A smile teased my lips as I watched Asher explaining something to his friend, his hands moving in gestures as his eyes shone with bright excitement. Nik said something in response, a wide grin on his face as he reached for the door.
Together, they strolled in. Asher’s head swiveled, his eyes searching until they landed on Cal and me. A bigger grin broke through, and he tugged Nik over by the sleeve of his worn coat.
My heart pinched when I took in Nik’s greasy sandy blond locks. He had bags beneath his tired blue eyes. He gave Calum a small, timid smile, remaining a few steps back.
Raina did her best. Nik’s clothes were secondhand, but none had holes. She made lunches that had far smaller portions than his classmates, but they were always healthy. Usually a sandwich, a bag of crackers, carrot sticks, and an apple. Things most kids—Asher especially—would complain about, but Nik didn’t seem to ever complain about anything.
That was astonishing, given the fact that Nik had Multiple Exostoses: a chronic pain bone disorder causing multiple benign exostoses to grow off the ends of his regular bones. He dealt with more pain in a day than most people could handle in a lifetime. Last March, he’d had his first operation to remove a few exostoses from his wrist, shoulder, and middle finger.
Asher had been so worried about his best friend that he’d gone over every single day after school to check on him, bring him homework and comic books, and keep him company. I’d been worried too, often accompanying him on the walk over to bring food or baked goods Ellery had made.
Raina didn’t appear to have any other family. She worked as a full-time server, and she’d had to take off a few weeks to be home with Nik. Ellery and I tried to offer more help than the meager meal train, but she shut us down every time.
Raina Parsons was the kind of person who did things her own way on her own terms. She was closed off, sarcastic, and more than a little guarded, but she wasn’t cruel or mean…just mistrustful, especially of other adults.
If I hadn’t had the full support of my parents, I knew I could have just as easily been in Raina’s position, so I did what I could to discreetly help without her realizing it. Rainaneverasked for help, not even when Nik was going through his surgery and recovery. She’d made it clear early on when our sons became friends that she didn’t like handouts or feeling indebted to someone.
“How are you doing, Nik?” I asked him, smiling warmly.
“Good!” he grinned. “We had robotics club today.”
“Yeah, we programmed the robots to do a choreographed dance. It was awesome.” Asher added.
Cal whistled lowly, drawing the attention of a small cluster of teenage girls hanging out by the YA section. “That does sound cool. Can you guys teach me how to program a robot?”
“Why don’t you guys go hang out in the café? I need to do a few more things before I can call it a night.”
“All right, we’ll catch you in a bit,” he said, exchanging a look with me—one that said he wanted to do something a little more than walk away. His gaze flickered to my lips for a moment, then he grinned and shook his head as if he was amused with himself. He obediently followed the boys to the café side and sat down at one of the tables.
Turning my attention back to the book shop section, I spotted Shelly behind the counter and made my way over.
“How’s it going over here?” I asked, catching her staring at the computer screen.
“Oh! I’m just reading up on Guinevere Williams’ latest release! It sounds so good!” Shelly exclaimed, turning the monitor so I could see it.
I read the synopsis, my brows arching. I’d read a few of Guinevere’s books before, and she weaved so many webs intertwining historical facts and situations with fictional people. Her latest was a historical fiction romance set in Ireland in during the Williamite-Jacobite War.
“We’ll definitely order it for release day, it sounds incredible. You should contact the author and see if she’ll let you read an advanced copy in exchange for a review.”
“You think I should?” Shelly gnawed on her bottom lip, considering me as I nodded in encouragement.
“Absolutely,” I nodded with encouragement. “That’s how I got started! I sent an author a message, expressing my interesting in reading an early copy, and reviewing it.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.”
The group of teenage girls let out a series of giggles, and I glanced at them again. Their phones were still pointed at the table, and they were recording or taking pictures. “Uh…do you know those girls?”
Shelly’s eyes flickered to the New Adult section. She looked at them for a moment, watching the three girls before turning her head. “Yeah, they go to my high school. Not the kind of girls I’d expect to see in a bookstore…but…” her attention drifted to the table where Cal, Asher, and Nik sat. Nik was quiet, watching Asher and his father interact with an uneasy smile, his eyes occasionally darting past them to the leering girls. “I guess it’s not surprising they’re here now.”
“Figured as much.” I sighed, fingers tapping lightly against the counter as I watched them direct phones at Calum’s back, taking pictures.
I strolled purposely towards the girls, keeping my cordial shop keeper smile on. This was, after all, a place of business, and my objective was to sell books. “Afternoon, girls. Can I help you find anything?”
All three of them seemed a little thrown that I’d approached them at all. They looked at one another before the ringleader smirked. “How about a rock star?” she said, pointedly looking at Calum.
I snapped my fingers, coming up with the perfect book. “I have just the thing for you,” I told her, walking past them. Grabbing the first of Kylie Scott’s Stage Dive series;Lick, I returned to the girls with it, handing it to their ringleader.
“What’s this?” the girl asked, blinking at it like I was offering her a three-headed monster.
