Chapter 2 #3
When Dosia and her friends had gotten to the clubhouse, the party had been in full swing.
The club had been celebrating something, though what, none of Dosia’s friends could remind her.
When some of the club members had offered to take her friends for a joy ride, Dosia had stayed behind.
Her tiara announcing her as the birthday girl had fallen off her head and broke.
In her drunken state, this had upset her more than it would have if she had been sober.
And then he’d come up.
Dosia remembered thinking he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.
She was beyond enamored by him. From his dark eyes to his muscles and military haircut.
They’d talked for hours. She knew they had, but she couldn’t recall what about.
She just remembered thinking that it was too bad she was returning to college the next day and she couldn’t stick around to get to know him better.
It was the first time she felt regret about attending an out-of-state college.
There wasn’t a bone in her body that believed something untoward had happened between them. While Dosia didn’t remember having sex with him, she remembered the feel of ecstasy and the promise of tomorrow.
That is, until she’d woken up naked in an outdoor pavilion and realized she needed to find her friends and go home. Her grandparents would be worried sick, and it was way past when she was expected back. As hungover as she was, she’d still been able to gather her friends and get them a ride home.
Seven weeks later, Dosia took a pregnancy test. She couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid as to get drunk enough to have unprotected sex with a stranger.
At least, though, she knew who the father was.
She couldn’t remember his real name, but she caught sight of his cut as she’d dressed and the patch had named him ‘Vodka’.
Over a year away from graduating, Dosia had to make a decision.
It wouldn’t be fair of her to dump a child on her grandparents, who were getting up there in age.
Nor was she willing to put her baby up for adoption.
This baby was hers . In a last ditch effort to get support, Dosia came back to Mount Grove to find her child’s father. After all, it took two to tango.
The motorcycle club had been opening a new bar in town, and with the number of motorcycles outside the establishment, Dosia had figured that was a good place to check.
She hadn’t even made it inside the door.
Through the large window, Dosia had spotted him.
She didn’t remember a lot from that night, but she’d never forget his face.
And there he was, sitting at the bar, clearly inebriated with two women on his lap.
To make matters worse, he was making out with both too, jumping back and forth between their lips.
Dosia had turned away, and to this day, had only ever told Calliope that story.
She dropped out of college and had her baby girl, choosing not to tell the father of her existence or to ask for his financial support.
After seeing him in the bar like that, she realized that wasn’t the sort of person she wanted in her child’s life.
Every day since had been working to provide a life for her daughter, Juniper.
Dosia had been all set to nickname her ‘Juni’, but Calliope had insisted on ‘JJ’. Having had an old-fashioned and not common name all her life, Dosia was fine with JJ. She thought it had a nice ring to it.
Wrinkle on a Page was just as Dosia remembered it.
Even the old cowbell above the door was the same as it had been when she was JJ’s age.
As Calliope walked in with JJ, who was talking animatedly about her upcoming visit to her new school, Dosia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
The scents of almond and vanilla filled her with a nostalgic sense of home.
There was a bit of musk that came with old books, but she knew that there wouldn’t be a speck of dust in sight.
Calliope loved this store as much as her parents, grandparents, and so on had.
Dosia had always been a little jealous of that. Her determination to stay away from Mount Grove had locked her into a transient lifestyle. She went where a job was, one that could support her and her daughter.
But Calliope hadn’t needed to push hard when she’d told Dosia to come home to help her.
Maybe some subconscious part of Dosia had been secretly hoping for such an excuse, so she didn’t feel like she was running home with her tail between her legs.
Not that her grandparents hadn’t tried to get her to move back home when she was pregnant, but there was a difference between returning to help family and returning because she had no other choice.
Dosia’s disdain for small-town life had always been at war with her desire to be around family.
Opening her eyes, she took in the shelves and shelves of books. From new to old, the amount of books in the small store was breathtaking.
Walking around the bin of bargain books, Dosia followed Calliope and JJ to the counter. JJ was now sitting on the high desk chair eating a plate of cookies Calliope no doubt had waiting for their arrival. Calliope’s pet bearded dragon, Oolong, was sitting on JJ’s shoulder.
“…then Mommy and I are going to go to my new school and then we’re going out for ice cream, because Mommy promised!”
Calliope was leaning against the checkout counter on the other side of JJ, listening intently. “That sounds awesome. Maybe if I can get someone to cover here, I can meet you guys for ice cream too. ”
JJ’s eyes lit up. While Dosia had pale skin and blonde hair, JJ had dark curls and a naturally tanned complexion.
Calliope’s hair was much like Dosia’s mom’s had been, a mix of red and brown without a curl in sight.
As much as Dosia had hoped JJ would inherit her features, each year it became more apparent that JJ was very much her father’s daughter.
It was another reason being back in Mount Grove was daunting.
Maybe it was a mistake to come back. She hadn’t enrolled JJ in school yet. She’d only missed the first couple of weeks of kindergarten. Maybe they should go back and?—
“Don’t even think about it.”
Dosia’s head snapped up. “What?”
Calliope lowered her voice so JJ couldn’t hear her. “Don’t even think about it,” she repeated. “I finally got you back here. You’re staying.”
Dosia’s eyes narrowed. “Stay out of my head, Auntie.”
“I’m not in your head,” she argued. “Your thoughts are all over your face. Mom and Dad are thrilled to finally have you and JJ back. Don’t take this away from them.”
“Way to lay on the guilt,” Dosia grumbled. She reached over and snagged a cookie, much to her daughter’s dismay. Biting into it, she said, “You still haven’t told me why I’m here.”
Calliope’s smile was bright enough to lighten the room. “I’m giving you your dream.” She held open her arms and did a twirl around the place. “I’m giving you the bookstore.”
Dosia’s jaw dropped. “ What? ”
For as long as Dosia could remember, all Calliope had ever talked about was running the bookstore. Now she finally had it and she was, what, giving it up? Why? What had happened?
Dosia shook her head, trying not to let hope take over.
Despite being older, she was a generation under Calliope.
When her grandparents had decided to retire, of course they gave the shop to their daughter and not their wayward granddaughter who wasn’t even living in the state.
But…it had still hurt. Dosia had felt overlooked.
Gr owing up so close to Calliope, sometimes she forgot that she was the granddaughter or the niece and not a daughter or sister.
Calliope and Dosia had spent most of their childhood in this store. They’d helped to rearrange it, keep it clean, and eventually gave their opinions on stock. When Calliope had taken over, it had been Dosia’s suggestion for her to start supplying indie authors as well.
“I don’t understand. What’s changed? You love this store.”
Calliope nodded, looking excited rather than heartbroken. “I do, but it’s time it went to its rightful owner.” She looked around, nostalgia on her face. “The past couple of years, I’ve felt like I’ve been just keeping it running for you. Until you were ready.”
Dosia noticed that Calliope had that dreamy look in her eyes she got when she was seeing something that hadn’t happened yet as she stared around the store. “You’ve… I mean, you’ve seen me running this store?”
Calliope nodded again. “I knew when I accepted it from my parents that it would one day be yours. But you weren’t ready. It wasn’t time.”
“And it is now?” Dosia questioned.
“I wouldn’t have called you home if it wasn’t.”
Dosia’s eyes flitted about the room. To the extensive romance section with contemporary, historic, romantasy, and more books to the non-fiction, mystery, and world literature, and to the corner where a little mat was set up by the children’s section.
They used to have a used textbook section, but that was now used for specials and showcase authors.
There was so much Dosia wanted to do with the store, including hosting book clubs, author book signings, kid days, and such. She’d been slowly making suggestions to Calliope, not wanting her aunt to think Dosia thought she could run the store better.
“What do you say?” Calliope asked, like she didn’t already know the answer.
“What about you?” As much as Dosia wanted to accept, she wouldn’t until she knew what was next for Calliope.
“There’s an opening two stores down I put a deposit on. ”
Dosia’s eyebrows went up. “For what?”
“I’m going to open a New Age shop.” She swiped her hand in front of her like she was reading off of an invisible banner. “Going to call it Witch Upon a Star .” She smiled widely, almost mischievously. “There’s just something about that name that I love.”
Dosia stared at Calliope for a long moment. “You’re serious? I mean, this is already a done deal, and Grandma and Grandpa are okay with it?”
“First,” Calliope held up a finger, “they gave me the store fair and square, which means I can do what I want with it. Second,” she held up another finger, “I am an adult and can do as I please. Third,” she added a finger, “the only thing the lawyer is waiting on is your signature.”
“And fourth,” Dosia added without censure, “you’ve already asked them and got their approval?”
Calliope waggled her eyebrows. “You know me so well, niece.”
Dosia laughed. A feeling of elation filling her as her shoulders relaxed. She felt like a weight was being lifted off of her.
She couldn’t believe this was really happening…but it was. The bookstore was finally hers, and all she had to do was avoid her daughter’s father to be able to keep it.