Page 2 of Cookie

“Mhm, I saw. That man has been eating his lunch there every day for the last few weeks. He was probably surprised you spoke to him.”

Millie was my mom’s sister, and a few years younger than her. They both said exactly what they thought, which was both good and bad. Right now, it was sort of bad. “Maybe he just likes it there. I don’t mind either way.”

I hurried to the backroom where I could take a deep breath and think about what I wanted to work on this afternoon. A few months ago I was still in college, and as soon as I’d graduated, Aunt Millie had announced she’d be selling. There were so many decisions to be made and, if I took over the bookstore, changes to make, including a move from Sacramento to the small town of Grace. I’d never lived here, and it was definitely an adjustment moving from the city to the country. But Grace was a pleasant town, and so far, I’d met some nice people while working at the bookstore.

The bell at the door got my attention and I hurried back out. Aunt Millie was talking to the customer, so I went about my business of reorganizing the nonfiction section as the sugar from my cookie kicked in. There was a coffee shop a few doors downI walked to every morning for my first coffee of the day, which I would drink with what had become my usual cookie that we sold at the bookstore. Sure, it was frosted pink with sprinkles. But it was delicious and had enough sugar to get me through the afternoon crash.

I’d never considered owning a bookstore, but after I graduated with a degree in business, it sounded like it could be a good fit. Not to mention that I’d visited this bookstore at least once a year for as long as I could remember.

“Ryan, I’m going to leave for the day. Will you be okay by yourself the last few hours?” Aunt Millie asked.

“Of course. I’m nearly done with the nonfiction section, so I’ll move on to another. I also want to order a few copies of a new fantasy book that has great reviews.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” she said before gathering her things and leaving.

I took a deep breath and savored the smell of the books. There was just something about the smell that wrapped me up in warmth and made me feel at home. Millie had worked here so long that the magic of owning a bookstore had been lost to the daily grind of keeping open a business she no longer cared about. But to me it was all new and exciting, and I couldn’t wait to change a few things once it was completely mine.IfI ended up owning it because I still wasn’t entirely sure.

“Hi, Ryan,” Avery said as she walked in.

“Oh, hi, Avery. What are you doing today?” Avery was a little younger than me and still attended the small local college. She loved bookstores even more than I did and had stopped by every day since I’d been in town. At first, I thought she was hoping we’d get together, but I soon realized she just really loved being here.

“I just got out of class and thought I’d see if you had anything you needed help with,” she said and put her backpack down by the door.

“I’m just organizing this section and wiping down all the books. The amount of dust here is off the charts.” It was true. Millie had let things go, and even though she was more than capable of doing it, she just didn’t want to.

“Are you going to keep selling the cookies you started carrying?” Avery asked and pointed at the baskets of individually wrapped cookies I’d been helping myself to when customers weren’t buying them quite fast enough.

“Oh yes. They’re from an online business I want to support and they’re really good. Help yourself and tell me what you think.”

She chose a white chocolate chip one and her eyes widened when she took her first bite. “Wow, these are good,” she said.

“I know, I’m surprised they’re not selling faster.”

“Probably because no one knows you have them here yet. Maybe put them closer to the counter so they can grab one while they’rechecking out.” She moved them to a small table holding a display of the latest releases, and I realized she was probably right.

“Maybe we could do a combo of a book and a cookie that somehow go together.” I tapped my lip as I thought about it. Just then I noticed Avery staring out the front window. I turned to see what had her attention and was surprised to see Charlie standing there.

He looked at her before looking right at me and blushing.Oh my god, he was adorable.I waved to him, and he grinned at me while rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Go talk to him,” Avery said.

I looked at her before making a split-second decision to do just that. By the time I opened the door he was gone. Then I noticed him walking in the direction of his family’s auto shop. “I’ll be right back.” I darted back in and grabbed a cookie before hurrying out the door, ignoring Avery’s smile.

Three

Charlie

Itried to stay focused at work, but after an hour I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Charlie, you’re making me nervous with all this pacing,” Dad said, as I clenched my hair and stomped around the shop.

“Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind,” I mumbled.

“Like the new guy at the bookstore?” he asked with a knowing grin.

“What? No. I-I don’t even know—” I stuttered, making him laugh.

“I haven’t seen you this worked up since you realized you were gay and were in love with Justin Bieber.”

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