There was something about the woman that put him at ease. Perhaps it was her low-key demeanor or the fact that he felt like shesawhim when she looked his way. Violet wasn’t making idle chit-chat while she tried not to focus on something else. She was completely present and accounted for.
“Yeah?” Holt smiled and moved toward her. “Because I’m new in town or because you’ve got my books in your window?”
Violet’s smile grew even more radiant. “Both.” She held out her hand. “I’m Violet. Welcome to my store.”
He shook her hand. “I’ll admit, it’s not what I expected.”
In fact, he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen anything like it.
She peered around. “What did you expect?”
“These days, the bookstores I’m in are more of a coffee bar with a few books lingering on shelves.”
“Yeah, well. If you want coffee, you can go to the bakery two doors down.”
“I just came from there,” he admitted, admiring how the entire back wall was designed to look like someone’s personal library—three separate and distinct ones.
Since there were no windows, Violet had created them by having life-like, three-dimensional murals that resembled enormous windows overlooking various scenes. One was a fairy tale illustration, complete with a dragon flying high over sparkling water. The shelves around it were designed as a tree, the branches filled with books that reached the ceiling.
The middle window had gauzy curtains bracketing it, and the drawing was of mountains. Off in the distance, a princess was talking to a prince. The shelves surrounding it weren’t as elaborate, but they were designed around various ornamental decorations that seemed to go with the fairy tale theme.
And the third and final window design was…
“Okay, so I get the fantasy,” he told Violet, motioning toward the window with the dragon and then over to the middle drawing. “And I get the fairy tale. But I’m not sure I’m comprehending the third one.”
Violet turned toward the window that was a scene right out of a fall decorating catalog. “The moms in town enjoy having a bit of peace from time to time. And fall is festive and something to look forward to, so I went with that.”
That made strange sense.
It also explained why there were two comfortable chaise lounge chairs near that window and the other areas had various wooden chairs and a couple of beanbags on the floor. On the bookshelves in that section, there were flameless candles that created a serene ambiance.
“It’s not only about the words on the page, Mr. Callahan,” Violet said, turning back to him.
“And at the same time, it is,” he countered with a smile.
“You win. The words build the world, so I’ll give you that.”
He turned and scanned the rest of the store. As with a typical bookstore, there were rows of shelves and a variety of tables that held books in every genre. At the front, near the windows that overlooked Main Street, the books were set out to accentuate the best sellers and recent releases for both traditionally and independently published authors.
As he turned around, Holt’s gaze snagged on the wooden box Rafe had carried out front.
“And that?” he pointed to where it stood.
“That’s the Little Free Library.”
“Ah.” Holt nodded. “I’ve heard of those. The take-a-book, share-a-book concept?”
“Exactly. I finally got around to building it. I’m hoping it’ll spur people to find something they might not know was out there.”
“Don’t you think it’s a direct conflict with your business?”
“Reading’s reading, Mr. Callahan. As long as people are doing it, that’s all that matters.”
Holt appreciated her do-gooder attitude, but he wondered whether that had a place in a small business. Since it wasn’t his place to criticize, he decided to shift topics.
“I noticed Rafe was here helping. Is he around?”
Violet’s gaze narrowed, and the talkative woman from a moment ago closed up tight.
