Chapter 6
Zoe stood across the street and stared at her future home. Well, her future bookstore, but she planned on spending most of her time there, so it would effectively be her home. Elba’s cafe was on the left and an eclectic secondhand store was on the right. On the other side of Elba, a hair salon and day spa.
Located on a side road smack dab in the middle of Market Street and across from one of the most popular parking lots, they would get a lot of traffic on weekends. Even now, in the middle of the day, there were plenty of shoppers. The only way it would have been better was if it had been on Market Street.
Crossing the street, she pulled open the door and went in. Her heart pounded in her chest and she rested her palm over it. Until then, she’d only seen it in pictures.
It was chaos. Saws whirred. Hammers pounded. Looking at the mess, it was hard to picture what it would look like in four weeks. That was the deadline for completion she and the contractor had agreed to.
“Can I help you?” A man approached from the right, skirting a pile of wood.
“Hi. I’m looking for Linda.”
He turned and shouted over the noise. “Linda! Someone here to see you!”
An older blond woman moved away from a large table made of a plywood board and saw horses and headed toward her. Even though she was average height for a woman, Zoe still felt small standing next to her.
A spark of recognition lit in her eyes as she drew closer. She held out her hand. “Zoe?”
“Yes.” She shook the woman’s hand, rough with calluses.
“It’s nice to finally meet you in person. I’d hug you, but I’m probably covered in sawdust. How was your trip?”
“That’s okay. Another time.” Zoe smiled. They’d been virtually introduced by Zoe’s Women in Small Business mentor and had never met in person. Even so, she and Linda had connected.
Linda had understood Zoe’s vision and been able to put to paper what Zoe had only been able to verbalize. “The trip was good. Long. I drove almost non-stop for two and a half days.”
“You settling in all right? Do you need any help with anything at the house?”
“No, thank you. I’ve got everything unpacked. I just need to find places for it all.”
“I don’t miss that part of the military. Glad I was finally able to put down roots in one place and not have to pick up anymore.”
Zoe inhaled deeply. “That’s the idea.”
“Do you want to start at the back? The kids’ corner is almost finished.”
“Really? I thought you said it was going to be at least another week.”
Linda tilted her head side to side. “I don’t like to tell people I’m ahead of schedule until things are done. That way they don’t have any expectations. Let me get you a cover.” She walked over to the man who’d greeted Zoe and picked up a white hardhat.
Zoe took the hat and tried to squash it down over her curls. It sat precariously on her head and she wasn’t sure how much protection it would afford if something dropped on her.
Skirting the edge of the large room, Linda led her to a space in the back free of tools.
Pointing up, she said, “This is the loft we talked about.”
Zoe turned in a circle taking in the short, wide bookcases and the arched entry to the stairs up to the loft.
“Can I…?” She pointed to the steps.
“Go for it.” Linda swept her arm out, inviting Zoe to explore.
She took off the hard hat and crouched through the opening, using her hands to help climb the short staircase through the low passage. This would have been so much fun when she was a kid. When she reached the top, the ceiling was still low enough she had to crouch but would be the perfect height for kids. One side of the wall was a silhouette of a castle, complete with a small turret kids could crawl into.
She looked through the portholes cut into the wall—big enough for a kid to poke their head out of, but small enough they couldn’t fall through. In her mind she pictured them sprawled around the area reading on large bean bags while their parents shopped in the rest of the store. Reading had been her escape growing up. Having somewhere other than her closet to escape to would have been a dream. Giving that to kids, encouraging their imaginations and love of reading, had been a priority when she’d first contemplated opening a bookstore.
“My daughter is going to paint the details on the castle inside the loft,” Linda called up. “She didn’t want to start painting down here until she’d had a chance to talk to you.”
