“We’d sell more copies if it’s discounted too.”
“But we’d earn less profit per book. And the more books we sell, the more we’ll have to package and ship. I can run the numbers if you want, but we’ll be better off without the discount.”
He was probably right. She was beginning to trust his expertise as it was starting to pay off. He already had a basic website up and running, so this would require minimal effort on the front end. “All right. I’ll take your word for it.”
“Awesome. And I love your idea.”
“Now all we have to do is get Phoebe on board.”
A while later Shelby hung up the phone and nearly pumped a fist in the air. Phoebe was open to talking about the idea, but she wanted to do so in person. Shelby wasn’t surprised. The woman lived alone—she’d been a widow for years.
Excitement winged through Shelby as she helped a customer, then assisted Zuri (fiction and self-help) with the POS system. This preorder special could be big if Phoebe was able to spread the word to her fans far and wide.
“We’ve been busy today,” Zuri said after the last customer left. The college student majored in ethnic studies at GU and was well read in almost every genre, which made her excellent at hand selling. “The apparel has been popular.”
“Gray’s been posting photos on our socials. I think it’s helping.”
“No doubt.”
“How are your classes going?”
“Great. I love my professors this semester. And the campus is so beautiful in the fall. We don’t get those colors back home.”
Zuri was from Florida. “Do you miss your family?”
“Tons. But I need to be here and they’re supportive of my education.” She checked her watch. “I can’t believe it’s noon already.”
“Why don’t you take your lunch break? I’ll send Theresa when you return.”
“Sounds good.” Zuri grabbed her purse from behind the counter. “Aw, when did you put this up?”
Shelby turned and followed Zuri’s gaze to the westerns Shelby had pared down to one shelf. The ledge now boasted an engraved gold plate she hadn’t seen before.
In memory of Viola Thatcher
“A great book begins with an idea; a great life, with a determination.”
Louis L’Amour
She hunted down Gray and found him out back with Shadow. He was texting on his phone while the dog smelled every bush in the yard. Her heart softened at the sight of Gray—and it was pretty mushy already from seeing what he’d done.
“I saw the plaque,” she said when he noticed her. “That was really sweet of you to put that up. She liked that quote.”
He smiled. “I know. She quoted it to me a time or two.”
“Sounds about right.”
“I know this has been hard, making all these changes to the store. She’d be really proud of you, Shelby.”
“Thanks.” It had felt like uprooting Gram one volume at a time. It needed to be done, but gosh, it made her ache to change the shop her grandma had worked so hard to build. Shelby just hoped it worked. Speaking of which...
“I got hold of Miss Phoebe. She invited us over to discuss the preorder deal tomorrow afternoon.”
“Us?”
“If you don’t have plans, I could use your help.”
He shrugged. “Sure. Why does she want to discuss it in person?”
