Page 82 of Skipping Stones
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In the end, it took Linney three more weeks than she’d hoped to get Page Turners ready for reopening. But finally everything was done. The woodwork gleamed, the walls were freshly painted, new lighting warmed the place up, and several comfortable chairs had arrived for customers to curl up in.
Linney had sectioned off a corner and created a kids’ area—a temporary one, she hoped, because she had plans to expand the store to the rest of the ground floor of the building she’d bought. Currently a portion was empty, having last housed a paper shop. She had placed a bright blue oversized chair off to one side where a parent and a child could cuddle up together and added a mural to the wall. Danny built her a platform, so the section sat up a little higher than the rest of the store, providing a step for children to sit on as well.
The old house’s kitchen had been scrubbed clean, and Linney bought a new refrigerator to keep staff lunches and platters for signings cool. A new microwave and dishwasher were also installed, making heating lunches and dinners easier. She turned the old butler’s pantry into her office. Outfitted with a new computer, Wi-Fi, and a good desk and chair, the private space pleased her. She wiped down the foldup chairs that KnitWorks used and oiled their stiff joints. The group was looking forward to using the new space for their next meeting.
The Silver Lake News article had come out well and Linney used it on her growing social media to garner more interest. The Bridgegrove radio station interviewed her, increasing interest beyond the town’s borders. In both cases, Linney found it strange to be on the other side of the microphone answering questions instead of asking them. How life had changed for her!
More recently, Linney was focussing on the business end of things, updating the store’s computer systems and placing orders with publishers for summer. Boxes seemed to arrive every day now, and the brown paper in the window had been updated with an opening date. Every time more money went out she gulped, but excitement outweighed fear. She hired Emma and two more part-time staff. If all went well, she’d be looking for more people for the summer.
The day before opening, she was so focussed that she didn’t hear the back door open. Derek had taken to coming by for lunch several days a week, when he wasn’t visiting his mother. If he didn’t, he’d never see her. Linney left her house early, and often didn’t return until nine or ten o’clock at night. Ivy and Leo missed her, and if he was honest, he did too. He’d gotten used to the evenings they spent together. It was a school holiday, so he had brought the kids along today.
“So, are you ready?” he asked, making her jump.
“I sure hope so,” she answered. “And I guess whatever isn’t done now will just have to wait.” She stood up from her chair and stretched.
Derek held up a paper bag with the café’s logo on it and stomped the snow off his feet. “We brought soup and sandwiches.”
“We?” She rolled her shoulders, stiff from a morning at the computer. Suddenly she noticed the children and her face lit up. “Come here you two—I’ve missed you!” They were in her arms in seconds.
Derek pulled the table out from the wall so there was room for all of them. Linney brought spoons, and they sat down to eat. The kids chattered away about their friends and about school—Linney and Derek just smiled at each other. “That’s great, Leo,” Linney said when he told her about his perfect score on a spelling test. “Thanks for bringing lunch, everyone. I needed a break. Now, who wants a story?”
* * *
Derek leaned against the sales counter in the early afternoon light. Ivy was sitting on Linney’s lap in the bright blue chair, snuggled into her soft curves as Linney read. Leo was lying on the ground moving his fingers along a line of text in the early reader book he’d chosen and waving his feet in the air.
Derek remembered Linney always saying she didn’t want children—that it wouldn’t have been fair, with her crazy career. But now, he wondered if her perspective had changed. She looked so tranquil there. The scene was serene, and if you didn’t know better, you’d think the tableau was of mother and child. He shook his head. Back to reality, Derek thought to himself. Linney was off limits. A friend. His best friend. Nothing more. And yet, as he watched her chest rise and fall with her breath, and noticed the hollow at the base of her throat and his Christmas gift around her neck, he had to fight back feelings he knew could ruin everything. The back bell rang with one more delivery, and he went to sign for it, stuffing all of that back inside for another day.
* * *
When story time was finished and Linney and Derek had bundled the kids up into their coats, Derek caught Linney off guard with a big hug. The hug lasted longer than usual and Linney was shocked to find her feeling something far stronger than friendship. For Derek? But she couldn’t have those feelings for Derek. He was her friend. A very handsome man for sure, but her best friend. And the father of the two most adorable children she’d ever known. She had fallen in love with them, she knew. But their father? She shook her head as she headed back to unpack the boxes that had come. That was impossible.
* * *
Opening day was a smash hit, as everyone other than Linney had known it would be. The store was busy from the moment she peeled back the brown paper, and not just with curious townsfolk. Customers from Bridgegrove and even further afield made the drive, browsed, and made purchases. Emma was busy at the sales counter. To Linney’s delight, Jake made the drive up with all three of his teenagers to support her as well. Books flew off the shelf and almost nobody left without a package under their arm.
There was a brief lull at dinner time, which gave Linney time to set up the KnitWorks chairs in the centre of the store. The Canadian author with a new thriller that she had been advertising was due shortly, to do a reading from his book and sign autographs. The big coffee percolator that Emma had filled with water fifteen minutes before started to gurgle on the counter, and Kirsten arrived with a platter of pastries Linney had ordered. Next time, she hoped to have a liquor licence and be able to serve wine as well. That was one of the many “little details” that hadn’t gotten taken care of just yet.
People started streaming in just before the reading was to begin. Gabby was baby-sitting Leo and Ivy for Derek, who was sitting in the front row. Anna and Danny were behind him, and Kirsten hung out in the back to usher in late arrivals as Linney welcomed her guests and introduced the author. After the reading, he answered questions, and together they sold several autographed books. He graciously signed another ten for her shelves and thanked Linney for the evening, wishing her much success.
When the front door bells jangled with the final customer leaving, Linney sighed with relief, kicked off her high-heeled shoes and rubbed her hip. She’d made it through day one. All that remained was to find out if people would come back. Derek sent Danny and Anna home and shooed Kirsten out the door. “I’ll help her get everything cleaned up.” He was awed by how she’d transformed the bookstore. Together they folded up the chairs and covered up the remaining pastries. He ran a broom over the refinished floors while she closed out the computer system. Linney locked the front door and turned off the store’s front lights.
“You did it.” Derek’s voice was husky behind her in the dim light. “You’re incredible, Linney.”
Linney turned to face him. He found his hands on her hips. There was a moment of silence and then he reached down and his lips gently met hers. It was a slow, warm kiss, unfamiliar, but borne of years of friendship. Derek felt his pulse quicken when she kissed him back. She tasted so good. He kissed her again, more intentionally this time. Then suddenly he broke away, panic wild in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry … I didn’t mean … I don’t … I have to go.” He bolted out the back entrance and the wheels of his car slipped on the snow as he sped out of the parking lot.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Derek’s heart pounded in his chest and he shook his head. What had he done? Linney was his best friend. And he’d gone and kissed her. He could only hope their years of friendship would mean they could overcome this lapse. Good grief, what was he going to say to her tomorrow?
As it turned out, Derek said nothing. And neither did Linney. They both put it down to a momentary lapse. It wouldn’t happen again.
* * *
Page Turners was doing booming business. Linney’s first three months of sales were more than she’d budgeted, and summer was right around the corner. It would soon be warm enough to paint the store’s deep porch. Linney had plans for that porch, including half a dozen Muskoka chairs that were due to arrive in a week. It had been too late to plant spring bulbs in front of the porch when she’d taken over the store, but she intended to put in summer annuals in a month’s time and daffodil bulbs would be purchased to plant in the fall.
Linney left the bookstore in Emma’s capable hands and pulled on a spring jacket. She walked up the street to surprise Derek for lunch and her hair blew in the warm breeze. When she opened the door to the law firm, she saw Janet was at lunch already.