I started brewing her drink and looked at Justin. “You sure you don’t want anything?”
“I do want something, just not coffee.” He slipped a sheet of paper toward me. “Can you order these books for me?”
I glanced at the list. “Probably. I mean, as long as they aren’t out of print.” I read the titles. “Are these all about geocaching?”
“Yep. And I bet you could sell a lot of these if you stocked them in the store.” Justin climbed onto a stool. “Taylor said it took him a year to find all of those on the list. You could be the preferred bookseller for the club. I bet they’d frequent your store a lot. Taylor says he’s always on the lookout for a new book or magazine article.”
I tucked the list into my desk calendar I kept on the counter. A small sheet of paper fell out and I peeked at it. It was Kacey’s cookbook request list. I’d never gotten the chance to fill it. I went to throw it away, but something nudged me and instead I put it with Justin’s list. “I don’t really have room for a lot of nonfiction books. The young adult and mystery section keeps growing to feed the book club groups.”
Justin looked around the bookstore section like he’d never even considered my lack of space before. “I guess you’re right. But you could order the books for people, like you’re doing for me, right?”
“I’ll order books for anyone. I love the business.” I finished up Amy’s iced coffee and put a lid over the top. “Sounds like you’ve been talking to Taylor a lot.”
Justin handed me a ten for the coffee and I rang it up, giving him back his change with the receipt. As I did, he continued to gush about the former VP of the geo club. I wondered if a president dies in office, did the club run like the country and the VP stepped in?
“He’s so experienced and smart about this. He even showed me what machine I should buy. Saved me a bundle since I was looking at the top-of-the-line GPS device.”
Amy unwrapped her straw and poked it into the cup. “Man crush. And a pretty serious one, as far as I can tell.”
Justin pulled her closer and gave her a quick kiss. “You’re the only one I have a crush on, man or woman.”
“Good to know.” Amy brushed his hair out of his eyes, then she turned to me. “We’re doing a Star Trek marathon tonight. Want to come over? We have pizza and popcorn.”
“Tempting, but I think I’m cuddling on the couch with Emma and clearing some shows off of my DVR. I’m approaching its max limit, so I need to clean out some things before the machine does it for me.”
With Justin and Amy gone, I started the closing chores, knowing I’d be the one opening in the morning, I didn’t worry about stocking the dessert case or sweeping the back room. I figured I’d have lots of time tomorrow after the locals left with their morning coffee fix. I’d just set up the starter pot for the morning and was turning off lights when the bell rang over the door. Crap, I hadn’t locked the door. “We’re closed,” I called out, not turning around.
That’s when I heard the front door lock engage.
CHAPTER 8
I froze, my hand shaking as I dropped the dishrag I’d been using to wipe up spilled water. Maybe I hadn’t heard the lock. I thought about the pepper spray Aunt Jackie insisted on keeping on a shelf under the cash register. I turned my head and calculated how many steps it would take to reach it. Maybe we should keep several canisters spread out in different places in the shop. Typically, my elderly aunt worked this shift. If I couldn’t reach it, how would she?
I took a deep breath and ran the few steps to the cash register. I kept my head down, swept up the pepper spray, took off the safety, and swung my arm up in a defensive move. Only then did I recognize the man standing in front of me.
Josh Thomas.
“Hey.” He dodged and threw his arms up to cover his face. “What the heck are you doing? Are you insane?”
I kept my arm outstretched. “What am I doing? Why did you lock the shop door?” My voice sounded a little loud and stressed. Okay, so I sounded like a screech owl. The man had scared the crap out of me. “What are you doing here?”
“I always come by after dinner and help Jackie close up.” He pointed at the pepper spray. “Put that thing away, Miss Gardner. If I planned on doing you harm, I wouldn’t have left the lights burning so anyone passing by could see my misdoings.”
I thought about his logic and dropped my arm. Adrenaline surged through my body, and I sank against the counter, hoping it would hold me upright. “Okay. So maybe I overreacted.”