“So, when are you leaving?” Paisley asked, grabbing a book out of the box and turning to stack it on the shelf for Mae.
“You know, I’m not going to pay you for stocking my shelves.” Mae laughed.
“What’s that saying about idle hands?”
“I don’t know, but if you want to learn new things to do with your fingers, you shouldn’t put that book on the shelf, you should bring it up to the register and let me wrap it up for you to take home.”
The women dissolved into a fit of laughter.
“You didn’t answer me,” Paisley said, rubbing her side when the laughter subsided.
“Next week.” Mae sighed.
“And what is it you're going back for? A wedding and a baby shower?”
“Vow renewal, and a baby shower.”
“Lucky couple.” A smile warmed Paisley’s face.
“Two different ones, actually.”
“But all in the same friend group, right? The one your ex is still a part of.”
God, she didn’t regret drinking often, because she knew how to have enough to let loose and still be in control, but one two many glasses of wine with Paisley down on her family’s dock one night at sunset had Mae spilling every damn thing she’d meant to keep bottled up forever.
“Yeah. Those are the ones.”
“Are you going to be okay going back?”
There was genuine concern in her friend’s voice, and Mae was grateful for that. To know she’d gained a true friend in a time when she’d felt so broken was a gift.
“I think I will be. I mean, I won’t know until I see him.”
The door chimed and Mae groaned. Everyone in townknew the shop closed at three. Was it insanely early? Yes. Did Mae look forward to locking the door and going upstairs to her tiny apartment every day after she shooed off the last customers or Paisley if she came in with some treats? Of course.
But then again, she’d been so distracted by her friend, she hadn’t locked the door. Damn smutty books and Paisley with her delicious doughnuts.
“I forgot about locking the damn door,” she groaned as Paisley waved her off, returning to stacking with a smile on her face.
“Sorry,” Mae called out, her back still turned to the front door. “We’re closed.”
“Nah. It’s only two fifty-five. Mom and Dad would be pissed to know you’re trying to kick a customer out five minutes early.”
Hawk. Mae whipped around, her eyes landing on her brother for the first time in almost twelve months. It took every ounce of restraint she had in her body to not look around him for who she hoped might be there, too.
“What are you doing here?” She smiled as she walked into the entry and wrapped him in a big hug.
“I was in the neighborhood,” he laughed as his arms tightened around her.
“Bullshit. And you’re not a paying customer, so don’t even try to run and tattle to Mom and Dad.”
Hawk rolled his eyes. “I’ll just store it away for ammunition later.”
“Typical.” Mae walked back around the counter, opening the cash drawer to start her closing routine. “Flip that sign to close and lock the door, would ya?”
Hawk nodded, taking his sweet time looking through the shop after he locked the door. Up and down the aisles, Mae tracked her brother while she wrote down the cashbox final number in the daily report she’d send off to her parents. They had become surprisingly hands off in the months since she’d taken on the shop, which was a blessing because her dad would have an absolute coronary if he saw her book orders…
Paisley came scurrying up to the register, her eyes as wide as saucers.
