Emma felt as if a whole bookshelf had fallen on her, knocking the breath from her lungs.
She had wanted to prove herself to her mother. Show Rosie she was more than capable of stepping up at the construction company. How was she supposed to do that if Bryce stepped in to take over all the details of the bookstore renovation? How had he wiggled his way intoherproject?
He must have read some of the turmoil in her expression. He gave her a careful look, hazel eyes murky with concern, before he turned back to Rosie.
“Emma and I will work as a team. I would never consider doing anything not in line with her vision. This is her project. I will simply be the hands helping her get it done.”
“The tool, in other words,” Emma muttered too low for her mother to hear. Bryce heard, though, and sent her a sudden flash of a grin, there and gone again, before he turned back to Rosie.
“That sounds like an excellent plan,” her mother said.
“Since Bryce and I talked yesterday about expanding into the storage space, I’ve made a few sketches,” Emma said. “Ican show them to you to make sure I’m not doing anything you don’t find acceptable.”
“You have excellent instincts, sweetheart. I’m sure I’ll love anything you do.”
Emma was almost sure her mother did not mean that in the condescending way it sounded. Almost.
“Right. Well, I can show you what we were thinking, if you want to come take a look.”
Olive yawned, one of her huge, jaw-stretching yawns that took over her whole face. Rosie looked down with concern at her granddaughter. “I do want to see what your plans are,” she assured her. “But I also think this sweetheart needs to get home to bed.”
Her mother was right. As usual.
Rosie reached for Olive’s hand. “Should we head back to the house and grab some dinner? How do you feel about grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup on a rainy day like today?”
“I like grilled cheese sandwiches,” Olive said.
“Same,” Rosie said. “We’ll leave the two of you to your work, then. Bryce, take as much time as you need next week to be with your mother. I insist on it.”
“Thanks, Rosie.”
He smiled at her mother with such warmth, Emma felt that twinge of jealousy again, though this time it stemmed from a very different cause. She suddenly wondered what she would have to do in order for him to look atherwith warmth and affection.
“You’ve removed everything from the bookshelves?” he said after her mother and Olive left.
“Yes. They’re pretty heavy. Can you move them by yourself? Do you need me to call somebody to give you a hand?”
“I’ll take a look but I should be fine with the dolly I brought along. I might need help steering them through the door. I already called one of my buddies and said I might need him to run over. He’s on standby and can be here in five minutes.”
“I can help you as soon as I’m done checking out the final customers and shutting things down for the evening.”
“Sounds good.”
She returned to the checkout counter as a young mother with two children approached, a stack of books in hand.
She slid them across the counter and Emma rang up two storybooks for her children along with a book on writing fiction and an elegant journal with flowers on the cover.
“Are you a writer?” Emma asked as she bagged the books.
The woman looked embarrassed. “Trying to be. I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“I’m thinking about starting a writing group a few times a month, where writers can brainstorm or work together. No real organized program, just sharing the same creative space for a few hours and cheering each other on. Do you think you might be interested?”
“Definitely! When do you think you might start? I would have to find a babysitter or work around my husband’s schedule, but I would love something like that.”
“Wonderful! I don’t expect the renovation to be done for some time. We’re only in the planning stages now but I would love to move forward as soon as possible.” She paused. “If you’re interested, I also would like to implement a few genre-focused book groups as well as a regular children’s story time.”
“That’s fantastic. I would definitely be interested in all of those things.”
