twelve
piper
“You’re comingto the Whiskey Sage tomorrow, right?” Natalie asks once the customer we were helping takes her heaping bag of romance novels and heads outside.
“I wouldn’t miss it.” Bars aren’t really my scene, but I can suck it up for Nat’s birthday celebration. “Do you care if I invite Dorian?”
Natalie’s grin widens. “Youlikehim. I knew it.”
I can’t give her the satisfaction of confirming it. “So it’s okay?”
“When did this change happen?”
“I’ve always liked him. We were just rivals. Kind of.”
“Ooo, enemies-to-lovers is my favorite trope.”
I roll my eyes. “So yes?”
“Of course you can bring him.” She tidies the front desk, pushing things around that don’t really need tidying. “I invited Ravi, too.”
“You’re back together?”
“No.”
Not yet, she means. Maybe I need a third employee, but I don’t think the store can afford it. I need to run our numbers and see how our events have helped improve the quarter’s sales.
“I should do some admin work. Are you good up here?”
“Sure. Hey, speaking of admin, I had an idea for a spring fair. Kind of like the Galentine’s event, but we do a short panel of local authors, and then they break up to tables around the store to sign and sell books.”
“A Spring Fling kind of thing?” I ask.
She wrinkles her nose. “I was thinking something more like Blooms & Books. Give it a really floral theme. Tulips or something like that.”
“This is why you do marketing, Nat. That’s amazing.”
She beams, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. “You like it?”
“It’s a great idea. I’ll start working on a list of authors if you want to begin designing the flyers.”
“On it.”
My gratitude for Natalie knows no bounds. I pull up the sales numbers and identify the nights we had events during the first quarter—book clubs, classes, Galentine’s, signings—most of which were improved by her ideas. The coupons to shop the store during events—totally Nat. The great social media presence—Nat.
Man, I really owe her. I lean back in my chair, mindlessly swiveling side to side. If we keep this up and increase store events, our numbers could continue to rise. This store could become self-sufficient by the end of the year, and I’ll owe it to Nat.
But a raise would put us right back where we started, wouldn’t it? I wouldn’t make much money on the store, but she’d be fairly compensated.
And my books bring in enough to cover the difference…meaning I’m right back where I started. I let out a long, weary sigh and rub my eyes. At what point do I admit defeat? The store takes so much time that I can’t write like I used to, so my royalties will start to suffer at some point.
I pull out my phone and call my parents’ landline. Because yes, they still have one.
“Hey, sugar,” Mom says, obviously having seen the caller ID.
“When do I know it’s time to quit?”
She’s silent for a moment, but I hear her footsteps, then the telltale creak of the garage door. “Barry, it’s Piper.”
