Liddy tapped her fingers on the glass countertop. “I want to make this the best bookshop ever. I want something going on in here every night to give people a reason to want to come in. I want to do book signings with authors my customers love.” She smiled. “Years ago, Emma and I went to a signing in Boston for Stephen King. It was just so much fun. I’d love for our residents to enjoy something like that.
“And I’m thinking book clubs. Romance. Science fiction. Mystery and thrillers. Fantasy like Game of Thrones. And nonfiction books as well.” She pushed a long tendril of graying hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “How annoying would it be when you want to talk about the mystery you just finished and there are two people in the group who only want to discuss the latest political tell-all?”
Maggie nodded. “Can’t cross the streams.”
“Exactly.”
“If you have all those book clubs, you could be here every night,” Maggie noted.
“What, like I have somewhere else to be? Something else to do with my time? Someone waiting for me at home? Please. I have the time.”
“Maybe you could use some of that time for something other than the shop.” Maggie sounded cautious.
“Right now, I don’t have anything other than the shop.” Liddy tried to dampen her rising annoyance. “I don’t have a long-lost love to reunite with and spend my nights cuddled up to. I don’t have kids or grandkids. Right now, this is it for me.”
“You have friends who love you and who love spending time with you,” Maggie said softly.
“Well, I guess for a while, if you want to spend time with me, you’re going to have to spend it here.” Liddy softened, too. She never doubted Maggie loved her and only wanted the best for her. “It’s going to take time for me to build up this business. It’s my responsibility, so I have to be the one to put in the time.”
“I like book clubs. Maybe I’ll come in for the mystery one. If you could schedule that for Brett’s night off, we could come together.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“You’re the best, Lids.”
“You know it, girl.” Liddy turned toward the door. “Speaking of the chief, what’s he doing?”
“He’s on his way in right now. I asked him to bring you a rug from my old house for you to use in the children’s section. I thought you could use it for story time.” Maggie went to the door and held it open for Brett, who planted a quick kiss on her lips as he went past her, a rolled-up rug on his shoulder. While almost forty years older than he’d been when he and Maggie were together the first time, he still carried himself with the same confidence and strength he’d had those years he’d played professional football. His blond hair had traces of silver, and his face was weathered from the hours he’d spent outside, but there was no denying Brett Crawford still maintained the golden-boy aura of his youth.
“Where would you like this, Liddy?” he asked.
“Oh, I can’t wait to see it! Back of the shop, please.” Liddy pointed, then led the way. “You’re looking casual today, Chief. Day off?”
“Nah. Just bumming this morning.” He dropped the rug on the floor, then looked around. “Wow, Liddy. This place looks a thousand percent better already. Looks like you’re ready to roll.”
“Not quite, but thanks. There’s still a long list of to-dos before next week, but yeah. It’s shaping up.”
“Doesn’t even look like Fred’s store anymore, it’s so clean and bright. ’Bout the only thing I recognize is the old cash register. I see you kept Big Red.” He nodded in the direction of the counter.
“Local legend. Not going to be using it, but it looks good, right?”
“Like it belongs there,” he agreed. “So how ’bout we open the rug and take a look?”
Liddy and Maggie took opposite sides of the rug and, with Brett’s help, rolled it out.
“You know, if you don’t like it . . . ,” Maggie began, but Liddy waved her off.
“It’s perfect. Thank you.” Liddy beamed her thanks as she straightened out a corner of the rug, then stepped back to admire it. The background was dark green, and the design was a grid pattern in colors of yellow, blue, and red. “It adds just the right amount of color and texture to the space. Absolutely perfect for the kids’ section. Thank you again, Mags.”
“You’re welcome. It looks so much better here than it did in my spare room back in Bryn Mawr,” Maggie said.
“What else are you doing in here, Liddy?” Brett asked.
“Decorwise, I just need to hang some posters. Grace is going to enlarge the images from some of Jess’s greeting cards, and we’re going to place them around the shop.”
“That reminds me. I brought down all the cards I kept and the ones she sent my mom.” Maggie walked to the front of the store, where she’d left her bag, and Brett followed. One last glance at the children’s corner with its newly laid rug and Liddy caught up with them at the counter.
“I’m going to scoot,” Brett said. “I need to get home and change and get into the station.” He turned to Maggie. “I’ll see you later.”
“Be careful,” she said as he left.
“This is Wyndham Beach,” he said over his shoulder. “Nothing ever happens here.”
“And thank God for that,” Liddy muttered and reached for the small box holding Maggie’s cards. “So let’s sort through these cards and see which would make the best posters. I’m thinking bright colors and fun subjects . . .”
Chapter Four
“The rug looks great.” Grace stood in the back of the shop, her hands on her hips. “This will be perfect for children’s story time.”
She went to the nearest shelf of children’s books and selected one. “Oh, I love this book. Hannah’s Garden.” She glanced up at Liddy. “I’ve read this to Daisy about a thousand times.”
Grace lowered herself to the floor, opened the book, and began to read aloud.
“‘One sunny day, Hannah looked out the window and saw her mommy in the yard with a shovel. What, Hannah asked Alfie, her stuffed hedgehog, was Mommy going to do with that shovel?’” Grace looked up at Liddy and said, “This is where I always say, ‘Daisy, what would her mommy do with a shovel?’ And Daisy says, ‘Dig holes to plant flowers.’”
“And Natalie stifles the urge to say, Bury your daddy.” Maggie joined them. There was no love lost for Daisy’s father in the Flynn family. Jon, Natalie’s live-in love of three years, had bolted for the door the day Natalie told him she was pregnant, and poof! Just like that, he’d disappeared. “Sorry for the interruption. Do go on.”
Grace resumed reading. Liddy heard footsteps and looked over her shoulder as Linc entered with two little girls in tow. Liddy waved them back, a finger crossing her lips. “Shhh,” she whispered. “Grace is auditioning to read for the children’s book hour.”
Grace looked up in midsentence and, seeing Linc, met his eyes for a long moment, then looked back at the page. One of the little girls crept forward shyly and sat next to Grace on the rug. She hung over the book to look at the pictures, then looked up at Grace expectantly.