Chapter 19
Sara had the nagging feeling that there was something she was forgetting as she ran around the house Monday morning after sending the last child out the door. She remembered to pack her own lunch, a simple turkey sandwich and a bag of chips. She needed to start keeping a list as she’d missed a few things last week. She’d forgotten to sign Cody’s permission slip for an upcoming field trip.
That wasn’t a big deal, he brought it in the next day, but it wasn’t like her to forget things like that. Even worse, she’d almost forgotten to pick up Dylan after practice on Thursday. She remembered at the last minute, but she was the last parent there and Dylan looked so relieved when she finally pulled the car up.
She finished getting dressed, dried her hair, and headed out the door. She liked to get to the bookshop a few minutes before nine thirty. Overall she was pretty thrilled with how her first week had gone. It was a joy to be working again, interacting with adults and talking about books—and getting paid for it. Sara enjoyed chatting with the customers and sharing her recommendations, especially for her favorite books.
She mostly worked with Alison, as Brooklyn was in classes during the week. That meant Sara had weekends off, which was perfect as there was always something going on with the kids on the weekends.
“Do you want to see if your sister would like to do a book signing in two weeks?” Alison asked. “It’s a Saturday, and I was thinking from one to three. That seems to be our best time for author signings.”
“Sure, I can text her now and see if that works.” Sara sent a quick text message to her sister. She would definitely make sure she stopped down on Saturday as well. She wanted to support her sister and was also curious to see how they handled author signings at the bookshop.
“We’re going to have our first author signing of the summer season this coming Saturday. Niall Peterson will be here.”
“Really? I love his books.” Niall was a big deal. He released a new book every few years and they always spent months on the bestseller lists. He wrote literary sagas about dysfunctional American families and they never had happy endings, but they were incredibly well written and insightful. Sara always wanted to talk to someone after she finished one of his books. They were ideal for book clubs. Maybe she might want to stop in for this one, too, and see if Hannah wanted to come along, to have an idea of what to expect for her own signing.
“His parents bought a place here a few years ago and he said he’s spending most of the summer in Chatham.”
“Where does he live normally?”
“Manhattan, I think. His parents are very wealthy. They bought the Thurston estate.”
“Oh! Wow. I didn’t realize that had sold.” The Thurston estate was a sprawling waterfront mansion set on almost three acres, which was massive for an oceanfront property. It was very private. You couldn’t even see the house from the main road.
“We got to chatting and he told me he’s staying in the attached guest house for a bit of privacy,” Alison said.
“I’ve seen pictures of that property. I think the guest house is the size of a normal home. I’ll have to tell Hannah. She loves his books, too. We’ll make sure to stop in for the signing.”
Her phone dinged with a new text message. It was Hannah and simply said, Of course! I’d love to.
Sara smiled. “I just heard from Hannah and she’s confirmed.”
“Great. I’ll bring some snacks, cookies, brownies, that kind of thing. Everyone loves sweets.”
“Is there anything I should let Hannah know to bring?”
Alison thought for a moment. “Just her favorite pens to sign with. We’ll take care of everything else. I’ll put an order in today for extra books. If we don’t sell them all at the signing I’m sure we will over the next few months.”
The day went by quickly as the shop was busier than usual for a Monday. It was a clear, sunny day and there were lots of people out walking and shopping along Main Street.
With their location, and the colorful awning and adjacent coffee shop, they saw a lot of foot traffic from people who were just curious and wandered in to explore. Many of them ended up discovering something they had to buy. The coffee shop next door also sent plenty of customers their way. It was easy for people to buy their coffee, then wander through the archway into the bookshop. Unlike many retail stores, they didn’t have a rule about no beverages because Alison and Jess, the co-owner, wanted to encourage people to go back and forth between the businesses.
Sara had asked Alison last week if it was ever a problem, people spilling coffee on the books or touching the covers with sticky hands.
“Only once so far. A child with gooey hands got frosting on a book cover. But the mother insisted on buying the book, so it was all good. We figured even if there is the occasional mishap, it’s still worth it overall if it drives more people into the store.”
“That makes sense. It is nice to sip a coffee and browse books at the same time.”
When her shift was over, Sara went home and threw a load of laundry in the washer and put some chicken, vegetables, and water into her slow cooker to make a big pot of soup for dinner. At four thirty, she ran out to pick up two kids from after-school practices, and when she got home, she put a salad together to have with the soup. She also sliced a big loaf of Italian bread in half and slathered soft butter and minced garlic across both surfaces, then put the loaf back together, wrapped it in aluminum foil, and put it in the oven to bake for twenty minutes. Tom should be home by then and the kids loved her garlic bread with soup.
Tom walked through the door at exactly five thirty, just as she was taking the toasted loaf out of the oven.
“Perfect timing,” she said.
He gave her a quick kiss hello and went to change out of his work clothes. A few minutes later, he returned wearing his favorite jeans and an old T-shirt.
“Something smells good.”
“Thanks, it’s soup and the garlic bread you’re smelling. Want to tell the kids to come eat? Everything is ready.”
Sara ladled out bowls of soup and brought everything to the table. The kids didn’t eat much salad, but they went back for seconds on the soup and bread. As they ate, Tom told her all about a new client they were trying to win over.
“If we land this one, it will be huge. They are a global company and we may have to hire one or two people just to service their account.”
“That’s great. When will you know?”
“Probably in a week or so. We have a big meeting tomorrow. The corporate heads are all flying here.”
“They’re coming to Chatham?” That was a surprise. Tom’s company was headquartered on the West Coast and the satellite office in Chatham that served much of the East Coast was small. It was just Tom and two others plus an administrative assistant.
“The client will be on the Cape. They have friends in Brewster and are visiting for a few days. So when I mentioned we had an office here in Chatham they asked if the meeting could be here. That reminds me, did you pick up my dry cleaning? I didn’t see the bag in the closet.”
Tom’s dry cleaning. That was the thing she was supposed to do—pick it up for his big meeting.
“Tom, I’m so sorry. I totally forgot. What time is your meeting?”
He frowned. “It’s early, nine o’clock. I can’t believe you forgot.” He didn’t sound angry, just surprised. And she didn’t blame him. It wasn’t like her to forget things.
“I think they open at eight. I can run over in the morning for you.”
Tom sighed. “Thank you. I can do it though. I’ll just go straight into the office from there. I wanted to go in early anyway.”
He took a bite of bread and chewed for a moment. “How was your day? Are you still liking the job? It’s not too much for you, is it?”
Sara knew he was really asking if she could handle juggling everything.
“It’s an adjustment, balancing it all. But I love it. I really do.”
“Good. So, did I tell you about this other deal we have cooking?” Sara sighed in frustration as she half-listened to Tom tell her all about his other deal. It would be nice if he was genuinely interested in hearing about how much she was enjoying her new job.