“Hey,” Jenna said, refastening the gate, then returning to her seat.
At least Arnold seemed happy to see her, and she squatted down and gave him some pets. When nothing more came from Jenna, she stood and slid her key into the lock, pushed her door open, and stepped inside. She set her stuff down and was about to close the door when instead, she pulled it open again and pushed through the storm door back out onto the porch. Because enough was enough, and she’d already had a shitty day. Why not add to it?
“Have I done something to offend you?” The question spilled from her mouth before she thought about it, before she could stop and think about it.
Jenna took a beat, Sawyer was sure of it, before slowly turning to meet her gaze. “I’m sorry?”
“I mean, it’s very clear that you don’t like me, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what I did to you to make you feel that way. Was it the cars on the day I moved in? ’Cause I apologized for that. Am I too loud? I find that hard to believe because I’m pretty freaking quiet, but maybe. Is it because I’m gay? ’Cause if that’s it, then maybe you need to do some self-reflection.”
“You’re gay?” Jenna’s brow furrowed, kind of adorably, but Sawyer shook that off.
“Yes. Thus the rainbow sticker on my car.” She pointed in the general direction.
“I didn’t realize.”
“Okay, so that’s not it.”
Jenna blinked and stared for a moment, and Sawyer could almost see her reach deep and find her irritation again. “What do you do for a living?” Jenna asked her, somewhat carefully, and the question seemed so out of place, given the conversation, that Sawyer stared for a moment, needing time to pivot and readjust.
“I’m a technical writer for a software company. Why?”
“Cool. Now ask me what I do for a living.”
Where the hell was this going? Sawyer pursed her lips for a moment, then said, “Hey, Jenna, what do you do for a living?” Yes, she was slightly sarcastic. It was kind of warranted, really.
“I own a bookshop,” Jenna said, her eyes flashing. “Now ask me what kind of bookshop.”
Uh-oh.
Sawyer wet her lips. “What kind of bookshop?”
“A romance-only bookshop.”Shit.“Wanna guess what it’s called?”
Sawyer gazed off the porch and toward the big tree out front and took a moment. She wanted to take about a hundred, but… Without looking at Jenna, she wrinkled her nose and asked, “Is it called BookLove?”
“Itis. What a lucky guess.”
Sawyer blew out a breath and looked down at her feet. There was a scuff on her right shoe, near the toe. “Look, I’m—”
“No.” Jenna held up a hand. “Nope. You are totally within your rights to hate the romance genre. Believe me, you’re not the first person I’ve had a debate with about it. But you didn’t just trash romance, you trashed my shop. That store is my baby, and you just…mocked it.” Sheseemed to run out of steam, then, and sat back in her seat. Poor Arnold sat on the floor looking from his mom to Sawyer and back, like he was a spectator at Wimbledon.
“I…”Ugh.Sawyer sighed and tried again. “Look. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have trashed your shop. You’re right. That wasn’t cool of me. But…”
Jenna arched one eyebrow at her, waiting. Almost daring, it seemed.
“I mean, don’t you think some of what I said is right, though?”Jesus, Sawyer, what the hell are you doing?her brain shrieked at her.Shut up!
“Seriously?” Jenna’s tone wasn’t one of anger or irritation. It was, if Sawyer had to put a word to it, almost bored.
“Well, yeah. I mean, romance is pretty unrealistic. Don’t you think? Andsoformulaic, my God. The meet-cute where boy meets girl, the obstacles, overcoming the obstacles only to have a bigger obstacle—usually a huge misunderstanding—happen, then the make-up scene and the happily ever after. Whose life is like that?”
“Yeah, I read your blog. You don’t need to summarize it for me.”
Sawyer cleared her throat. “Sorry.”
“First of all, name me a genre that isn’t formulaic. Formula is essentially the blueprint for almost any story of fiction. Secondly, for your information, romance is meant as an escape. Is it unrealistic? Maybe. Sometimes. Sure. But readers know that. They expect it. Theywantit. Real life is hard enough. Have you seen the shit show of a world we live in right now? What’s wrong with wanting to see two people fall in love and ride off into the sunset together? Why is that something to scoff at?”
Sawyer stood there, blinking at her. Most people on the other end of this debate either waved her off or ended up agreeing with her. Such a passionate defense was…unexpected. Interesting.
