Chapter 2
Six weeks later …
The event coordinator from Fitzgerald & Clark Publishing arrives today. She texted nearly two hours ago and said she was en route from the airport in Denver.
My best friend since, well forever, Lily, Julia, and I nearly have our noses pressed to the window waiting for the event coordinator to arrive. And when she does arrive, she doesn’t disappoint.
A black SUV pulls up in front of the store, the driver hurries out of the car and opens the back door, and out steps a woman who oozes professionalism and screams New York.
Red hair cut into a sleek long bob. Black heels, a stark contrast to the few snow piles that still pepper the streets.
She has on a long wool coat cinched at the waist and large black sunglasses cover her eyes.
I’m suddenly very aware of how unprofessional I look. I have on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt with the logo of the store on it. My wiry salt and pepper hair lands at my shoulders and is pushed back with a headband.
She’s big city.
I’m small town, and I feel that to my core.
From the car she pulls out a black commuter bag, and dangles it on her arm as she holds her phone in her hand. She converses with the driver, and he points in the direction of the resort. She nods and then looks at the front of my store.
“New York City in Pine Haven,” Lily says with optimism dripping from her words.
“Handsome, broody authors, who are old enough to be my father,” Julia says in a sing-song voice grinning at me.
“If you two embarrass me …” I leave the threat open as I move to the door to let in New York.
I pull open the door, and the woman, who was looking at her phone, looks up at me startled, but then smiles.
“You must be Emma?” She holds out a hand to me.
“And you must be Katie?” I ask, holding out my hand to shake hers.
“I am. I’m so glad to be here and to meet you. We are going to shower your town with attention, especially your store. I’m excited to get started.”
Her enthusiasm is contagious.
I step back, inviting her into the store she’ll be showering with attention.
Katie pulls off her sunglasses and makes a grand gesture of looking around before letting out a whistle of appreciation.
“Oh, this is even cuter than the pictures on the website. Oh, Emma,” she says, pressing her hand to her chest. “You know what a gem this is, don’t you?”
I can feel the beaming smiles from Lily and Julia and I nod. “I do,” I say and Katie nods in agreement.
“Oh, and look at this display,” she says, walking toward the banner next to the counter with a picture of Noah Carter’s next book and his headshot.
“We’ve been taking orders in person and online. We look to have quite a crowd for the signing—well, for all the authors,” I add, but she knows it’s Noah’s book that’s already making the sales.
Katie nods, looking pleased.
“Is the cafe next door attached to the bookstore?” she asks.
“Mrs. Packer and I put in a door between the two businesses when I took over the store twelve years ago.”
“Mrs. Packer,” she says on a sigh and leans in toward me. “How old is she?”
“Going on eighty,” I say. “And she looks eighty, but don’t let that fool you. I’ve never known anyone with more energy and dirtier jokes.”
That has Katie reeling back with laughter. “God, I’m going to love it here. Show me around. I want to hear about every part of your store and this cute town before I head to the hotel and try to get a few hours of sleep.”
“I’m happy to meet with you later,” I offer, knowing that the time difference and altitude can get to a person.
“Oh, no. I’m ready to hit the ground running.”
Katie is an information seeker—an asker of questions. After an hour and a half, I wonder what it’s going to be like when she and Julia get into a conversation.
We’ve toured my store, a few times actually. She’s intrigued by my collection of romance titles, since they represent over half of my inventory.
“I’m a romantic at heart,” I tell her.
“So am I. I’m a sucker for a good happily ever after. Alyssa Maxwell?” she says the name of my favorite romance author and I beam.
“She’s an auto buy for me and I’ll reread each title at least four times.”
“Ditto. When she started publishing at Fitzgerald & Clark, I got to show her around. I don’t often get starstruck, but I did that day.”
“Do you usually work with the authors?”
“One of the best and worst parts of my job,” she says, but before I can hint at wanting to know the gossip behind that statement, she says, “Let’s check out the rest of the town.”
She’s not here to just shine a light on the five authors who write chart-topping novels, she’s here to spotlight Pine Haven. Fitzgerald & Clark gives back to the community and to readers, which makes them one of my favorite houses to work with, as an independent bookseller.
“I have a pair of sneakers in my office if you’d like to wear them,” I say as we head out the door. “I know that the hike toward the hotel gets a little elevated.”
Katie laughs, her hand pressed to her chest, though she’s not out of breath. “Believe it or not, I’ve been training for this.”
“Training for this? What do you mean?”
“Stair climber at the gym,” she says. “I did an event in Vail once, I was sick for a week while I was there. Everywhere I went, I had to sit down. So, for the past three months, I’ve been hitting the climber and treadmill at top incline. My ass is firmer than it’s ever been,” she says confidently.
Setting the treadmill at an angle doesn’t give one altitude of thousands of feet, but maybe altitude sickness is a mind game, and Katie seems to be managing it just fine.
Once we have met everyone in the entire town, we head back to bookstore.
When we walk in, I notice Julia standing at the door to my office, behind the front counter. She looks over her shoulder at me, a crease of worry deep between her brows.
A moment later, I understand the worry when Noah Carter walks out of my office.
“That’s really small,” he says in a low gruff voice.
“Noah!” Katie nearly shouts beside me. “I thought you were coming in tomorrow. I arranged for a car for you tomorrow,” she says pointedly.
He looks toward us, and I don’t know what happens in that moment, but his dark eyes flash. The broody look disappears for only a second. If you blinked you might have missed it, but I caught it before it returned.
“Change of plans,” he says. “Don’t worry. I called the resort and added a night, and I called off the car. Janice gave me the number.”
There is a tiny twist of Katie’s lips, a smile maybe—as if maybe she knows how he rolls and this is unexpected but not out of character? “Well, okay. Do you need a ride to the resort?”
“I rented a car,” he says, his eyes darting between me and Katie.
Katie jerks as if she’s realized we’re all just staring at the two of them. “Noah, this is Emma. She’s the owner of the store, your host,” she says as if she’s a parent reminding a toddler to be on their best behavior.
“Nice to meet you,” he says without moving to shake my hand.
“You as well,” I say. “This is Julia and Lily,” I offer nodding to the others.
Julia’s gaze is between starstruck and frightened. Lily appears to be finding something humorous.
“Nice to meet you all. Thank you for the room rental. I’ll bring in a check with me in the morning,” he says, as if I didn’t hear his commentary on just how small the space was. “I think I’ll head back to the hotel for the night. What time do you open?”
All eyes are on me now.
There is an opening time and a time in which I get in.
“We open at nine,” I say and his groan is audible.
“But she’s always here by seven,” Julia offers and I slice her a look.
“Great. I’ll be here then,” he says before walking to the door and turning around. “Can I give you a ride to the hotel?” he asks Katie, who looks down at her feet.
“I suppose these shoes have done enough walking.” She turns to me. “I can’t wait to fill you in on all the plans. I’ll see you tomorrow as well. Bye, everyone,” she says as she waves and follows Noah out the door.
When they’re both gone from the store, we all just stand there staring out the window.
“Wow,” Julia says.
“Wow indeed,” I parrot.