Page 6 of Cookie

Xo Charlie

I fanned myself and smiled so big it made my cheeks hurt. “He’s the sweetest man ever.” Taking a big drink of the coffee, I groaned. I think I want to wake up every morning like this. I was about to get in the shower when a text message sounded on my phone.

Charlie: Sorry, I know it’s only been a few hours, but I’d love to meet you for lunch if you can get away.

I tapped out a quick reply and hopped into the shower before he could answer. Before our date, we’d meet for lunch every day, even if we were on separate benches. And since our first date, neither of us had the time to meet until after work. But hopefully today that changed. My mind wandered over that first date as the warm water helped not only wake me up but also to soothe sore muscles that were feeling it, not just from all the books I’d been moving, but from Charlie.

Every time I thought of him, I got a warm, squishy feeling inside. Charlie was so sweet, and there was way more to him than I expected. He was more than just a mechanic. He was smart, funny, and able to keep up with me in every way. Plus, he loved books, and the way he talked about cars told me how much he loved his job too.

Another week had flown by, and I was still going back and forth about buying the store. But then I looked out my bedroom window and caught a glimpse of Charlie walking toward his shop, and I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. My mind was made up. After getting dressed, I hurried downstairs to open the store and was surprised to find a woman there waiting. “Mrs. Castle, come in,” I said and held the door for Charlie’s mom.

“Good morning, Ryan. How are you doing?” she asked as she walked in and turned around to face me. There was no mistaking Charlie had inherited his blue eyes from his mother.

“I’m good. I could use a little less fog and rain, but in the summer, I’ll be complaining about the heat,” I rambled, making her grin.

“Yes, we need to enjoy the cool weather while we can. Maybe not so much rain though. Listen, the reason I stopped by was I know your aunt Millie is thinking of selling and I wanted to pick up a few books while the place was still open.” She stared at me and waited for my reaction. No doubt she was checking to see what my plans were, but I was more than happy to share my news.

“I’ve decided to buy it from her. It’s been a lot of work, and there’s still more work, but like I mentioned when we spoke before, I want to make it my own.”

“Oh, Ryan, that’s great news,” she said before pulling me in for a hug. She was deceptively strong for how thin she was. “Charlie will be so happy to hear that.”

“Do you think so? I didn’t decide until just this morning, and I didn’t want him to think it was because we’d been spending time together. But I really do want to spendmoretime with him.” I slapped both my hands across my mouth and ignored the fact my face was on fire while she grinned at me.

“You two are quite a pair. He’s been over there smiling for days like the cat that got the cream. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy.” She had a faraway look in her eyes before blinking it away and taking a deep breath. “I’m really happy to hear you’ll be around for a while. Now, I really would like to find a nice romance. What do you suggest?”

I led her to my newly improved LGBTQ book selection and showed her a few books that I thought she’d enjoy.

“I had no idea there were so many books with gay love stories,” she said as she picked up two more and read the blurbs.

“Yep, there’s a lot of them. Some are very good and deserve far more attention than they get, and not just romance. There are LGBTQ couples in almost all genres now.” It was true, I’d found some absolute treasures that were buried under all the mainstream books at the big retailers. I hoped to do my little part to change that.

“Oh, this one sounds good,” she said as she read the blurb again. “I’ll take both of these.”

I took the books from her and, after wrapping them up, I put them in one of the new bags I’d had printed. “Here you go. Let me know how you like them.”

“How much do I owe you?” she asked and pushed her card at me.

“Nothing. If you enjoy them, come back and buy more,” I said and smiled.

“Oh, you are a good one,” she said and patted my cheek. “I’ll be sure Charlie is off whenever you take lunch so you two can spend a little time together.”

Whoa, she’s good. She made a date for us and didn’t even act embarrassed or like she felt bad pushing us together. On the contrary, she looked very happy and self-satisfied. “Okay, I’ll send him a message when Avery gets here.” Why fight it? If she was going to make it easier to spend time with Charlie, I was going to let it happen.

“Thank you, Ryan, and I won’t tell Charlie anything about you buying the store.” She winked as she closed the door behind her and hurried across the street to their auto shop.

“Wow,” I said on a deep breath when I realized everything we’d talked about while she was here and hoped she really didn’t tell Charlie I was buying. Because I couldn’t wait to see his reaction when I told him I’d be saying here.

Seven

Charlie

Iwatched as Mom walked back from the bookstore with a package tucked under her arm. I knew she thought she was sneaky, but she was never that good at sneaking. “What are you up to?” I asked her as I cleaned my hands off from an oil change.

“Just buying something new to read. Have you looked at all the books Ryan has added? He’s really doing a great job over there.” She walked back into the office without another word or a backwards glance, which told me she was probably on a fact-finding mission more than expanding her book collection. I followed her into the office and shut the door behind me.

“What was Ryan doing?” I asked unable to control my need to know.

“Oh nothing. He mentioned you were going to lunch.” She smiled and I would have sworn she was keeping something from me, but I’d just talked to Ryan, so I hoped that wasn’t true or if it was, it wasn’t anything too serious. And now I was officially freaking out. “He sounded like he was excited to see you again.”

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