The Shop Next Door (Love on Rosewood Avenue #1)

Chapter One

There was nothing that I loved to do more than lie to myself.

Oftentimes, it was in the form of little, bite-sized lies. That I wasn’t a half-bad artist, or that I was capable of cooking a meal without lighting my entire kitchen on fire. Tiny white lies that served as the glue holding my imperfect self together.

But the biggest lie that I had ever told myself was that I had not made a massive mistake by quitting my dream job to open up a bookshop on the dying street of Rosewood Avenue.

It had come in a whirlwind, the opening day of my little bookshop—The Prologue. Six months, I had spent preparing for the day. Six months working myself to the brink of exhaustion with a to-do list that was never-ending and ever-growing.

Six months, and through it all, I had the nagging voices of my family constantly in my ear. I had quit the perfect job that I spent years vying for. And then, I drained my bank account so I could pour it into a crumbling bookshop.

They would never let me hear the end of it.

But today was the day that I would prove them wrong. Today was the grand opening of The Prologue. Once they saw it in all its glory, full of life and a testament to all the hard work I poured into it, I was certain that they were bound to change their minds.

Or, perhaps, that was just another lie holding me together.

I dragged my parents and grandparents up and down every aisle of the shop, weaving between customers as I pointed out every little detail I could.

This had to work. It had to.

“You know, there’s a funny story about this bookshelf,” I said, turning back to face my parents and grandparents. Aside from Mom, they each wore expressions of disapproval.

Mom had a soft, supportive smile etched across her face, but there was still doubt swirling around in her sapphire-blue eyes.

“This was one of the original bookshelves already inside the shop when I bought it.” I patted the shelf gently. “It was covered in cobwebs and about an inch of dust, but a little elbow grease was all it took to get it looking brand new!”

“That’s nice, honey,” Mom said quietly.

“How you saw any promise in this filthy place is beyond me,” Grandma breathed out, narrowing her eyes at the bookshelf as though it had personally insulted her.

“It’s not filthy anymore,” I defended, trying to keep hold of my composure. Today of all days, I couldn’t let her drag me back into that same conversation again. “Does anyone want a coffee?”

Grandpa seemed to visibly perk up a little, and Mom nodded her head. I was well aware that was likely all the encouragement I was going to get, so I turned on my heel and began to guide them over to the cafe.

“Order anything you want. It’s on the house.”

I hoped that maybe a free coffee would be enough to earn at least a few points of approval.

Dad and my grandparents made their way into the cafe line as I leaned against the wall. I needed to at least try to grasp hold of the positivity I felt earlier in the day, or I was going to go insane.

Mom settled into the space beside me against the wall. “It’s wonderful, Jess.”

Her words sent a wave of relief washing over me. I knew that, at least if no one else did, she would always support me.

“Thank you, Mom.”

Mom began to say something else, but my attention quickly drifted as I caught the faintest hint of an odd sound. It was distant and hard to hear, but I could almost feel the vaguely familiar beat it had.

“What is that?” I mumbled under my breath.

“What is what?”

I didn’t respond. Instead, I pressed one ear to the wall and shut my eyes tightly.

Music.

Why was there music coming from the other side of the wall? As far as I knew, beyond that wall sat a vacant storefront.

“What is going on?” I pressed my ear harder against the wall.

Vacant storefront or not, there was absolutely something beyond that wall because the sound of that music was unmistakable.

“Are you alright, honey?”

I should have ignored it. Today was The Prologue’s grand opening and, admittedly, the music wasn’t that loud. But I couldn’t ignore it. Not when today was meant to be the perfect day. Not when I had everything planned down to the minute. This mysterious music was nothing short of a targeted attack.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” I assured Mom.

I didn’t hear her response as I rushed right out of The Prologue.

* * *

Rosewood Avenue was a dead street. That hadn’t always been the case. In fact, a decade or two ago, it had been the very heart of small town Briarvale. However, as it stood now, there were more vacant shops than there were open ones. The only thing more scarce than the shops was customers.

I knew what I was signing up for when I signed my lease, which is why it utterly shocked me when I stepped out of The Prologue. The sidewalk of Rosewood Avenue was flooded with customers.

Customers who seemed to have no interest in my shop.

They were all lined up and pouring into the shop just beside mine. The same one that I had spent the past several months believing was vacant.

From a quick, shameless glance into the front window, I could see that it had been completely renovated, just as my shop had.

On the outside, a new sign had been hung up.

One that read The Galaxy Gamers Cafe. Beneath that sign was a smaller one, red with white letters—identical to the one I had ordered for my shop.

That sign read, the same as mine, Grand Opening.

Furious was an understatement.

Irrational as it was, all I could feel was pure rage that whoever owned this Galaxy Gamers Cafe had the gall to steal my shop’s thunder and its customers.

Without a second thought, I made my way toward the end of the line. I needed to step inside. I had to see what exactly this shop was—learn if it was as big a threat as I feared it might be.

Upon setting foot inside The Galaxy Gamers Cafe, I quickly decided that a threat was precisely what it was.

The shop was packed. Inside were more than triple the number of customers that had been inside The Prologue. My chest burned with envy.

How? How had this happened right under my nose? How had I not even noticed this place until now?

The music shifted from one song to another, and finally, I realized why it had sounded so familiar.

It was a soundtrack. One that, as a child, I knew by heart.

To a game on which I had wasted far too many hours.

The memories that came flooding back to me in an instant made the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

I had to admit, the music suited the shop.

The walls were littered with posters of classic games. Shelves upon shelves were filled with game cartridges and old consoles. I hadn’t exactly been sure what a gamers cafe was before stepping inside, but it took just one glance around to realize that it was exactly what I imagined it to be.

Groups of people sat around some of the largest tables I had ever seen, playing all sorts of board games. Tall wooden shelves sat near the front left side of the shop, stocked with games, trading cards, and all sorts of collectibles.

The registers sat in the dead center of the shop, an oval-shaped counter encompassing them. My nose scrunched as the scent of cheap, burnt coffee wafted toward me from the cafe.

A smug smile tugged at my lips—if The Galaxy Gamers Cafe was a threat, at least their coffee was not.

The cafe sat in the far right-hand corner beside a huge lounge area where massive TVs, all streaming different video games, hung from the walls.

I stood there, taking it all in for a moment before I made my way toward the registers.

“Excuse me,” I said to the only employee who was not busy helping a customer. He had sandy blond hair, an overenthusiastic smile, and looked to be right around my age. In another life, perhaps I would have found his smile charming or his deep brown eyes stunning.

But I was on a mission. Even if I wasn’t, it had been a lifetime since I noticed a boy in that way.

“How can I help you?” he asked.

My gaze flickered down to his name tag. Jace. “Hi.” The confidence I had stormed in with was vanishing by the second. “You wouldn’t by chance know where I could find the owner, would you?” I asked, flashing him the best smile I could muster.

“Oh, maybe. Let me see.” Jace’s eyes darted around the shop. “He’s been busy all morning, but he did say he was expecting—” I stopped listening to him as a thought pierced through my mind.

I was acting ridiculously. A threat or not, I couldn’t come into a random shop and demand to speak to the owner. Even if I could, what would I even say?

“Actually, it’s fine. I think I’ll just come back later,” I said, my steps already receding.

In seconds, doubt had woven itself into my bones. Confronting the owner of this shop at their grand opening was a terrible idea.

“Oh, there he—” Jace began to say, cutting himself off as his face screwed up into a wince.

A split second later, my back collided with something firm.

“I knew you’d come,” a deep, teasing voice said from behind me. I could feel the faint brush of his breath on my ear.

Every hair on my body stood on end. A wave of nausea rolled through my stomach.

No. No. No.

Not him. Anyone but him.

I debated launching myself away from the man or simply shutting my eyes and pretending to disappear. Neither option seemed sufficient.

It was impossible. There was simply no way. It couldn’t really be him.

And yet, there was his voice once more. “Are you going to look at me?” I could almost feel the amusement in his voice.

“Nope,” I replied. My feet shuffled as I moved to step around the man. I avoided his gaze. I didn’t want to see his face—to look him in the eyes, to let it be real.

My luck had run out. His fingers looped around my wrist. Gentle, but firm enough that I was stuck there.

“Look at me, Jessie.” My blood boiled at the nickname, and my eyes shot up to glare at him. A reaction he had likely predicted, as painted across his lips was the most obnoxiously smug grin I had ever seen.