the place. Mason's Books. Puhlease." She rooted through the Sunday paper, yanking
out the classified section. Hopefully, she peeked at the driveway, her face falling a little when
she saw no sign of Taylor's red coupe. She hadn't seen the brunette in two days, and felt
suspiciously like Taylor was avoiding her. The voice of reason took over. Two days and that
means she's avoiding you? Think pretty highly of ourselves, now, don't we?
She heaved a frustrated sigh and plopped down in the chair with the paper, red pen in hand.
Chapter Twelve
BY THE END of the lunch hour on Monday, Melanie had the entire third coat of paint finished.
She stood back, hands on hips, and surveyed her handiwork with a satisfied smile. Things felt
a little different, now that she knew the store was going to be hers.
She took a deep breath of the city air, feeling inexplicably victorious. Picking up the paint
cans, brushes, and drop cloths, she entered the store.
There was so much to do. She knew Uncle Phil would take care of the necessary paper work,
but she hadn't even decided what kind of books she was going to sell. She still had to figure
out what to do with the books she didn't need any more. Should she sell them at a discount?
Maybe she should cal the local libraries and other bookstores to see if they'd be interested.
She entered the little office, her hands freshly scrubbed clean of the paint, and scanned all
the paper strewn about. I need my computer, she thought. This writing everything down is for
the birds. She had just sat down to make a list of things she needed to do or get and places
she needed to call, when she heard Lynda's cheerful voice calling to her from the front of the
store.
"Hello? Sherwin Williams, are you here?"
Melanie smiled. "In the office, smart ass. Come on back."
She heard the work boots clomping across the hardwood, and Lynda's smiling, food-smeared
form appeared in the doorway a few seconds later. "All done? It looks great. Wait until Sammi
sees it."
Melanie pressed her lips together and studied Lynda's face for a long moment.
"What?" the café owner asked, looking behind her, then back to the redhead.
"I bought the bookstore."
"You what?"
"I bought it. Sam said she didn't want it, and I asked my uncle to sell it to me."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"Wow. Well, good for you, then." She narrowed her eyes at Melanie. "Why do you look less than enthusiastic?"
Melanie sighed, throwing up her hands. "Oh, hell, Lynda. I don't know. I'm on such a roller
coaster right now."
Lynda's blue eyes twinkled, and she perched on the corner of Melanie's little desk, peering at
her curiously. "Okay, come on. Talk to Auntie Lynda."
The gesture of friendship mixed with silliness made Melanie laugh, easing her tension just a
bit.
"I just hope I know what I'm getting myself into. I don't even know what I'm going to sell."
"Wel , I would think you'd sel books."
"Duh," Melanie said, slapping playfully at her neighbor. She rummaged through the papers
spread across the desk until she came across the list she had constructed several days
earlier. She handed it to Lynda. "What kind of books? Taylor was right. This is too small a
place to sell books in general. It has to be some kind of specialty store." She pointed to the
list. "Those are categories that interest me. Can't very well sell something I don't give a damn about, right?"
Lynda furrowed her brows as she studied the list. "Hmm. Let's see... Computers? Boring. Plus,
you'd have mostly geekazoid computer nerds in here. Pets? A possibility. Would there be
enough stuff to fill your shelves, though? Feminism? Hmm. I like that one. We'll come back to
that. Business? Boring. Mysteries? Another possibility. Classics? Nah. Old news. Used? Won't
make much money. Sci-Fi? You think the computer geeks are bad, wait 'til you see what
science fiction brings in the door."
Melanie nodded in appreciation at the insightful commentary. Lynda brought
Louise Bagshawe
Infiltrating the Pack (Shifter Justice)
Gore Vidal
Michael Gannon
Gaylon Greer
Lilith Grey
Caroline Dunford
S.G. Lee
Robbi McCoy
Five Is Enough