Undeniable You (Sapph in the City #4)

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Larison

My stress level was better now that Mama was on the mend, but I noticed that there was something up with Jo on Monday.

She wouldn’t look me in the eye and didn’t seem to want to stand near me. I did my little goodbye routine with Juniper and also said goodbye to her, but she kind of ignored me and focused back on Juniper.

Was something wrong?

My first instinct was to go back and ask her what was going on, but I had things to do that couldn’t be put off. We were getting closer and closer to opening day for Between the Sheets and I couldn’t afford to get too distracted. Especially when I had a bunch of social media content to organize and even a few interviews. Someone was coming today to take pictures for a local newspaper. I hoped I didn’t say anything silly. At least everything with Mama had taken up all the space in my brain that I would have reserved for freaking out about that.

Jo was still on my mind as I did all of my tasks and moved some boxes of books to the back room and emailed with the mural painter that was coming this week and did my best to sound smart for my interview. She’d given me an idea of the questions beforehand and I knew the major points that I wanted to hit. Sharing the story about how Gram and my moms had fostered my love of reading from an early age and how Grams had left me the money to finally make this dream a reality. I also talked about leaving a legacy for my daughter. When she asked why I’d decided to open a romance-focused store, I got to go off about how important the genre of romance was, list off some statistics, and speak about supporting diverse authors.

Somehow, I managed to hit everything I wanted and the journalist said I’d done a great job. She was also a professional photographer and took all the pictures as well.

“That’s pretty impressive,” I told her.

She shrugged. “Journalism is a difficult career, so I have to be ready to pivot to something else if it doesn’t work out.” Ouch. That sounded about right for a lot of industries.

Once she was gone, I relaxed and sent Sophie a message that she could come visit me if she wanted. Now that she was working remotely as an assistant for a literary agent, her schedule was flexible.

I’m on my way with coffee and treats

Oh bless her.

Sophie did have lots of treats and coffee with her and I was almost as eager for that as I was to see her.

“It’s incredible. These shelves are gorgeous,” she said, running her hand along one.

“Thanks,” I said, chugging my coffee down and begging it to hit my bloodstream as quickly as possible. “You should have seen the woman who built them. She had the most gorgeous arms. Let’s say I didn’t get a lot of other work done that day.”

Sophie laughed and pulled an almond croissant out of the bag and took a careful bite.

“Ohhh, hot. Was she single?”

I sighed. “Married.”

“Bummer.”

“Plus, she had red hair and I don’t think you should have more than one redhead in a relationship.” I flipped my ponytail and Sophie cackled.

“That’s probably wise. Good thing you and Cade didn’t meet sooner.”

Cade wasn’t my type. She was a little bit too…something. A great friend, but not someone I’d want to date.

“How’s Reid?” I asked as we leaned against the checkout counter. I still didn’t have any chairs in here. I’d ordered some folding chairs that we’d use for events and book clubs, but they were on backorder and wouldn’t be here for another week. I’d also ordered a few accent chairs for customers to sit on, and to make the space cozier.

Shockingly, those were also on backorder. Once the murals were finished this week, I wanted to hit up a few places to get some accent tables and other decorative elements. I’d rather get something vintage or used than something new. I wanted the store to feel cozy and lived in. Like you were stepping inside someone’s living room. Shoppers should feel comfortable above all. Comfortable to browse and look and find whatever books were right for them.

“Reid is great. She’s making us chocolate cupcakes as we speak.” Sophie’s smile was radiant.

“I love how much you love her,” I said, and she giggled.

“I love her so much. It scares me how much.”

She had another bite of her croissant, still smiling.

“So does that mean you might be thinking about locking her down? Putting a ring on it?”

Sophie exhaled. “I don’t know. It took a long time to even get Reid on board with a relationship period. And then she’s dealing with processing her family stuff still.”

I nodded. “Have you talked about it?”

Sophie nodded. “I mean, in an abstract sense. But no concrete plans.” She shrugged. “I’m not in a rush. I’m really not. We’re happy.”

They were, but if I knew Sophie, and I did, I knew she would want a big, gorgeous wedding where she could invite everyone she adored and probably wear a princess dress and force Reid to say a bunch of wonderful and embarrassing things about her in public. And don’t forget about the food and the cake and the dancing all night.

Part of me thought about having a word with Reid, but that would be interfering a little too much. Telling Jo about it might be the way to go. She’d have more insight into how Reid’s mind worked and what she was thinking. My suspicion was that Reid wasn’t as ambivalent about getting engaged as Sophie seemed to think.

“Are you going to have bookshelf ladders?” she asked, reminding me where I was.

“I really wanted to, but it seemed like a huge safety hazard. And they’d really just be for aesthetics. All I could see was a lawsuit.” Even though this was a romance bookstore, my brain went to kid proofing the space every time.

Sophie frowned. “Yeah, that makes sense, but what a shame.”

“I know,” I said with a sigh.

I had the rest of my coffee and pulled out one of the pastries and shoved half of it in my mouth at once. It was a struggle for me to remember to eat during the day even when I brought food with me or had the option of lots of takeout places nearby. Most days I’d set an alarm and sometimes forget what I’d set it for.

Sophie told me more about work and I filled her in on the books I’d ordered and what new releases I had on my radar to purchase. I’d have to be constantly aware of what books were coming out so I could get them. Daunting, but it was also pretty fun.

It was nice to talk about books with Sophie. A vacation from talking about everything else going on in my life.

Sophie left me with a caffeine buzz and a full stomach and a bit less anxiety. The day had been good, but now I had to go home and see Jo. See if this morning was a fluke or if there was something wrong.

When I got back home, Juniper ran over to hug me. Once I put her down, I looked up to find Jo putting her bag over her shoulder. Oh. Usually she would stay and ask me about my day before she left. She’d also been making us dinner lately, but the kitchen was clean.

“I should get going,” she said, giving me a tight smile that almost looked like she was in pain.

“Yeah, sure. Is everything okay?”

She nodded jerkily and leaned down to hug Juniper.

“Bye, PJ. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Juniper waved goodbye and I tried to meet her eyes as she closed the door.

Weird.