“Well. Thank you, I guess, for looking out for us. Even if we did spend most of high school grounded.”
“You’re welcome. I think it did you a world of good. You grew into a lovely young woman.” Mrs. Wilson patted her hand. “Although I was angry when you shaved Buttface.”
“Who?”
“Buttface. My cat.”
“You named your cat Buttface?” How had she never known that? That information had to be kept from Elba. She’dneverlet Zoe live down shaving a cat named Buttface.
“Its name was Pebbles, but my youngest son always called it Buttface because it looked like someone smushed his nose and the name stuck.”
“It was dying of heat exhaustion.”
“He was an indoor cat. If you had brought him home, he would have been fine.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Hmm.”
She could hear Mrs. Wilson’s thoughts in that “hmm.” If Zoe had taken the cat home, she’d have known.
“Tim told me you’re opening a bookstore. What’s it called?”
Zoe smiled. Tim was talking about her to people. Well, he was talking about her to Mrs. Wilson and while it made sense to talk about one neighbor to another, he was still talking about her to people. “It’s called Book Haven.”
“I like it.” Mrs. Wilson nodded approvingly. “I like the reference to Haven Springs and the fact that books can be a haven for people. Well done.”
Damn it. Did she leave an onion out? Her nose was stinging again. A swell of pride bloomed in her chest. Elba and her small business mentor were the only ones who’d offered an encouraging word to her about her bookstore. It felt…good…to have someone commend her for her work.
“When do you open?”
Zoe took a deep breath and glanced at the calendar tacked next to her to-do list on the wall in the dining room. “Six weeks.”
Mrs. Wilson followed Zoe’s gaze. “Is that your timeline?”
“And one of my to-do lists.”
She glanced back at Zoe. “How many do you have?”
“A few,” she hedged.
“What are you working on right now?”
“I’m sifting through applications for assistant manager and booksellers.”
“Would you like some help? I worked HR for close to thirty years. I’ve been retired for several, but I can probably help you weed out the riffraff.”
Zoe’s shoulders relaxed as if someone had come along and lifted a weight off them. “I would love some help.”
“Perfect. While we’re doing that, you can tell me all about how long you and Tim have been sleeping together.”
Know what else made her nose sting? Snorting iced tea through it.
