It took a moment for me to respond. “Yeah, pretty much. I keep up on inventory, sometimes we have events.” I motioned toward the front of the shop. “Right now I’m working on an inventory project and getting a new load of books put away from a large estate sale.”

She chuckled. “This must be a dream come true for you. I know you loved the coffee shop job you had, but you’ve wanted a bookstore since we were kids.”

All I could think about was Indigo and whatever she was doing out front. I hoped she was heading to her hideaway to listen to a book. The Cat didn’t even glance toward the front. Instead, he lay down in front of Jackie who kept petting him. “I mean, it’s a pretty perfect job for me.” I leaned across the table. “Plus, there is a hot tub on the roof deck. Like, you can’t beat that.”

“Okay, I’m jealous. You get all of this and I get to dig in the dirt with your brother.”

Dots connected in my mind. “Wait, didn’t you have a crush on him when we were teenagers?” Her cheeks blazed a bright red, and I grinned. “Oh, the crush is still there…”

“I bet he's involved with someone…” She downed a good amount of coffee, wrapping both her hands around her mug. The Cat tilted his head in my direction.

“Are you just going to gossip with her? Get her to leave…” he commented in my head.

I couldn’t respond and ignored him for the moment. “He recently ended a long relationship, and as far as I know he is available.”

“What about you? Any crushes I should know about?” The Cat pawed at the air and Jackie patted his belly.

I finished my coffee before replying. “Nothing like that for me. Not right now, anyway. I have too much on my plate, with managing the shop.” I hadn’t even thought about looking to date someone, given that I couldn’t leave the shop. The only people who regularly came in were the delivery guy, and then Molly’s dad, neither of which I wanted to get involved with. Well, there were the dragons as well, but that’d be slightly weird. “I can be a crazy young cat person, for now at least.”

This time the Cat glared at me. “Cat person? You aren’t a cat person.”

Normally having conversations where people couldn’t hear him wasn’t bad, but this time his running commentary was a bit too much. My mind went to the massive painting in my room of him from the cat person. I might just be a crazy cat lady after all.

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Jackie shook her head with a small smile. “We have to keep in better touch. I can fill you in on all the small-town drama.” She rolled her eyes. “Not that anything happens at home.”

“Isn’t that why we both left?” I asked. “Nothing kept us interested in staying.” Both of our families were upset that we’d left, but that didn’t stop us. We wanted to see the bigger world. I knew I’d seen a much bigger world since taking this job. “I might go back after my contract is up, but who knows? Maybe the next time I’ll be home is your wedding…”

Jackie laughed, this time rolling her eyes. “Talk about jumping the gun.”

A loud bang like a book falling to the floor came from the front of the shop, drawing all three of our attention. The Cat jumped to his feet. “I told her to stay upstairs.”

“Gotta love falling books,” I mumbled quickly.

“Well, I just wanted to stop in and see how you were doing. I gotta get back on the road. As is, it's gonna take a few days to get home. I somehow keep adding stops.”

“I wonder why,” I said, getting to my feet as she did as well. The Cat jumped from the island and headed to the front of the shop faster than we did. “How many folks are you going to visit with?”

“A few from school, no one else from back home.” She walked over to the sink and placed her cup inside. “It’s strange, almost everyone else returned, or didn’t leave.” Jackie turned to face me, zipping her coat up. “We’re the only ones who are still living away.”

I took the lead, slowly walking down the hallway toward the front, delaying as much as possible. The dragon book no longer sat on the top of the stack on the counter. I swallowed as I slowly walked around the counter, but it wasn’t on the floor either. Indigo and the Cat were nowhere nearby as we headed to the door.

“That’s weird, but not unexpected, really. If you love the small-town feel, we have it.” My mind raced, trying to come up with an example. “I mean, the adults have gatherings every holiday to celebrate, drink, and be merry.” The winter holidays were next. “Remember, the solstice holiday is next. You’ll get to see what the big fuss was always about.”

Jackie’s face brightened as she zipped up her fluffy jacket. “That’s right, I’m old enough to join in this year.” She chuckled slightly. “I can tell you all about the ball, or whatever it is. Not to mention, I’ll keep you in the loop with how your family is doing. I know they aren’t fans of technology.”

“Tell me about it, our text thread gathers dust every so often.” We both paused by the door and I opened my arms for a hug. By the time she pulled away, I felt like I’d pulled it off, albeit with a little help from the Cat. Normal bookstore, check!

She opened the door and then did a double take. “Oh, no! I think you might have a rat problem.”

I twisted about, seeing a shadow near the far bookshelf. My eyes grew wide at the flash of purple. “Oh, the cat can deal with that, I’m sure…”

A loud squeak came from that area. ‘I am not a rat!’ The sound of claws padding toward me caused me to panic.

“It was great seeing you, but I need to get back to work on inventory.” I grabbed the edge of the door and she stepped out.

“I’ll keep in touch!”

“Same!” I said with a fake grin, before closing the door and locking it.