A Bookstore Romance

A Book Store Romance

Chapter 1

There was something in the air today.  Something crisp and beautiful about the walk from her house to the bookstore around the corner- The Bookworm- it was where Hailey McKay spent most of her free time.  Most people her age were out partying and enjoying being young and vibrant, buy Hailey had to be honest and admit that she just wasn’t that person. In college, while everyone else was having keg parties in the sorority house, or drinking wine coolers at clambakes- she was in the campus library studying. 

Hailey-since she wasn’t an overly social person- really didn’t have many friends. Actually, aside from her sister and the local book store owner, Caleb; she didn’t have any.  She always felt like an outsider who really didn’t belong with everyone else.  It wasn’t that she felt like she was better than anyone else- in fact, she felt like she wasn’t cool enough.  She usually wore her brown hair straight normally, and mid-length. Up until recently, on behest of her therapist; she dressed casually for the most part- usually in jeans and a comfortable t-shirt or sweatshirt.  She frequented libraries and bookstores, and she often took one of her new acquisitions with her to the local coffee shop The Coffee Bean.  Anyone could guess that Hailey was a bookworm.  She didn’t wear them when she went out, but she wore Cat-Eyed glasses when she read, or sometimes, she wore what she called her Nerd Glasses- which were rectangle lenses in a black rectangle frame- thick frames that made her look ever-so smart.  Today, it was a self-imposed toss-up day where it came to her fashion.  If you could call a practically mandated suggestion to make the choice; a ‘self imposed toss-up’.

She had just bought a new pair of jeans that she had to love because they played up what few curves she felt she had.  They made her look fabulous, and they looked even better with the gauzy navy blue peasant top which was actually fitted perfectly and had a lovely floral print which wasn’t too flouncy.  She had worn her brown sweater jacket which went well with the navy shirt and dark jeans.  She wore brown leather ballet flats and her hair was in a loose braid with the stray tendrils curled, framing her oval-shaped face. Her makeup was more daring as well, dark blue eye shadow and a burgundy lipstick.  She wore some gold-backed earrings with bold navy blue tear-drop-shaped stones with a matching necklace.  She looked very well-put together and she was proud of her early autumn ensemble. The sun was still shining and it made her pale skin glow.  Her purse was slung over her shoulder and she walked.  When she walked in the front door of the shop, the owner, Caleb Thornton grinned, “Hailey McKay, come on down!” He said in a game-show announcer voice. 

               “Ooh, I have a chance to play The Price is Right! I must tell you though; I’m abysmal at this game. I happen to know, however, that the book I’m needing today was listed at $25.00- hardcover… which I think is a bit of money, but you know me, I’m a sucker for a good book.”

Caleb practically howled with laughter.  “I know exactly what you mean, honey.  Don’t worry, you buy so many books here that I’ve decided you should have a discount-always.  I’ve been meeting with my business partners and we’re going to have a rewards program, but the great thing about this program is that patrons don’t have to have a card. They can just put it under their email address.  They can also use their number, or we can make our store system recognize the GPS Signal when a patron enters the store with their phone or tablet.”

Hailey smiled brightly and said, “That’s a great idea.”

               “Well, I’m glad you think so. It’ll roll out in a week or two, but I’ll give you a thirty-percent discount today to make that expensive book a little less expensive.”

               “I appreciate that.”

               “What book do you need? I’d be happy to get it for you.”

               “It’s that Edgar Allen Poe collection with the red cover.”

               “Are you feeling edgy today or something?”

               “A little.” She laughed.

               “Do you want anything else?”

               “I’ll look around a little and see.”

               “Cool. Let me know if you need anything.  You know where I’ll be.”

She did.  He was pretty much always at the front, in front of the register, or he was in the back getting books to stock the shelves with.  Either way, there wasn’t really much other place for him to be- the store wasn’t all that big. 

Hailey went through the store with the confidence of a pro.  She was in there almost every day for something or another.  When she wasn’t buying a book, it was a notebook, or a magazine.  Sometimes, she simply came in there to buy some coffee and a bookmark… But she bought more books than she cared to admit…  She was good at reading- she loved doing it, so she went through books extremely fast.  She constantly ran out of books to read and had to pop in to see if he had anything new at the shop.  Quite often, she felt a little like Belle from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast where she walked in asking if there was anything new and Caleb would chortle and say, “Not since yesterday.”

She liked that he also had movies and CDs- that gave her something to keep her status as a frequent customer. Sometimes, she’d read a book like Pride and Prejudice which has many adaptations on the screen- and she’d compare and contrast, even taking notes in whatever notebook she was writing in that week.  In addition to being an avid reader, Hailey was a writer.  She wrote stories-novels.  And she had to constantly keep up on her reading.  She was always studious- which meant that she treated even free-choice reading like she was going to really learn from it, so she’d take notes in her pretty penmanship and she’d highlight passages that meant a lot to her.  Hailey knew she took it a little bit far, but she wanted to be knowledgeable.  When she graduated a few years ago from college, she had a double major- English and History.  She also did extensive studies in creative writing and even wrote on the school paper.  When she graduated, her family was all very proud of her. It was one of the first times they had acknowledged that she did something right.

 She had high honors, and was second in her class.  She would have been first, but one of her professors had nit-picked her last paper- and she ended up not doing as well as she would have liked, but all-in-all, it was ok.  The person who was first really needed the status-to get into Harvard.  While Hailey was smart and bookish, she didn’t want to be in school anymore.  As Hailey perused the shelves, she picked out another book for fun, in the Young Adults section of the Inspirational book racks called The Fairest Beauty because it looked interesting and wasn’t overly expensive.

 As she slipped it into her basket, she thought about her family-who all were proud of her accomplishment- graduating from college and getting a good job  but wished that she was more social and less high maintenance.  Her mother, Anna McKay was a petite brunette who had married right out of college- already being engaged. She was Anna Baxter then, and studying Psychology.  She ended up going on to get her Master’s Degree in it- and had an office downtown.  Eventually though, she got pregnant with first- Hailey’s oldest brother, Samuel- and then a year later, her brother Timothy.  It became too much and she gave it up.  She got pregnant with Hailey soon after and then with the baby of the family, Rebecca. In her spare time, Anna wrote a few books on Psychology and she became fairly well-known.  Hailey and Rebecca were really close and did a lot of stuff together.  They met for lunch whenever they could.  Tim and Sam were boys so it was a little harder to bond with them, but Hailey went to football games or baseball games with them- she also went over to their houses and babysat for their kids.  They were both married.  Sam married when Hailey was a sophomore in high school. By the time she was a junior, Sam and his wife, Courtney had their first child, a boy named Patrick. Tim had a steady girlfriend by then and asked her to marry him that Fourth of July- they were married by senior year with a baby on the way by the end of her first year of college. Hailey liked both Courtney, and Lynn (Tim’s wife) - and when little Casey was born, Hailey was happy for them. It didn’t take too long for another go-around to start and soon there were two new additions to the McKay family, Allison and Daniel.  Sam and Courtney were so happy to have a girl- as happy as Tim and Lynn were to have a boy.  And Anna and Steven McKay were thrilled to be grandparents.  But with the boys out of the way, Anna and Steven kept on their oldest daughter to get more social so she could meet a guy and they wouldn’t have to worry about her anymore.  That was the thing with Hailey’s parents- they always seemed to be worried about her, but they were never very nurturing- always more aloof and distant.  She remembered, vaguely that her folks used to fight all the time when she was little.  She didn’t know what it was all about. One day, however, they seemed to work out whatever was causing the problem and before long seemed content and happy with one another.  But with their daughters, they were never very affectionate and Hailey felt, for the most part- unloved.

And Rebecca, who wasn’t much more social than her older sister was dreading what they’d say to her once she was out of college, where she was studying both Business and Culinary as a double major.  Rebecca wasn’t a great student, but she was trying really hard to make good grades and was succeeding. Hailey sighed as she thought of all the things that Rebecca had done to study harder. 

By now, Hailey had picked up about five books and figured she should stop.  She noticed that Caleb was on the phone by Checkout and he seemed to be both very happy-and also very stressed about something.  She wondered what it was but figured she’d know soon enough.  Caleb was very forthcoming with things and she was usually the first customer to know the goings-on.  After meeting Caleb at Hailey’s last birthday celebration, her parents kept trying to say that she and Caleb were a good match, but she had to stop them right there. “For one, he’s thirty-five.  I’m 25… and two; he’s married and has twins.”

               “Do you know his wife?”

               “Her name is Laura and she’s wonderful.”

               “Well then, you need to find somewhere else to spend your time.  Maybe you should join a book club or something- you’re always reading.” Her father said.

               “I’m in a book club, Dad.” She had said.

               “Well maybe you should learn to play an instrument.”

               “I play guitar.”

               “Maybe a different instrument.”

               “I don’t think so.”

               “Maybe you should volunteer.”

               “Doing what?  And when?! Whenever I’m not at work, I’m reading for my book club, reading for me, writing for the local paper and for my blog- and practicing my guitar… If I have time left, I already volunteer as a library assistant.”

               “Well maybe you should sing Karaoke or play a sport, or something.”

               “I suck at sports.  And I do Karaoke at the bar once a month.”

Her parents had been surprised.  “We never knew you did any of those things.”

               “Well, I do. And I have put myself out there a lot more than I care to… Hopefully it’ll pay off.” She had sighed.

               “How about you join the ballet!  We keep getting invitations to the galas and you were so talented! They were clamoring for you!”

Hailey had spent years in ballet, becoming really good- and it was true, she was really very talented.

               “Mom, I don’t want to do that. I like ballet, but I want to write and I can’t spend the time at rehearsals and still work for the paper. I want to work at the paper.  I’m good at it and I like my life where that’s concerned. I don’t want to be a ballerina.”

 And even now, as she thought back on the conversation; she was pleased with how it had ended.  By now, she was heading up to the counter to pay for her books. Caleb chuckled, “Are you sure you got enough?”

               “Oh, shut up.  This won’t take me very long, and there’s Halloween coming up- the store is closing early that weekend so you can set up for the annual party… What would I do if I ran out of books?!”

               “Um, you could go to the library…”

               “They are very weird about their hours… Plus, the weekend librarian hates me.  She thinks I’m trying to be a smart aleck; and she calls me a bibliophile.”

               “Hailey, you are a bibliophile…” he looked at her seriously.  And seeing that she wasn’t amused, he said, “Well then, drive a few more miles and go to Half Price Books- or go on Amazon and order some… Or download them on your Kindle.  You can buy a gift card here and order anything you want at home…”

               “Well if you don’t want the almost $70 I’m planning on handing you for all these items, then I can go somewhere else.”

               “I’m only teasing you, Hailey.”

               “I know. I’m just being a smart aleck.”

               “No wonder Nancy hates you.”

It was a small town and everybody knew everybody for the most part. It was like Mayberry- just a little bigger.  Hailey rolled her eyes at the joke, but had to admit that it was funny.  Then Caleb said, “I was just on the phone with the secretary for W. Sherman –the author of,”

               “Eternity.” Hailey interrupted before thinking.

Caleb waved to say she was right. “Yes- and she said that his new book, Haunted Cottage will be coming out soon and he wants to do a book signing.”

               “Here?”

               “Yes!  Isn’t that great?”

               “It’s spectacular! When is it?” Hailey asked putting her books on the counter one by one.

Caleb grinned with a sparkle in his eye- “Next week- the day before Halloween.”

               “How appropriate!  Sounds like fun- you can count me in.”

               “Are you ok with doing what you did last time?” Caleb looked afraid that she’d say no.

               “Yeah.  I don’t mind being part of your staff that night to keep the lines moving and the refreshments coming…”

               “Thanks, Hailey, you’re a big help.”

               “Anything for you, Caleb.  You supply these great devices for entertainment called ‘books’- which I heartily enjoy, so I am forever in your debt… This is the least I can do.”

 

And so it was agreed, and Hailey went home to her little yellow house with the lovely front porch. She unlocked her front door and walked in, setting the bag of books on the table by the door.  She dropped her keys in the damask-patterned bowl on the same table.  She grabbed the mail out of her mailbox before she shut the door, and then went inside, making herself some tea as the sun started to go down outside.  Her dinner was in the Crock-Pot and would be done in about a half hour, so she had time to read the last chapter of the book she was currently reading- Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult.

It had been a very good day, and she felt secure in the fact that she wouldn’t run out of things to read that weekend.

 

 

Chapter 2

He carried the last box into his new place.  It was dark now, and he was hungry.  Kevin Townsend had just moved to the neighborhood that day.  He lived not too far away- in the next town- and his company had gone out of business, so he found another job.  He was actually relieved because he hadn’t been happy at his old position anyway.  This one was a much better fit for him.  He was a book editor and he worked for a firm now called Malloy and Benjamin.  So far, he liked it here.  The town was quiet and unassuming, and it wasn’t drastically different than the town he lived in before.  So far, the people were nice and helpful, and he really liked the house his company had found for him.  They had been so wonderful about helping him relocate and for that, he was grateful.  And as much of a pain as moving could be sometimes, Kevin was actually glad that he had to do it.  A part of him felt like he was running away but in all fairness to him, the other office closing had nothing to do with him, and this new job was everything he wanted and didn’t really get with the other company. 

As he set the box down on the dark hardwood floor, he felt his cell phone buzz in his pocket and saw that it was the absolute last person he wanted to talk to- Sandra Dalton.  He didn’t answer and she hung up before letting the call go to voicemail.  She wanted to pester him in real-time.  But a minute later, she texted him- “You didn’t say goodbye, honey- you just up and left.”

               “So I did. No different than what you did. Stop bugging me. We’re done! You said so, and in case you don’t remember, I’m saying it, dammit!” and hung up.

And he vowed that as soon as things settled down a little bit, he was going to go have his number changed.

He began to unpack, which he had to admit was one of his least favorite things about moving.  But, as he faced the window, he looked across the street, not really meaning to- and noticed someone inside the house across the street.  He finally could make out a female form bathed in lamplight inside the house.  It was kind of hard to tell from the great distance, but he could tell she was lovely.  She was curled up in a plush purple reclining chair with a book- not just some small romance novel- a hefty almost encyclopedia-sized tome, reading glasses perched on her nose.  The lamp in back and to the side of her was a floor lamp with multiple bulbs.  Each shade was a different color of pink or purple.  He couldn’t see much more but he knew that she looked contented.  The next box took him away from the window and away from the girl across the street, which was probably a good thing.  He felt a little creepy staring at her like that.  Plus, he didn’t want to think about women right now.  Sandra had kicked the stuffing out of him and he wasn’t in a hurry to get back into a relationship where the same thing could happen again.  The whole thing with Sandra had been a mistake from the beginning, even though he didn’t want to admit it at the time.  She was very needy and demanding.  She never let him breath, and nothing he did was ever right. And then she started acting like she owned him and everything he did had to be run by her first, which was really weird for him because he was the man and he was supposed to wear the pants in the relationship.  It wasn’t that he let her walk all over him because he didn’t- she just didn’t care and went off the deep-end.  He had been taken in by her model’s body and her wispy blonde hair.  He didn’t see how controlling and vindictive she really was.  It took him a minute to discover that she was controlling him because he hadn’t thought it possible, but when he did, he had to stand his ground, and she really didn’t like that.  They said some horrible things to each other and then his company folded and he was grateful to start over again.  He got a new job and was happy that he could find a new job that allowed him to move away.  Sure, it wasn’t a far move, but still, it would be a while before he was accosted by Sandra again.  So, he wasn’t too keen on women at the moment.  The box he was unpacking now was kitchen stuff.  He got out the toaster and the blender, along with some dishtowels and washcloths he had used to keep the things from jostling.  He sighed and when he was done unpacking, he got the next box.  This one went upstairs.  The next one was a box of coats.  He didn’t want to deal with those quite yet, and really couldn’t because for some reason, the coat closet didn’t have a rod in it.  He’d have to fix that.  It was fall now and soon it would be winter.  So, for the meantime, he just put it on the floor in the closet and went on to the next box- all stuff for the bathroom; towels, soap, toilet paper, mouthwash, toothpaste, shaving cream, shampoo and conditioner… All that…

 He realized that he had been in such a hurry to leave his old place that he had left his shower curtain at the old apartment and would have to make a run to the local Target to fix that.  Maybe he’d dig out that box of office supplies next and make a grocery list.  That’s just what he did, and went back downstairs- finding his next box- one of books.  That one had been heavy.  He had another box, so he opened that one too.  Before he did anything more with those boxes, he decided that he should move the bookcases where they belonged so he wouldn’t have to think about it once the books were in there.  There wasn’t anything more of a pain than having to take everything out of the furniture and move it and then put everything right back where it was.  Kevin sighed as he moved the bookcase, wishing that he had been able to tell the mover exactly where he wanted it. But there hadn’t been time for that.  Kevin pulled all the books he could out of the first box with two hands, and set them on the coffee table. Then he grabbed another handful and another.  By the time he got them all out, he was already annoyed, mostly because he had just seen the book that Sandra had given him on his birthday.  He was not over the whole thing yet, but he was definitely over Sandra.

He spent a few minutes organizing his books and then started putting them into the shelves.  He then realized that he was hungry, and since he hadn’t unpacked anything and there was nothing cold to drink-nothing to make anything with; he decided to order a pizza and a salad, along with a 2-liter.  Then he’d have something to eat tomorrow too.  He thought that moving would be a way to get away from everything- like a new beginning, and yes, it was; but he felt really alone and had a hard time admitting it because he really had never felt that way before.   After he ordered his dinner, he unpacked while looking out for the food. He saw the girl again- sitting on the couch this time with a TV Table set up and a plate of food in front of her.  He could tell the TV was on even if he couldn’t see the picture on the screen.  She looked to be enjoying whatever she was watching.  And he couldn’t see that well, but he noticed that she was farther in her book than he thought she’d be.  He also noticed the bag of books sitting on the coffee table. Man! She really likes to read. And it annoyed him that he was thinking about her so much. He decided to distract himself from her and set up a TV table of his own, putting his laptop on it, and plugging it in, booting up.  He logged in and connected a set of speakers to it.  He had some stuff on Netflix to watch so the evening wouldn’t be a total loss.  When he got the pizza, it was none too soon and he was glad to be able to have a distraction from the lovely girl across the street.

 

 

Hailey watched Alfred Hitchcock’s highly under-rated The Trouble with Harry which was a dark comedy.  She had a very morbid sense of humor, she admitted.  She ate her Angel Chicken which was chicken cooked all day in a crock pot with cream cheese and some seasoning.  And after the leftovers were put away and the dishes were clean; she went back to her book, playing some classical music.  She ready a few chapters and then decided that she should put on her PJs and go upstairs to read another chapter or two.  Once comfortable in her pink sweat pants and grey sweatshirt; she put on some macabre music since she was reading Edgar Allen Poe.  It was a mix she had made for Halloween ambiance.  She pulled back the hot pink with black damask-patterned comforter along with the Magenta sheets, and flipped on her bedside lamp; a pull-chain table lamp from Target that went with her damask comforter.  She was happy that she had replaced the old ceiling fan and light with one that had a remote because it saved her from having to get up when she was exhausted.  She actually got through the whole CD, which was pretty much 80 minutes long- and she still wasn’t tired, so she put on a shorter CD- this one was the soundtrack for Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End and she read till the end of it.  Then, she finished the next chapter and decided that it was time to go to bed- but still – she felt she could stay up a little longer… So she finished the story and read a few of the poems.  And a half hour went by before she fell asleep with the book resting on her belly- reading glasses sliding off her nose.  It was two thirty eight in the morning.  She only awakened when her glasses finished sliding off her nose and onto her chest.  She shook herself awake- set the book on her nightstand after putting the bookmark she had made from scrapbooking paper a few weeks ago in to mark her place.  Then she put her glasses in a hot pink zippered case which had a key ring on it allowing her to hang it on a hook by her bed.  She turned the light off via remote and found herself asleep by the time her head hit the pillow.