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She grinned.
“I’ll take these to the back room?”
“Sure. You don’t have to wait.”
“Nah. I’m not in a rush. And they’re salads. Not like it’s bad if they’re cold.”
Megan laughed.
I went into the little office where Megan kept a computer and half-height fridge. I tucked the food into the fridge and went back out into the main area of the bookstore.
“Hi. Sorry. Do you work here?” A frazzled-looking older man stepped in front of me.
“How can I help?” I didn’t work there, but I was around enough that I could probably help him get whatever he needed.
“Do you know where the romance section is? My wife,” he said, and held up his hand and pointed to his left ring finger “is desperate. But I just can’t…”
He trailed off, and I smothered a chuckle. It was a book, not lingerie. But whatever. Everyone had their limits. “Do you have the title?”
He held out a slip of paper.
I took it from him and grinned. “Your wife has good taste. It’s this way.”
He cleared his throat. “Do you think I could wait for you here?”
I couldn’t stop the chuckle this time. “Sure. I’ll be right back.”
I wove through the bookshelves to the right place and pulled a copy of the title his wife wanted. I considered a moment before adding a copy of the sequel. If she was desperate for the first one, she’d probably appreciate getting both.
“Oh. Thank you.” The man beamed at me when I came back toward him.
“I grabbed the next book in the series as well, in case you wanted to get her extra.”
His eyes sparkled. “I’ll do that. She’ll be in heaven. Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Megan, up at the cash register, can get you squared away. Have a good day.” I watched him make his way back up to the front.
It was probably another twenty minutes before the store had cleared out enough that Megan came around to find me. “I’m ready to eat. But we should probably hang by the register if you don’t mind?”
“Sure. I’ll get the food and meet you up there.” I went back into the office to grab the takeout bag. Frowning, I made my way up front. How was Megan going to manage on her own? Maybe pushing her to resign from Social Services and go full-time at the bookstore wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Megan patted the wooden stool beside her. “Come to the most glamorous eating locale in the store.”
I laughed. “It’s not so bad. You can see the shelves. Make sure no one needs anything.”
“Yeah. True. And hey, no one wonders if the store is deserted and then tries to walk out with six hundred bucks’ worth of science fiction.” Megan pulled the top off her salad and started to mix it together.
“Are you worried about doing this all on your own?” I stabbed a bite of salad and popped it in my mouth.
“All the time. And I’m terrified that if I don’t try it, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.” Megan sighed. “I’m doing it. I’m putting in my notice. The part-time workers I had aren’t upset at all. They also said if I get to a point where I need some help to let them know. So that was nice.”
“I’m proud of you.” And I was. It was good to chase a dream. It was why I was a teacher. I knew how that sounded—there were plenty of people who gave me grief about having no ambition. But I didn’t think there was anything wrong with doing what you were good at. I was where God wanted me, and that, most of all, was what I cared about.
“Are you worried about dinner tonight?” Megan glanced over at me, eyebrow raised.
“Nah. It’s Austin. If nothing else, I know I’ll have a good time with someone I enjoy being with.” I was going to repeat that to myself as many times as I needed to, because I was definitely going to be a little heartbroken if dinner tonight wasn’t because Austin wanted to be more than friends.
I loved being his best friend.
