Chapter 1 #2
Silva brightened. “Perfect. An empty shop always makes it seem like stores are failing. That will provide more traffic to all our stores on Main Street.”
“What happened to the two businesses that didn’t make it?” Selena asked.
“Oh,” Laurel said, “in both cases, the owners were disagreeable wolves. Word quickly spread, and no one would do business with them. One was a used-and-new bookstore owner, but he only wanted to sell classic fiction and rare books. We didn’t know this at the time.
We were excited to see that he would carry all kinds of different books to read.
Most of us wanted to read romance, historical fiction, paranormal fiction, thrillers, mysteries, and westerns.
And the kids wanted children’s books. He refused to carry anything we were interested in reading and was quickly out of business. ”
“Wow, unreal.” Selena couldn’t imagine a store not carrying merchandise that customers wanted to buy.
“The other store that failed in town copied what everyone else was doing, offering to sell the same merchandise we were all carrying,” Silva said.
“We try to have unique gifts so that shoppers will have a variety of items to choose from. If you go into one store and they carry the same as all the other stores, that hurts sales. We all talked to the store owner, but she wouldn’t go along with the plan.
All the wolves in the pack boycotted her. ”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Do I need to check in with you all?” Selena sure didn’t want to step on toes when she opened her new business.
“It wouldn’t hurt. We all do that with each other when we want to buy something that might be sold by the other stores.
Of course, sometimes we do have some duplicate items, but most of our items for sale are unique to our shop,” Silva said.
“For instance, I sell teacups, and tea-related signage, statues, books on teas, and teas. No one else does.”
“At the theater, we sell movie posters and everything movie-related,” Faye said. “So we don’t compete with anyone.”
“For us at the Timberline Ski Lodge, our merchandise is ski-related,” Roxie said. “So we don’t have any problem with anyone there.”
“We’ll sign off on you opening your new shop. As soon as you’re ready to set it up, let us know, and we’ll be there to help,” Laurel said, her sisters agreeing.
Selena smiled. For the first time since she had started this venture, she was hopeful this was going to work out.
She thanked the ladies and Silva for the wassail and cheesecake, which were out of this world. Afterward, she headed to the sheriff’s department. Surely they couldn’t thwart her when the business owners and the pack leaders had already signed off.
When she arrived at the office, the sheriff and two of his deputies were out on a call. She shouldn’t have been annoyed. That was their duty, but she wanted to get this done. But then another deputy came out of an office to speak with her.
“Hello, I’m Deputy Sheriff Daniel Hoffman.” He greeted her with a smile and a warm handshake.
“I guess you know I’m Selena Rivers.”
“Selena, goddess of the moon. Radiant and enchanting,” he said.
She smiled. “Not too many people know that.”
“I did my research.”
He was dark-haired and eyed, having a chiseled face; his hair was cut just a little longer than military regulation, which made her wonder if he had a prior military background.
She had a thing for men in uniform, especially when they were wolves.
“The sheriff told me to investigate your background. Come, have a seat in my office.”
She took a seat across from his desk while he sat on the edge of it, intimidating, towering over her.
“So why did you come here to Silver Town?”
“I write books about cemeteries,” she blurted out, figuring he would guess her setting up a shop wasn’t all she was up to.
He raised his brows, smiling a little. “I thought you were opening a shop.”
“I am, and I am writing a book on the side. The cemeteries are old, dating back to the eighteenth century, and I photograph them. When my shop is closed for the night, I’ll be documenting details about the ones around Silver Town.”
“We have several. They’re not mapped. I can show you where they are.”
“Thank you. That would be appreciated.” It sounded like he was going to approve her application to own a business here. She couldn’t be more thrilled.
“So you’re a forensic anthropologist by trade.”
“Yes. I study remains.”
“For law enforcement?”
She suspected he’d done a comprehensive background check on her already. “Yes, but I needed a change of pace.” And to get away from her stalkers.
“I don’t blame you. Will you be digging up our skeletons?”
“Do you have any in your family tree?”
Daniel laughed. “Don’t we all?”
“For sure.” She liked his sense of humor. “If I find some human bones unearthed, I’ll study them.”
“And you’re single?”
The question took her aback. “Well, yes. Are you?”
He smiled. “Sure am. Okay, you’re approved. Good luck with your venture. If you need any help with the shop, ask. And when you’re ready to look up the cemeteries, I’m only a call away.” He handed her a business card.
“I don’t need the sheriff to sign off?”
“No, he said I could do it.”
“All right, well, I’m thrilled. Thanks so much.” She shook Daniel’s hand, who shook hers warmly and a little longer than she thought necessary, making her smile, and he released her hand.
Then she hurried out of the office to purchase the store. Once she was at the real estate office, she met with Regina Fairhaven, the woman she had spoken to before. “I’ve been approved to open a shop next to the tea shop, and I’m ready to purchase the store.”
Selena had already negotiated a good deal for it because it had been sitting idle for so many months. “What had it been before this?”
“A rare bookstore.”
“Oh.” That disagreeable owner who wouldn’t carry the kind of books the townspeople wanted to read. A surefire way to go out of business. No wonder Silva wanted her to open another shop in its place.
“You might have heard that the previous owner had been boycotted. I’m sure you will have the opposite experience.”
Selena sure hoped so. Then she signed the paperwork, paid for the shop, and headed over to it with the keys in hand. For the first time since starting this venture, she knew this was becoming a reality, now that she was no longer apprehensive about getting so many people’s approval.
She walked inside and stared at the four walls. A lovely, oak display window would showcase her merchandise, and an oak counter would be used to sell merchandise. She would also hire a couple of clerks if she received a large volume of business so she could take breaks if she needed to.
For now, she needed stands for clothes and shelving, and then she would work with the other businesses to determine which merchandise she could sell that didn’t compete with theirs. It appeared that the previous owner must have had portable shelving and either took it with him or sold it.
The movie theater, Hastings Bed and Breakfast, and the MacTire sisters' hotel wouldn’t be a problem.
Maxine Fox’s clothes shop could be more of an issue.
Selena wouldn’t order anything tea-related, which was in Silva’s tea shop, so that wasn’t any big deal either.
The Timberline Ski Lodge’s gift shop shouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t carry ski-related merchandise.
She decided on all-wooden shelves for the old-western town appeal.
No chrome clothing racks. The counter was a perfect fit.
Behind the counter, she would put a long mirror to make the store appear even larger.
She was glad the shop had a restroom, something she knew would be important when it opened.
Then she called Silva as a courtesy, but also because she was dying to tell her since she had been so welcoming. “I bought the shop.”
“I’m so excited for you. What do you need first?”
“A carpenter to put in wooden shelves.”
“Frank Sutter can do the job.” Silva gave her his phone number.
Selena was so glad she had asked Silva for advice. Within the hour, Frank came over to learn what she wanted, took measurements, and suggested trimming the shelves with decorative molding to give them a more antiquated, charming appeal.
She loved his suggestions, and he quickly began to work on it. “Can you add a mirror behind the counter?”
“Framed?”
“Yes.”
“Sure can. Do you need dressing rooms?”
“Oh yes, two please.” Boy, did she luck out. She hadn’t even thought of that, though if anyone wanted to try on sweaters, sweatshirts, or T-shirts, they could.
In the middle of all the chaos, Deputy Sheriff Daniel Hoffman walked in. “I heard you were making a lot of noise over here.”
“Is that against the city ordinances?” She really thought the neighboring stores had complained about the noise Frank was making, and already she was in trouble.
“I dropped by to check and see if you need my help with anything.”
Her whole expression brightened. “Are you off for the rest of the day?” Selena asked, surprised.
“I’ve been given the job to make sure you have everything you need.”
“Good. You can help me set up these shelves,” Frank said.
Daniel smiled at Selena and removed his shirt, showing off some hot muscles. “I don’t want to get my uniform dirty.”
Right. She asked about clothes carousels, in case Frank could make them, which he said he would.
“I can have them done tomorrow.”
“Oh, that would be great.”
A mirror arrived to be placed behind the counter, but he would have to add the frame. The shelves were installed, and he began staining them.
By the time the men finished staining the shelves, Frank had stains all over his painter’s bib overalls, while Daniel had stains on his arms and chest, as if he had gotten a filtered suntan.
“See what I mean? I don’t have any stains on my uniform.”
Now she understood what he was getting at, and he hadn’t removed his shirt to just show off his beautiful abs.
“Turpentine’s in that box,” Frank said. “I’ll be back tomorrow to frame and install the mirror, set up the clothes racks, and build the changing rooms.” Then he left.
Poor Daniel was muddling through it while trying to wipe off all the stains.
She said, “Here, let me do it.” At this rate, she would never get out of the shop tonight if she didn’t assist him.
“Thanks.”
“If you miss a spot, it’ll get on your uniform,” she explained, then felt foolish for having mentioned it.
“Of course, I appreciate it.”
Once he washed up in the restroom, she thanked him for helping out. “I would call that going above and beyond the call of duty.”
“I’m glad to assist. How about dinner? At the Silver Town Tavern?” He came out of the restroom, drying himself.
He was so hot. “And drinks?” She could use a drink.
“Yep. I’ll go home and change, and then I’ll pick you up at the Silver Town Hotel in an hour.”
“Okay, sounds good. And then we could maybe go to one of the cemeteries afterward.”
Just the smile he gave her made her believe he hadn’t thought they would end the date with a visit to a cemetery. She hoped he didn’t mind.