“How many other Emmas do you know who work at a bookstore?”
“None,” she admitted. “I’m sure there are plenty but not here in Wood Briar. What are you helping her with?”
“Last night I helped her move a bunch of boxes full of books for the sidewalk sale that starts today.”
“I forgot about that.”
“She is trying to rearrange things to make the store more open and welcoming.”
“It needs it badly. That place is oppressive inside, even for the most dedicated book lovers. I’ve been trying to convince Mom to clean things out and declutter for a long time, but you know how stubborn she is.”
Rosie might ostensibly own the bookstore but that didn’t make her mother amenable to any of her suggestions, unfortunately.
Bryce hesitated, appearing to weigh each word before he spoke. “Emma is trying really hard to turn things around there.”
“I know. I’m so proud of her. I knew she would be great at it.”
“Has she talked to you about doing a few more extensive renovations?”
She and Emma seemed to mostly talk around each other, always careful not to offend the other. “She’s said a few things, but has been vague on details.”
“It’s not my place to discuss it with you. It’s hers. But I get the impression she’s trying to do whatever she can to refresh things on a shoestring. She doesn’t want to ask you for help.”
Rosie frowned. “That’s silly. It’s my bookstore. Anything she does to improve it will only help me in the long run.”
“Well, you may want to bring that up with her. Don’t tell her I said anything. I don’t think she would appreciate my interference. I wouldn’t have said anything, but I feel like you need to know I’ve offered to help her out in my off-hours. I’m going over tonight to help her paint behind the checkout counter and move some bookshelves.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Bryce. And you don’t have to work for free either. You are a valued employee of Lucas Construction. I’ll pay you for the time you spend helping her.”
“What if I don’t want you to pay me? I want to do this to help Emma.”
She frowned. “What is she thinking about doing?”
“Again, probably better you hear it from her.”
“I’ll ask her. But you can tell me your thoughts, can’t you?”
He looked torn for a moment, then nodded. “Last night I was grabbing some tables and a rain shelter out of the storageroom for the sidewalk sale. Seems to me you’re wasting valuable retail space by using that area to hold stuff you could store in a shed somewhere and not in the store.”
She sighed, feeling guilty. “That was always in my master plan when I bought the building, but then I got busy here at Lucas Construction and put everything at Rainy Day on the back burner.”
“You might want to think about moving it to the front. I’m happy to help out with the work if you want to budget for some of the construction materials.”
He told her a little about what Emma wanted to do at the bookstore, all of which made perfect sense. She should have done most of it years ago.
“That sounds like more than you can do in your spare time.”
“It might take longer after hours, but we could still make it work.”
“With you working sixteen-hour days already? I don’t think so. Not to mention it would only stretch out the chaos for months at the bookstore. It seems to make better business sense for you to hit it hard for a few weeks and be done, rather than extend it out all summer.”
“I suppose that’s something you can talk about with Emma.”
If Emma was determined to renovate the bookstore, perhaps that was another indicator that she meant to stick around. Oh, Rosie hoped so.
“We need to come up with a plan.”
He nodded his agreement as ideas spun through Rosie’s mind. She quickly pumped the brakes when she realized what she was doing.
