Page 14 of Sweets and Sycamores
“I’m good, thank you.” She sounded like Dominic.
With this, she hoped to regain some privacy, but the shadow lingered, and when Allie turned to face her, she found the woman’s eyes squeezed to slits, arms crossed over her chest, watching her.
“How do you know Dominic?” the shopkeeper asked. Allie’s brows shot up.
“Excuse me?”
“How do you know Dominic?” she repeated, her tone growing impatient.
In general, Allie was a kind, mild-tempered woman. She’d had her moments, of course, but they were rare and more than well justified, in her opinion. The reply shocked her as it came out of her mouth.
“How doyouknow Dominic?” Allie hadn’t spoken his name until now. It tasted sweet and warm and dangerous. Would she ever get to call him that?
The woman’s brows rode her hairline, wide blue eyes gazing dumbfounded at Allie.
“I’m Anna O’Brien,” she said matter-of-factly, like it meant something. When Allie didn’t react to her very common name, she added, “Dom and I grew up together,” in a tone of voice that was a challenge more than anything else. Allie’s heart squeezed on a beat when she realized this woman had known Dominic for so long. Unreasonable jealousy sparked inside her, but Allie crushed it with the heel of her mind.
It didn’t matter. She was here only for a short while, so she glued a smile on her face and returned the fake politeness.
“I’m Alecsandra Wells,” she said, mimicking the Anna’s iciness, not wanting to introduce herself as Allie. When Anna’s glare didn’t move from her face, Allie ordered herself not to roll her eyes. “I’ll be working at the bakery for a while.” The woman looked down her nose, a look of superiority very familiar to Allie. She turned on her heel and went back to the counter, her slim ponytail swinging with the movement.
Allie gave some serious thought to freezing her ass off in Sycamore Falls. What if she wore multiple dresses in layers? Or she could sew new clothes. Was there another clothing store in town? Maybe she could find a kinder shopkeeper, or at least one that would ignore her and glare from a distance.
Ugh. It was already late, and she wanted to stop by the bookstore too. Allie sighed, her shoulders slumping as she gathered some weather-appropriate items.
She picked jeans and a purple plaid skirt, a pair of comfortable black boots, a few sweaters and long-sleeved shirts, fleece-lined PJs, and a jacket. Anna wore her feelings on her face too well, and Allie noticed she was torn between being grateful for her business and kicking her out empty-handed. Anna decided on the former, so Allie left the store with two large shopping bags.
She stepped outside into the fully darkened street, where all the lampposts were lit now, looking like cocky fireflies guarding the town. The temperature had dropped even lower with the loss of sunlight, and Allie looked forward to breaking into her new clothes. Even so, she enjoyed breathing in the crisp, cold air and was excited to live in a place where the fall season was thriving, all the more since this was only for a short time.
Bookstores were her favorite places, and in Green Creek, Allie visited one every couple of weeks. She went in eager to seethe selection and purchase some books on baking and elemental Witchcraft in a quiet, chill place.
But she was welcomed into a loud and chaotic space.
The books were scattered all over the place, on the floor, on all the shelves, on the counter. Some were laughing, some were crying, all chittering in a collective warble that made her want to cover her ears. The shop was narrow and long, similar to all the other businesses here, and filled with dark red, wooden shelves that smelled like a wet forest. Allie looked around for the shopkeeper but found no one. She checked the sign again to make sure it said “Open.” Searching through all this chaos and finding what she needed would be impossible.
“Hey, knock it off!” a voice shouted from the back of the store, followed by a clapping sound. The books flew back to their shelves and quieted in an instant.
A petite brunette with long, wavy hair and brown eyes hurried to the front but stopped abruptly when she saw Allie, her long, red wool dress pooling at her feet. She smiled at Allie, fleetingly pausing on her red bun, then asked in a chirpy voice, “May I help you?”
“I didn’t know there was old magic in Sycamore Falls,” she said instead of answering. “I was told this was a place of new magic.”
“It is, at large. But I’ve always preferred old magic when it comes to books. There’s something special about letting them be alive before they find forever homes,” the woman said. A book on the left shelf made a cooing sound, and the petite woman slapped it hard on the spine. “Naughty,” she chided it. Allie couldn’t help but chuckle, which drew the vendor’s attention back to her. “Are you just passing through?”
“I’m here for a while,” Allie said, trying to hide the hope from her words. “I’m working with Mr. Ranford at the bakery.”
The woman’s cackle resounded in the now quiet space.
“Pfft. Mr. Ranford.” She scoffed with a smile. It appeared everyone here had an opinion or other about her boss. “How did you end up at Dom’s Sweets?” she asked, and Allie detected curiosity only. She told her about Brandon and the previous night, and briefly about her first day of work. When she was done, the woman looked at her with a grin that stretched her brown skin. “I’m Mia,” she said, and extended her hand. “Welcome to Sycamore Falls.”
Allie took her hand and smiled, genuinely this time. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Allie.”
“Can I help you find anything today?”
“I’m looking for books on baking.” The women stared at each other for a moment before Mia burst into laughter.
“He hired you with no experience. Yeah, that sounds like Brandon’s doing,” she said more to herself. “Let’s see what we can find.” Mia waved her hand, twirling her wrist, and several books flew off the bookshelves and came floating in front of her. She flipped through them as if they were all pages in one book.
“You’re an Archivist,” Allie said, wonder in her voice. She’d never met one but had heard about them in school. Mia beamed proudly.
