Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
july
PENELOPE
I never thought I’d say this, but I hate how busy the store has been.
After a long, hellish winter season and a brutal rainy start to summer in June, the weather has stabilized to a perfect warm and sunny.
It’s like the entire town is celebrating the beautiful weather by being out and about, which means more foot traffic coming in from shoppers browsing main street.
“Penny!” Gloria calls from the front of the store. “This young woman has a question about that shifter series you just read.”
Glancing her way, I give a strained smile. “Be right there!” Focusing my attention back to the waspish woman I’m currently dealing with, I ask, “I’m sorry, can you please repeat your question?”
The woman rolls her eyes at me and I want to growl. Does she not see there are fifteen other people in the shop with her? And all of them, somehow, seem to have varying questions, inquiries, or issues? Dom is alone at the register where he’s been checking customers out for the last hour. Honestly!
She waves her ereader in my face. “I need your help to find these books”--she gestures at the romantasy display beside her—“on my free ebook store. I can’t find them anywhere!”
I’m sure my face is on fire with rage. Biting my lip, I glance at Dominic only to catch him smirking at me. He knows I’m about to lose my shit with this woman but I’ll be damned if I give him the satisfaction of a show. “Ma’am—”
“Ma’am?!” the woman cries incredulously. “I’m not even forty!”
If I were delusional, I might believe her.
I’m honestly shocked she can muster any facial expressions given how tight the botox has made the skin on her face.
“I’m sorry,” I lie. “But I can’t help you with ebooks.
And I know for a fact that this particular series you’re interested in?
The author doesn’t allow it on the free ebook sites.
You can either purchase the ebook, or you can purchase the physical copy here. ”
“Purchase an ebook? That’s the most outrageous thing I’ve ever heard! Ebooks should all be free.”
Oh, no. The last bit of my control starts to slip at those words. “Then how do you expect authors to make money, if all of their books are free?”
The woman shrugs and sneers. “That’s not my problem. They’re the ones who have chosen to—”
A gentle hand rests on my shoulder and I spin to see Gloria. “Penny, dear. Why don’t you go speak to that guest up front about the shifter series? I can take over here.”
Gloria’s kind, knowing eyes indicate she knows exactly what kind of bitch she’s saving me from. I give her a grateful smile. “Of course.”
Six hours later, once the store closes, Gloria, Dom, and I sprawl out on separate couches in the store. Just for a moment's rest before we begin cleanup and counting down the register.
“Thank you for earlier, Gloria.”
She gives me a dismissive wave. “It was nothing.”
“Did she end up buying the book?”
“Oh yes,” she muses. “The entire series, actually.”
“You must be some kind of bookish witch!” I’m endlessly impressed by Gloria and the way she runs her store. It’s its own artform, honestly, the way she speaks to customers about books and somehow talks them into buying exactly what they didn’t even know they wanted. I want to be her when I grow up.
Gloria stands with a sigh, rubbing her hands together. “Well, I need to hop in the back and sort the shipments that came in this morning. Can you two handle the cleanup up front here?”
It dawns on me that Gloria wasn’t supposed to be here all day. In fact, she arrived at ten this morning to receive the shipments and was supposed to leave when she was done. “Shit, Gloria, I’m sorry! You should go home. Dom and I can—”
“Oh shush,” she laughs, “I’m fine. Really.”
Dom and I stand as we exchange silent looks of concern that Gloria was on her feet, overdoing it all day. And a silent argument over who gets to count the drawer and who gets to reshelve the cart full of books customers left in random places all day. One task is clearly easier and—
“You two behave while I’m in the back,” Gloria cautions with a teasing tone. “Even if I can’t see you, we do have security cameras, you know.”
She disappears into the back and I turn to Dom, completely mortified. “Oh my god!” I hiss, my cheeks heating. Dom doubles over with laughter. “Dominic! How can you laugh about this? It’s not funny!”
While we’ve been seeing each other nearly every night, Dom and I haven’t exactly told Gloria that we’re together.
There’s no particular reason why, but there hasn’t been the right opportunity yet.
Between Gloria’s social life— I swear she’s more popular now than she was when I was a kid, despite the fact she no longer hosts weekly summer barbecues— the store, and sneaking in alone time with Dom…
okay, maybe I’m afraid to tell Gloria about us.
What if she disapproves, since we work together?
Or— even worse— that she thinks I’m not good enough for her nephew?
A warm hand cups my cheek. “Where did you go?” Dom whispers.
“Does she know? About us?”
Dom frowns. “I don’t think so? I haven’t told her anything.” He pauses.
“There’s a ‘but’ coming, isn’t there?”
He gives me a true, authentic Dominic Miller smile and I feel my insides melt. Being on the receiving end of those smiles is a rare experience, and I cherish each and every one. Dom tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. “But she’s not blind.”
“What does that mean?” My eyes widen in shock as I gasp.
“Oh my god, has she seen us on the security cameras?” Pulse racing, I try to recall the random times Dom and I have hooked up at the store.
Besides the one time against the bookshelf months ago, we’ve only ever fooled around in the back room.
I didn’t think there were cameras there, but now I’m not sure and—
“Relax, Pea,” Dom murmurs, pulling me close to his chest in a hug. “I mean she’s observant. And anyone with eyes and a brain can see the way I look at you and just… know.”
Oh sweet baby Jesus, this man will be the death of me. I wrap my arms around him and hold him tightly. “Oh.” Really brilliant response there, Penelope.
Dom strokes my hair for a moment before stepping back from our embrace. “You seem to be a bit frazzled,” he comments, stroking my cheek before walking away. “Why don’t I handle the reshelf cart from hell and you take care of the money?”
Blowing him a grateful kiss, I force my brain to get its shit together as I count down the drawer.
I tuck the money into the safe in the break room before locking it back up.
I should go help Dom with the rest of the reshelves, but he was already half done with them when I headed back here.
Instead, I head to the back room to see how Gloria’s doing.
Unlike me and Dom, Gloria never listens to music when she works back here, so it doesn’t surprise me that it’s silent. She prefers the quiet, away from the hustle of the main floor, where it’s just her and her books in peace.
“Gloria?” I step around the first set of shelves to find Gloria leaning against the pallet containing the shipment we received earlier today.
She’s clutching her chest and breathing heavily– the pallet hasn’t even been broken down yet.
“Gloria, are you okay?!” I rush to her side and she does that dismissive wave to me again.
“Of course. Just needed to catch my breath.” She sounds weak, and when I wrap my arm around her shoulders, she’s trembling.
“Gloria–”
“I mean it, Penelope. I’m fine.” Gloria shrugs off my arm; her dismissal stings. She must see the hurt in my face because she takes a deep breath and touches my arm. “I don’t mean to snap at you, honey. I’ve just been tired lately, what with the store being so busy and all.”
Nodding, I look for signs that there’s more to it than that, but I don’t want to be nosey. “Do you want me to get—”
“No,” Gloria says firmly. “Please, don’t mention this to Dominic.” Her expression is almost pleading. “He’ll overreact over it, something so small. Really, dear.”
“Well…” I hesitate because I don’t want to keep a secret like this from Dom. “As long as he’s the one driving home.”
“He is.” Gloria pats my shoulder. “And you know what? It’s getting late. I was going to stay to get this done but this shipment can wait until tomorrow, right?”
My gut is screaming at me that something is wrong.
Gloria is hyper-vigilant about keeping up with the shipments, especially during busy times when we tend to get several a day.
If you fall behind, even once, it leads to absolute chaos— books showing in the system that they’re on our shelves when they’re still in boxes in the back, issues with crowding in the back room, to name a few.
“Sure.” Forcing a smile on my face, I nod towards the front. “Let’s go. I’m sure Dom is done with the clean up by now.”
Gloria and I grab our things from the break room and walk toward the front where Dom is sitting on a couch, scrolling on his phone. He jumps up as we approach. “All set?”
“Yes, we’re ready. Thank you both for all of your hard work today.” Gloria’s voice is less shaky than it was in the back room, and she’s not wheezing anymore, but Dom shoots me a concerned look. I shake my head slightly and mouth I’ll talk to you later.
We all stop at the door as Gloria goes to tap in the security code for the alarm.
“Oh, I forgot something in the back!” Gloria and Dom both look at me in confusion. “You guys go ahead. I’ll just… I’ll go grab it and then I’ll set the alarm.”
Dom’s brows narrow in suspicion. “We can wait for you.”
“No, really. I can close up.” I tilt my head with a forceful smile at Dom. He gives me a reluctant nod and I’m sure he’ll be calling me for answers as soon as they get home. He pushes the door open, holding it for Gloria.
Gloria looks at me and I know that she knows what I’m doing.
She gives me a sad smile before gathering me into a tight embrace.
“Thank you,” she whispers. Emotion overwhelms me, catching me off guard.
Gloria has been closer to me than my own mom the last few years, and this hug is more maternal and comforting than I expected.
“Get some rest,” I mumble to her when she steps back.
“What would I do without you two?” Gloria says softly, an actual twinkle in her eye.
Once they leave, I lock the front door and head to the back room. Connecting my phone to the bluetooth speaker, I put on the Teddy Hamilton audiobook I’ve been dying to start and get to work tackling the shipments.