Prologue
Smith
“Anyone else have anyotherideas?” Mr. Shannon poses the question for what has to be the tenth time this meeting. Monday meetings are full of discussions about future articles and he’s shot down every idea thrown out. Looking around the conference room, everyone’s already scraping the bottom of the barrel.
The Daily Clickis a fast-growing online newspaper and Mr. Shannon is hell-bent on finding a human interest story that’s never been done before.
My pen taps against my notebook, the soft thud mingling with the other anxious ticks made by the journalists around me. Chairs swivel and someone coughs lightly, no one daring to make eye contact with our boss. Not that we’re scared of him, we’re just out of ideas.
“I think I have something.” A small hand raises in the air, the young intern wide-eyed. She cautiously stands as all eyes shift to her seat in the corner next to the coffee maker. “Um, well.” She stammers clearing her throat, her hands clasping nervously in front of her. “This last Christmas my friends and I went to this small town— like really small. We’d heard that they have this event on Christmas Eve, so we decided to check it out. It’s normally only a Christmas thing, but I guess the girl theyhired throws all these seasonal events drawing huge crowds. My friends have even been talking about going to their Fall Festival.”
The silence in the room hangs heavy, all eyes shifting to Mr. Shannon. The older man scrapes his hand along his chin, his lips puckered in thought. “How’d you hear about it?”
“That’s the thing. We can’t remember.” She shrugs her shoulders. “I guess they’ve been doing it for like forever and hotels in the area have started selling out every time they put on another event.”
“What’s the name of this place?”
She looks down at her feet in thought. “Rose something.” Her eyes flutter shut, her face scrunching as she tries to remember. “Prairie!” She announces loudly. “It’s called Rose Prairie. It’s about a three-hour drive from here. Their fall festival starts this Friday.” She pulls out her phone, her thumbs quickly typing until she finds what she’s looking for. With a satisfied smile, she holds her phone up to show the online flyer.
It’s simple. Fall leaves and pumpkins decorate the edges with large black letters. “Join us for our first annual Fall Festival. Come see what Rose Prairie is all about!”
Something about that name sounds familiar. Although I have no idea where this place is, awareness prickles at the back of my neck like a forgotten memory, no matter how hard you think of it, it never comes back.
“I’m intrigued.” Mr. Shannon murmurs, his large fists settling on the polished conference table. “Matt.” All eyes shift to me, my pen stopping its motion. “I want you to go to this Rose Prairie. Get in touch with the person who puts on all of these events. Learn about the town, its culture, and how these events help the town. I want you there for their festival. I expect to have the article on my desk the next day.”
A strand of my black hair bounces on my forehead as I nod. “Yes, sir.”
Looks like I’m heading to Rose Prairie.Wherever the hell that is.
Chapter One
Cara
The bell rings as another customer steps into Tall, Dark, and Coffee, adding to the growing line that nearly reaches the door. There must be something in the fall air that has everyone rushing for a warm beverage.
If only they’d bother to buy a book or two,I think bitterly.
Tall, Dark, and Coffee is my baby. My dream. Some kids grew up wanting to be firefighters, teachers, or doctors. But not me. Nope, I wanted to own a bookstore. What goes hand in hand with books better than coffee? There’s a reason most chain bookstores have that well-known coffee shop inside. Only now it’s more like the coffee is funding my bookstore and not the other way around.
I proudly sell and advertise a wide variety of books, but my main focus is romance. Sure, there are dedicated non-fiction sections and that area of the store that houses the Nicholas Sparks books, but they pale in comparison to the romance selection.
Unfortunately, in this small town, books are not as high of a priority as coffee. This is why I wish there was some way to have people buy more books. I’m lucky if I’m able to sell three books a day, and even that is pushing it.
Order after order is made, and Jessie and I do our best to keep up with them all. We take turns working the register and making the orders, and before long, the morning bustle dies down.
The busiest time of our day happens right around eight o’clock. We open at six for that early bird crowd, but we get flooded with high schoolers stopping in before school, the parents of younger kids getting their pick-me-up after dropping kids off, or the old men on their way out of town for work. There’s the mid-morning rush of college students from Rosewood who usually sit at the tables with their books out as they work on assignments.
The chain coffee shop set up on the outskirts of town cut business down, but once the novelty wore off, people came back to their local shop. That’s what I love about Rose Prairie. Say what you want about small-town folks, but they are loyal.
After I graduated from Rosewood College, I spent some time in the city learning the ins and outs of managing a business. You know, get that real-world experience. There were many lessons I had to learn in my short time there, and picking the right location was one of them. Honestly, it was the easiest one I learned then.
After spending six months as an intern, I came right back to the town that raised me. Got a small business loan from Mr. Moser who helped me set up my first bank account when I was fifteen. Bought the storefront that sat empty for years since the Halstons retired and never looked back.
It took some time to get things up and running though and I had my fair share of setbacks, but looking around my little corner of the world, I can say I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished.
Sunlight streams through the windows, and soft music plays through the speakers as regulars enjoy their coffee, and read their newspapers. People chat happily with one another as theywait in line. No one is in a huge rush to get a complicated order in twenty seconds so they can sprint to work.
It’s my slice of heaven.
