. “Sort of, but not really. All she said was that they decided to stay separated for the rest of the summer and see how they’re feeling after that. I worried that I might be in the way and told her I could go home early or go elsewhere, but she insisted that she wanted the time and that she was glad for the company.”
Sara’s heart sank. “I really hope they can work things out. I always thought they were the most solid couple.”
“I know. I guess it just goes to show you never really know what is going on with people.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, while Sara finished up her bagel. The morning had flown by and she’d enjoyed working in the bookstore even more than she’d expected. It was fun to chat about books with Brooklyn and it was really satisfying to share her thoughts about books that she loved with customers and to help them find their next perfect read. She looked forward to getting back to work for a few more hours before she had to head home and put her mom cap on again.