Smiling to herself, Emmeline inhaled the clean scent of ink and paper, watching as a bookseller recommended something to an old lady, who peered at the back copy from atop massive reading glasses, looking intrigued. Emmeline’s heart warmed.
She had missed this place. Too busy with work, she hadn’t been here in a while. A sudden wave of nostalgia hit her—while at university, she used to come here often to get new books for class (she had been an English major along with Business). Being a student felt like it was forever ago, but at the same time also like it was just yesterday.
Her gaze went to the front counter, where the store manager checked out customers. Beside her was a familiar old man sitting on a chair reading a book. Emmeline went over to say hello, and when she did, Minh Trang looked up from his book, pleasantly surprised.
“Ah, Emmeline Sterling! My sister told me you might be popping by,” Minh said, his wrinkled face turning into asmile. His hair was a soft tuft of gray-white, parted to one side. He set his book down and rose to his feet to give her a hug.
“I’m so happy to see you,” Emmeline said. “Though I am cross you didn’t come to Ginny’s party!”
“Ah, the site of all Anh’s scheming,” Minh teased.
She laughed. “Well, if we don’t scheme, who will?”
Chuckling, he waved a finger at her, sitting back down in his chair. It was effectively his throne, from which he looked out at his kingdom. “Do what you must,” he said, picking up his book again. “And you can ask Ola here if you need anything.” He gestured to the store manager, and Emmeline shook her hand, introducing herself.
“I’ll leave you to your reading,” she told Minh.
With that, she left him and went to scope out the bookshop, though she knew it well. A contented feeling spread through her as she ambled towards the shelves. She was glad for Anh’s competition if it meant she would be spending more time here.
That is, until she saw Luke inside.
Chapter 5
Luke went to the Tails & Tales Bookshop after work at his roasting plant, and the moment he entered, he was hit with a wave of memories.
He hadn’t been to the shop in some time since it was on the other side of the valley, but he had been here practically every week during university to buy books for class (he was an English major along with Business).
Unable to stop himself, Luke remembered that winter night all those years ago: Emmeline’s hands twisted in his hair as he bit her lower lip and she gasped against his mouth. Heat bolted through him, and he was promptly reminded ofwhyhe didn’t come here that often.
After the initial (nauseating) wave of memories subsided, he introduced himself to Minh, who introduced him to the store manager, Ola, as the point person if he needed anything. Then, Luke grabbed a small leather notebook and a pen from his coat’s inner pocket and began looking around, taking notes as he went up the three floors.
The top floor was for children’s and young adult books,as well as for the event space. At the moment, there was a meeting of the Baby Dragon Book Club, in which he saw riders with their baby dragons, reading from a picture book about a dragon’s adventures in trying to become a baker.
Half the baby dragons were riveted, while the other half were trying their best to either eat their books or light them aflame while their harassed riders looked on.
Luke wondered if the third floor would be best for the coffee shop; it was well situated in terms of the event space, but he didn’t know if the coffee shop’s proximity would disturb the events or create too much of a rush. The third floor was also a bit out of the way, so there would be less natural foot traffic.
He checked out the second floor, which housed nonfiction and literary novels; this was by far the quietest floor, with the least traffic. While there was ample space for it, a coffee shop on this floor might disturb the patrons, who mostly seemed to be older or browsing alone, enjoying the peace.
Jotting down a note, Luke made it back to the first floor, which housed the most popular fiction and was the busiest. It seemed like the best option, but he’d need to work out where the best location would be.
Another thing he’d need to consider was the fact that they were just a street away from the Baby Dragon Cafe, which was a roaring success, so they would need to ensure their coffee shop was different. In Luke’s opinion there could never be too many cafes, and the coffee shop extension could be beneficial to him, personally, if he could source the coffee.
He desperately needed to up his number of clients, among other things. Tempest was, to put it lightly, drowning.
About nine months ago, the owner of his roasting plant had sold the property to another corporation and, rather than keeping Luke’s rent on the place fixed, the new owner had doubled it. Luke had been saving for a new packaging system that would save time and increase profit margins, but since the rent had doubled, all of his money had been funneled towards that bill.
Things were getting pretty dire. Which was why he needed Anh’s investment. With it, he could buy the new packaging system, and things would fall into place on their own.
Running a hand through his hair, Luke perused the first floor, passing by a fireplace with a roaring, crackling fire. He inhaled the scent of paper, smiling to himself as he watched patrons pulling books from the shelves. There was a magical quality to books; they were endless keepers of stories: the author’s, the book’s, the reader’s, each different and distinct.
Luke recalled now why he had loved coming here so much in university. While the bookshop was far away from where he lived in Bayview, it was close to the university and had always been a sanctuary.
But that serene feeling vanished as he turned out of a row of bookshelves and spotted an obnoxious fur coat with a matching hat. The energy that jolted through him was better than any espresso shot.
“Ugh.” Emmeline rolled her eyes when she spotted him, as if she thought he was tedious. She shrugged her coat off, revealing a tiny dress that made her long legs seem as if they went on forever. All the ideas from the last hour emptied out of his head.
Luke mentally scolded himself, reminding himself to focus.
