She sighed. What had looked so good on paper now seemed impossible.
“The overriding plan is to brighten up the place.”
“That’s a good place to start.”
“The town sidewalk sale starts tomorrow. We’re going to try to unload as much inventory as we can during the sale. Obviously, I can’t leave the books outside tonight, especially where it’s Oregon and there’s always a chance of rain, but I thought we could move them closer to the door perhaps so the staff can take them out first thing in the morning.”
And by staff, she probably meant herself.
“I can help with that. What else?”
“I want to repaint the place. I picked a warm white that will look much nicer than this disgusting color.”
He looked around the space. “Repainting. That’s a big job. You’ll have to move all the shelves.”
She sighed. “I know. I wish I could close the store for a few days and do it all at once. Since that’s impossible during the tourist season without taking a big hit, I figured I could work in stages. One wall at a time. I wanted to start behind the checkout counter, since that is what most customers hopefully see as they’re paying for all their books.”
“I can help you move the shelves out of the way. Where are you planning to put them?”
“We have a storage room next door filled with odds and ends. I’ll have to make room.”
“Got it.”
“If I had my way, I would start over with all new shelving.”
“What don’t you like about them?”
“The shelves against the wall are fine even though they go all the way up to the ceiling, but I feel like the interior shelves are too high. You can’t see over them, they don’t allow light to filter into the aisles and it makes the whole place feel so cramped and small, though it’s actually a decent space. But I’m afraid I would need brand-new shelves and I’m not sure Mom wants to budget for that.”
He went to one of the shelves in question, which stood well over eight-foot high. He studied it from several angles.
“These are decent and appear well-built. Instead of starting over, what about cutting them down and painting them a lighter color? That would brighten up the place, plus it would make the book covers pop.”
She moved beside him and couldn’t help noticing thathe smelled good. Really good. Like sandalwood and ocean breezes. She wanted to lean in and sniff his neck.
She ignored the impulse and focused on his suggestion. “Is that even possible?”
His half smile made her insides jump. “Anything is possible. You just have to work out how to do it. We could take the upper two rows of shelves, reusing the same top surface. It will reduce your shelf space, but I think you have good instincts. Some open space above the shelves will take away some of that claustrophobic feeling in the aisles and will make the entire store feel bigger.”
“We could really do that?”
“Absolutely. It wouldn’t be hard. I can take care of that for you, if you want.”
Emma blinked, not sure why he had offered, especially when she had been so rude to him that first day she had bumped into him in the bookstore. “That’s very nice of you but why would you offer?”
“Why not? I love to work on projects like this in my spare time. I have a good workshop in my garage.”
She suddenly was intensely curious about him. Where did he live?
Was hemarried? Her mother had never said anything like that, but Emma couldn’t imagine the women of Wood Briar leaving a guy like Bryce alone for long.
“Are you sure your wife wouldn’t mind?” she asked, taking a chance.
He raised an eyebrow. “I was not aware I had a wife.”
Well, that was something, at least.
She could feel her face heat. “I guess I made an assumption.”
