She had seen the same view for the past ten days. Rain, rain, and more rain. So far, The Rainy Day Bookshop was definitely living up to its name, but unfortunately the rain still wasn’t bringing in the customers.
She looked around at the mostly empty bookstore, actually missing the hectic days at her Las Vegas coffee shop when she would hit the ground running at 6:00 a.m. and not stop to catch her breath until her shift was over, sometimes twelve hours later.
The slow pace at the bookstore was frustrating, especially when she had so many great ideas, none of which had yet come to fruition.
She needed to be patient with herself. She knew by experience that change did not happen overnight. It took long, hard, concentrated effort to make a lasting difference. She couldn’t expect the bookstore would suddenly become a thriving hub of community activity with only a bit of effort and time.
“I’ve put away the books that we ordered and shelved all the returns,” Maya Thompson said. “Is there anything else I can do?”
“No, thank you. You’ve been great.” She really did like the employees her grandmother had hired. They were all hardworking, earnest and loved books. She couldn’t ask for more from her staff.
“If you want to go home for the day, I can handle the last hour before we close. I don’t expect we’ll have a sudden mad rush of people.”
“We can always hope.”
Emma felt as if she’d been doing nothing but hoping since she came to town. Hoping she had made the right choice, hoping she could figure out what she was doing, hoping she did not let her mother down.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Maya said. She grabbed her book bag, slung it over her shoulder and headed out to where her bike was secured in the rack out back.
The poor thing was in for a very wet ride home. At least she didn’t have to go far. Emma knew Maya lived only a few blocks away from the bookstore, in the apartment she rented with three friends.
Though she was only four years older than her employee, Emma felt ancient in comparison. A single mom with years of bad choices behind her.
Had she ever been that young and carefree?
After Maya left, the store seemed abnormally quiet, especially without what had seemed like the ever-present sounds of construction from the expansion and renovation project.
Bryce hadn’t been working at the bookstore for several days but Emma refused to acknowledge her bad mood might have anything to do with his absence—or that she might be coming to rely on seeing him to lift her day.
Emma would have thought a rainy day would bring more browsers in to peruse the shelves, something to distract them.
What was cozier than a bookstore during the frequent rainstorms that hit this part of the Pacific Northwest?
Unfortunately, their customers didn’t agree. At least not tonight.
She was dusting off the new and improved bookshelves that Bryce had installed only two days earlier when she heard the chimes ring out front.
She gave her polite smile of greeting but when she raised her head, Emma could almost feel her facial muscles freeze.
Pam Clarke walked in, looking trim, pert and energetic.
Emma wanted to punch her right in the face.
She was extremely tempted to tell the woman she was not welcome in the bookshop. The words seemed to swell up in her throat but Emma forced herself to swallow them down again.
As much as she wanted to take the higher ground, business was business. She forced her features into what she hoped looked moderately polite.
“Hello, Pam,” she said.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you, Emma. You look fantastic. I wanted to have a chance to talk to you the other night when I stopped by before your neighborhood party but you disappeared.”
“I was busy helping my mom get ready for the party.”
And avoiding you at all costs.
“Well, it’s great to see you! You look fantastic. Love the ink!”
“Thanks.”
