Page 1 of Love in Mission City: The Shorts

Chapter One

Dickens

“One caramel macchiato extra hot.”Sunshine put the cup on the counter in front of me.

I’d been so absorbed in the ordering system, I hadn’t heard her come in.I scowled.

“The bell above the door is working fine, boss.”She tapped my forehead above my frown.“You’re too focused on placing the next order.”She glanced over at the screen.“That’s not enough.”

My scowl deepened.“I don’t want to end up with extra inventory.”

“And the last time she released a book, we sold out in two hours and had customers complaining for days while we tried to secure more copies.She’s taken off since then.Hometown girl made good.”She tucked a strand of her blue-black hair behind her ears and her pale-blue eyes shone.“You should triple that order.I’m telling you—Raven’s new book is going to be a bestseller.Plus, you can do more online orders if you’ve got extra.”She tapped her neat, polish-free finger on the counter.“But we’re not going to have surplus stock.”

I tried to argue with her logic, but, as always, her reasoning was sound.“Have you asked her about doing a signing?”

“Boss, you know her as well as I do.And you’re the owner of the store.”

“Didn’t you say your sister went to school with her?”

Sun rolled her eyes.“Yes, Rainbow was in Raven’s class.Yes, she used to hang out at our place.But you’re the proprietor of this establishment.”She waved her hand around.“I’m just the employee.”

My scowl returned with a vengeance.“Bullshit.”

She tisked.

“Oh, please.There’s no one here.”

One perfect eyebrow arched.

Damn, if she’d come in without me hearing her, then…

“Relax.”Her grin split her face.“No one else is here, so take a breath.And fine, I’ll call Raven.I’m assuming you want her to do a reading as well?I’ll see if she’s available for an evening or weekend presentation.She teaches university during the day, and her books are young adult, so we want the kids to be able to attend.”

“You know a huge percentage of young-adult fiction readers are actually adults.”

“I was aware of that.”Her eyes flashed.

“Of course you were.”

Sunshine had been an employee of the bookstore for over ten years.She started when my parents still owned the store and had fortunately stayed on after they retired and turned the store over to me.My folks were happily enjoying their time up in the Okanagan region of British Columbia while The Owl’s Nest bookstore they founded sat in Mission City, part of the tranquil Fraser Valley.We were within spitting distance of Vancouver, but we retained a small-town feeling.

“I’m going to open the box we got yesterday and—”

“It’s already done.”

Now she scowled.

I shrugged.“I was bored.”

“Boss.”No missing the exasperated tone.“When your parents renovated the second floor and turned it into an apartment for you, I’m positive they didn’t intend for you to spend all your spare time in the store.”

I’d concede that much.They hadn’t wanted me worrying about a mortgage.Their ingenuity meant I had a lovely home above the shop.It also meant I could come down whenever I had insomnia.The smell of books invariably soothed me, and I’d soon be ready to crawl back into bed.“Well, I’m sure you can find—”

The sound of a gunshot rang through the store.

My first instinct was to duck, but gunfire in Mission City was ridiculous.Ah, must be a car backfiring.“So if—”

Another one.

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