Chapter 19
Because I love books. Who wouldn’t want to work in a bookstore?
Zoe smiled at the response written by an applicant for one of the part-time sales associate positions. Who indeed? Wincing at the age of the applicant, only sixteen, she set it in themaybepile.
She’d had a hard time working during high school to earn a little extra money and it had mostly been limited to weekends because of school and studying and sports. She’d still consider it, especially if weekends were as busy as she hoped. Haven Springs didn’t have a library and the closest one was twenty minutes away. She planned to have afternoon story time during the week for stay-at-home moms. Maybe she could do something on the weekends as well for those moms that worked.
Damn it. She pulled her planner over and jotted down a note to herself. Her list was getting longer and longer every day.
The doorbell rang and she glanced at her watch, then rubbed her eyes. She was almost cross-eyed from sifting through dozens of applications all while trying to decipher some really bad handwriting. On the one hand, a lot of applications was a good thing. On the other, it made deciding on the best ones difficult. There were several good potentials for assistant manager.
Pushing away from the table, the doorbell rang again.
“I’m coming,” she called out.
This time, she checked the peephole.
“What the hell?”
She unlocked the bolt and opened the door. “What are you doing here?”
“Did you hang up onMamãe?” her brother demanded.
Zoe blew out a sharp breath through her nose. Of course her brother had driven almost three hours to yell at her.
“Stay out of this, João.”
“I will not stay out of this. You were disrespectful toMamãe.” He pointed a finger at her to emphasize his point.
“She was disrespectful to me.”
“You behaved like a child.”
That was enough. From him, from her mother, from everyone. She was done letting other people think they knew what was best for her. She might make a few mistakes along the way but damn it, they were her mistakes to make.
“How did I behave like a child, João? Enlighten me. Was it when I told my mother not to tell my cheating ex how to find me?”
She planted her hands on her hips and advanced on her brother. He might have almost a foot of height on her, but her anger was bigger than his.
“Or maybe it was when I decided to finally do something for myself. Or maybe it was when I decided I didn’t want to be married to someone who thought so little of me he not only cheated, but got another woman pregnant after telling me for years he wasn’t ready for a child.”
Zoe took another step forward, not giving João a chance to talk. “I’m not Alicia. I’m not willing to turn a blind eye and look the other way while her husband continuously chooses someone else over his family.”
João flinched as if she had struck him. “What does Alicia have to do with this?”
“Seriously? You think I don’t know about the girl in Charleston? You think Alicia doesn’t know? Maybe the reason you’re so willing to defend Mark and what he did is because you’re doing the exact same thing to Alicia.
“The only thing I’m grateful for is that Mark did keep putting off having kids so they weren’t dragged through this mess. Take care of your own family before you worry about what I’m doing and stay out of my life.”
She pivoted sharply and strode back into the house, slamming the door violently behind her. Stalking into the dining room, she paced from one end to the other.
She wished she was a runner. She wished she was one of those people that could tie on a pair of running shoes and run and run until exhaustion replaced the anger.
Really, she wanted to hit something. Someone. Mark or her brother—at the moment, both would make equally satisfying targets.
Agitated energy coursed through her veins with no outlet. She shook her hands and flex her fingers. She was too keyed up to sit back down and continue sifting through applications.
Cursing her brother and her no-good ex under her breath, she stalked back into the foyer and snatched up her keys and purse from the table. Since she couldn’t calm down, she’d drive to the store and start unpacking the boxes of books that had been delivered the day prior. As exciting as it was to see actual books in her store, the thought of unpacking and sorting them all had been daunting and she’d planned to leave it until she had hired a few people. Now it seemed like just the thing she needed to get rid of all this excess energy.
