Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
REED
R eed stared at the photo on his phone as he waited in line at the Fox & Forrest Cafe.
His doppelg?nger and three young girls stared back at him in the photo.
A pang of guilt hit his stomach. Ralph Berry hadn’t been just a stepfather, but the father who’d stepped up.
His father was the man who’d spent endless hours with him practicing soccer skills, preparing for debate club, and giving him advice on his early college architecture projects. Reed had never wanted anyone else. He still remembered how lucky he’d felt the day he officially became a Berry.
Having two fathers would feel even more overwhelming to live up to.
But now, his endless curiosity was piqued.
What would having sisters be like ? He wanted to get to know these women before he decided anything.
They’d be three more people whose love he’d have to earn again and again for the rest of his life.
He jumped as a tap on his shoulder revealed a familiar face.
Violet, the middle Parker sister, waved with a sweet smile behind him in line.
He took off his headphones and let them hang around his neck. “Hey, nice to see you.”
“I see you’ve become an F&F devotee as well,” she said cheerily. This woman was like a sunbeam personified. “Can I buy your coffee or lunch or whatever?”
“It’s just iced coffee, thank you,” he said. The sounds of dining, scraping, and clattering in the cafe were grating, turning his stomach.
He tried to push it to the back of his mind.
“You’ve been working nonstop at the bookstore. If we weren’t recording content constantly, we would have stopped by,” Violet said tiredly.
“I, um.” He scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed. “I looked up your show because Pearl talked about it. It’s really good.”
Violet and her husband had a TV series about plants. He’d watched an episode, and Violet was sweet and funny. He’d liked her instantly.
Violet’s eyes lit up. “She’s so sweet. You guys are roomies, right?”
“Yes, her brother and I go way back. Pearl and I go way back too, but she likes to forget about that part. I was the dorky kid in school who she ignored in the hallways.”
“Oh my gosh, I was the dorky kid, too!” Violet said, slapping his shoulder with excitement.
“No way.” Reed relaxed a little. She seemed so confident and at ease on camera.
Violet laughed. “They literally had to put a fainting cot in my speech class because I hated being looked at so much. What are your feelings on plants?” she said, arching an eyebrow as if examining him.
“I can’t keep them alive to save my soul, but I love them.”
“Hmm,” Violet said, narrowing her eyes.
“Does that mean we definitely couldn’t be related?” he said jokingly, as if the fact that they’d be related would be ridiculous.
“No, it puts a point in your favor,” she muttered. “Our dad was terrible with plants. Famously bad.”
“Can I help you?” the man at the register asked Reed.
Violet stepped up. “He’s with me, Nick. I’ll have my usual and an iced coffee for our new bookshop owner. Would you like to stay and sit with me?” Violet asked Reed.
“Oh. Uh, no,” Reed said with as much of a smile as he could muster in the noise of the restaurant. “I need to see if Pearl is at Bloom, actually.”
“Let’s go see if we can catch her,” Violet said with a happy smile.
Okay, I guess this is a group project now.
Violet paid and handed Reed his coffee. “Aaron, can you make mine to-go? I’ll come back.”
“You got it, babe,” a tall Black man called from the prep counter.
He sort of loved that she knew everyone. Would this be his life in a year? Nestled as a part of the little community?
He hoped so.
The silence outside felt like cool water to his overstimulated ears. His shoulders dropped as the tension left his body.
Bloom was next door, and the herby, floral scents tickled his nose as they walked in.
Rose, Violet’s older sister, was behind the counter with Pearl and another woman.
That must be Allison . Pearl had mentioned her quirky co-worker at Bloom in passing.
“What do you think?” Allison called, turning around to face them. “Too much?” Her black lips were reminiscent of Pearl’s go-to look. It clashed with her peachy pink, fluffy hair and kindergarten-teacher-like dress with llamas on it.
Violet’s eyebrows lifted. “Well maybe?—”
“It looks great, doesn’t it?” Pearl interrupted, making determined eye contact with Violet.
“...It does,” Violet said slowly with a smile.
“Pearl is taking me to the biker dive bar on the edge of town. I’m so excited.” Allison danced as she walked to the back of the shop.
Pearl smiled at Allison, delighted by her.
The sight hit Reed in the gut like a bowling ball. She was quite literally breathtaking.
He hadn’t seen her smile like that since AB and Luca had left.
Note to self: try to make Pearl smile more.
Reed held up Pearl’s wallet that she’d left at home, and she jogged over to him. She was wearing a tight black Bloom tee and jeans, and he willed his eyes not to stare at her boobs as she jogged.
“Thanks. I thought the endless abyss of my purse ate it.”
Their fingers brushed as he handed it to her, and Christ , he shouldn’t have enjoyed that as much as he did.
“You remember Rose,” Pearl continued with aggressive eye contact at Reed again, nudging her head.
“It’s so nice to see you.” Rose’s smile warmed as she looked at Reed. “You know what? We should grab dinner sometime. Get everyone together whenever this one”—she slung an arm around Violet—“isn’t filming, and when Lily and I aren’t out opening new stores.”
“What about dinner tomorrow night? I think we’re all in town. I’m happy to host. Pearl, you’d need to come too,” Violet said with excitement, clapping.
He glanced at Pearl nervously. “Oh, um. I’m not really a food person.”
Ugh, he hated this part—the part where he couldn’t just do things like other people.
“Reed loves coffee,” Pearl added quickly. “It’s practically all he eats. His gut biome probably hates him.”
Ah. She’s helping.
I knew it. She’s such a marshmallow.
He beamed at her, and she rolled her eyes. “I’d love to show you around the bookstore at some point. I’ll buy the coffee.”
His phone buzzed. It was Bert, his contractor.
Oh no, Bert never calls. “Uh, sorry, one sec. Hey, Bert.”
“Got a problem,” Bert’s flat, nasally voice sounded in his ear. “Somebody from the county is saying we gotta stop construction.”
“Uh…”
Rose and Violet both drew their brows together with concern.
“Somebody from the Historical Society,” Bert said.
“The President of the Historical Society!” a gargling voice sounded in the background.
Shit . He knew that weaselly voice.
Pearl growled. “I’m gonna kill her.”
“Something about some permits,” Bert added.
He’d filed every permit, he was sure of it. “I’ll be right there.” He hung up and looked apologetic. “I gotta go.”
“We didn’t have to fill any paperwork out, right?” Violet asked Rose.
“No, I’ve never heard of the historical society getting involved with interior renovations,” Rose said, scratching her head.
Pearl’s eyebrows narrowed in anger. “I have to go make this delivery, but I can see if Allison can take it. I’d love to grind Beulah’s face into the historical pavement.”
Reed shook his head. “No, it’s fine. Go?—”
“Then take them with you.” Pearl nodded at Rose and Violet.
Their faces were hopeful, as if they wanted to help.
Reed felt skeptical. They didn’t even know him. “No, that’s okay. I don’t want to bother you.”
Pearl glared at him pointedly. “Maybe they could help since you have a lot in common with them.”
Reed gulped. “Would you both…mind?”
Rose sighed with relief. “Happily. It’s been too long since I’ve had a good fight.”
“I don’t want to impose—” Reed said, glancing back at a smiling Pearl.
“Trust me, she loves this stuff. It’s a blood sport for her,” Violet said under her breath. “Plus, you can show us the bookstore.”
“Oh, it’s not finished yet,” he said quickly, wanting it to look perfect before anyone important saw it.
“Come on. We’ve got your back. Violet knows everyone”—Rose pulled him through the door with a gleeful smile—“and I’m mean .”
They walked across the town square as Rose furiously texted someone named Mrs. Maroo-Canon .
Beulah stood, toad-like, in the bookstore’s front door, and flanked by men with clipboards.
Rose cracked her neck on his right.
“Be nice,” Violet said to Rose from his left.
He had an angel and a demon on each shoulder. Better than doing this alone, though.
“I’ve told the guys to go home. She’s halted all construction.” Bert shrugged as he threw a tool belt over his shoulder. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Good luck, kid.” He patted Reed’s back.
“Young man.” Beulah’s garbage-disposal-like voice echoed in the empty bookshop. Her hair was pulled back in a steel-gray bun, and she wore an oversized dress suit with a big floppy bow at the collar.
“You have violated three town ordinances,” she droned happily, “and will be fined an excess of one hundred thousand dollars if the proper approvals and inspections are not completed for this historical site.”
She dropped an enormous stack of papers in his hands.
“Who are you?” Rose said, stepping in front of him.
“The President of the Historical Society and the Assistant County Commissioner.”
“We don’t have one of those,” Rose said.
Beulah showed her badge, yanking an elastic cord from her pocket. “Sure do, toots.”
Oh my god, this is so embarrassing. Failing in front of new people is a new low. Reed waved her away. “It’s fine. I can figure?—”
“Just let her do her thing,” Violet whispered.
“Why does he need to halt construction?” Rose asked, towering over Beulah. She was easily six feet in her heels, and Beulah had to crane her neck back to see her.
“He didn’t fill out Form 4078B-X,” Beulah said, pulling out a long paper he’d never seen before from the stack.
“What if he fills it out right now?” Violet asked with a sunny smile. “Then the construction crew can come back. And thank you so much for taking care of the town’s historical architecture. It’s very important.”
Reed was catching on to their good cop, bad cop routine.
A message dinged on Rose’s phone. She looked triumphant. “You know, Beulah, I’ve seen you in Violet’s neighborhood. I think you were visiting the Commissioner’s house which is just two doors down?”
Beulah narrowed her eyes.
Rose’s tone was mock sincerity. “Why, you and Violet are practically neighbors with how much you’re at your boss’s house. We’ve even seen you late at night, I think, right, Violet?”
Violet’s sunny smile had humor to it. “Sure have. Sometimes early in the morning too. I love the robes you have. So silky.”
Beulah’s eyes widened.
She dismissed the two men that had come with her and they walked out.
“What do you want?” Beulah said, sneering at Rose.
“I want you to lower your ridiculous fines,” Rose said, towering over the five-foot-nothing woman in orthopedic sneakers. “Extend the deadline for Reed, in good faith, and”—she drilled her finger into Beulah’s shoulder—“allow construction to continue.”
Beulah slid her gaze to Reed. She huffed. “Or what?”
“Or a few more people in the county courthouse will find out just how close you and your boss are. I believe fraternization is frowned upon, right?” Rose raised a manicured eyebrow.
Did this woman just threaten blackmail for him?
No wonder Pearl likes her.
Beulah’s eyes narrowed at Rose. “Game recognizes game. Fine. The fines are the normal amount, but no exterior modifications. Fill out the forms to get a copy of the final permits.” She huffed and walked out the door with no further comments.
“Thank you! I’ll fill this out today!” Reed stammered.
He was out of his depth in small-town politics.
Rose and Violet laughed.
“I, um.” He turned around, flabbergasted. He gulped, shifting his papers in his arms. “Thank you. You don’t even know me.”
“Eh.” Rose wrapped an arm around his shoulders and squeezed him in a side hug. “Pearl said you were okay, and you know she hates everybody, so.”
Violet patted his cheek. “I have a vested interest in this bookstore. I intend to buy a lot of books from you.”
“We should get back,” Rose said with a nod toward Bloom.
“See you around!” Violet waved. They cackled over some shared inside joke as they walked out.
He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, still trying to make sense of it all.
Maybe having big sisters wouldn’t be a bad thing after all.
Impossiblybookish
god i hate summer
my thighs sticking together
boob sweat. i want fall.
Hemingway_cansuckit
That’s a hell of a haiku
Impossiblybookish
aw you noticed
wanna hear the one about the man from nantucket?
Hemingway_cansuckit
Only if it’s very dirty
Is summer in Denver bad? It’s so muggy here in PA
Impossiblybookish
i yearn for fall
much like anne of green gables
also like anne i’m prone to hysterics and getting my friends drunk
Hemingway_cansuckit
Never read it. You recommend?
Impossiblybookish
…you’ve never
read
anne
of
GREEN FUCKING GABLES
hemingway.
Hemingway_cansuckit
Bookish.
Impossiblybookish
i’m rethinking every aspect of our friendship.
it is girlhood embodied.
it is feminism.
(not the last five books. those are trash. she basically gets a lobotomy personality replacement).
but the first one??Or the SECOND?!
how dare you not have read it.
Hemingway_cansuckit
I will read your Anne.
If it means a lot to you,
Let’s buddy read it.
Impossiblybookish
i accept your haiku apology
Hemingway_cansuckit
Now where’s my dirty poem?
Impossiblybookish
fiiiiine
::ah-hem::
there once was a man from nantucket
whose name was hemingway_cansuckit
his cock was so long
when he stuck out his dong
some bitch out in Denver could fuck it