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She laughed. “You know I did. Books are a weakness. Some women have a shoe budget. I have a book allowance.”
I grinned. “Why do you think I run a bookstore?”
“I should have thought of that. Maybe when these two hit school age, you’ll need a helping hand. I’m a reliable worker. Oh—hold that thought.” She hurried back to where her kids had started climbing on the little chairs and jumping off all while laughing madly. She grabbed one in midair and swung him into the stroller, then reached for the other. When she’d wrangled them into their seatbelts, she sorted through the pile of books on the table, scooped up the few off the floor, and carried a large stack to the counter. “I’ll put the others back on the shelf.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get it.”
“I don’t mind.” She smiled and went back to quickly finish tidying up. Then she pushed the stroller with her as she returned to the register. “I’m Kim, by the way. I have a feeling I’m going to be here a lot. Especially since you don’t seem to mind the minions.”
“I don’t mind them at all. And you’re certainly welcome whenever.” I scanned the books and tried not to let my face reflect the happy pitter-pat of my heart with each one I rang up. Even if she didn’t buy this much every time she came in, she’d be a welcome regular. “Do you have a favorite genre for you?”
“Me?” She sighed and looked over her shoulder, almost longingly, then turned back to me. “It’s been so long since I had two minutes to myself, I’m not sure what I like to read anymore. Romance, maybe? Although it’d be good if it was something I wouldn’t be mortified to have my daughter pick up.”
I grinned. “You should come on Saturday. We’ll have a local Christian romance author in for a book signing. I have a couple of her books now, but I’ll have them all then. And you could get them signed.”
Kim studied me a moment. “Are they in a series?”
I nodded.
She closed her eyes and visibly had a mental argument with herself. “Maybe you could grab the first in series and add it to that pile? I don’t know if I’ll ever actually find time to read it, but it sounds pretty close to perfect if I can.”
I grinned. “Be right back.”
I dashed around the counter and over to the appropriate shelf. Of course, now I had to hope that the first book in a series was actually one that we had in stock. I ran my finger over the spines until I landed on a number one and tugged it off the shelf. Back at the register, I scanned it and told Kim the total.
“Well, it’s not as bad as it could be.” Kim sighed and put her credit card into the reader. “I tell myself we’re building verbal skills and a love of the written word. Sometimes my husband buys it. Sometimes he just rolls his eyes.”
“Well, you’re not wrong. That’s what you’re doing. And you can always pass them on to friends later when the kids outgrow them. Or save them for your next one.”
Kim held up both hands. “Oh no. No, no, no. There are no next ones. Twins cured me of my baby fever permanently. But passing them on is a good idea. Better than donating them to the thrift store where I’m pretty sure they just get tossed.”
“There you go.” I tore the receipt off and tucked it in the bag with the books. “Enjoy. I hope to see you again. And think about coming to meet Heather this weekend. You can bring that one and get it signed.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Kim hoisted her book bag in a farewell wave and, with the know-how that only moms seemed to possess, navigated the double stroller through the doorway without any accidents or catastrophes.
I checked the time. The morning had flown, which explained why my stomach was rumbling. I’d grab my lunch from the back room and eat it up here before heading back into the shelves to straighten things and restock.
And if my mind drifted to kissing Cody, well, it didn’t hurt anyone, and it was a nice way to pass the time.
17
CODY
“Where are we going?”
I glanced over at Megan and grinned. “It’s a surprise.”
“Ugh. I hate surprises. Didn’t you know that? I really feel like you should know that.” Megan looked out the window of the passenger seat of my car, her brow furrowed. “Is that the airport?”
Busted. I’d toyed with asking her to wear a blindfold, but I hadn’t actually believed she would. Plus, there was the whole thing where it was borderline creepy to ask your girlfriend—or any woman—to wear a blindfold. I imagined we would have been getting strange looks from the other people on the road. Maybe we would even have been pulled over. It was a can of worms I hadn’t wanted to get near, let alone open.
“It is the airport. Are we flying somewhere? Really?” She turned to look at me, her face alight. “What a fun surprise. I take it all back. I love surprises.”
I laughed. “Well, good. I’m glad you’re not going to be mad at me the whole time.”
Megan reached over and briefly touched my leg. “Never. I can’t imagine a situation where I would be mad at you.”
I didn’t believe that. Everyone had moments when they got angry, annoyed, frustrated, or whatever word you wanted to use for it with their partner in life. It came from being two distinct individuals. “I would actually worry more if that was true. You need to be able to speak your mind. As do I. And I don’t think we’re always going to see eye to eye on everything. But we’ll work it out. Together. And if you’d decided that you always hated surprises and always would, then I would stop surprising you.”
