Page 33 of Wolves' Midlife Reunion
Tina letherself in the back door of The Crystal Cauldron. She automatically reached for the light switch and shut off the alarm system, her fingers moving without any real thought required. Next, she turned on the lights for the front of the store and the point-of-sale computers and went to the main door.
There, she turned around and tried to observe the shop as though she were someone coming in for the first time. What worked and what didn’t? Were any of the displays too close together? Did the layout make sense? If someone were looking for a specific item, would it feel natural to find it in a certain spot?
The back door thudded.
“Good morning!” Nia called from the back. She appeared in the doorway between the main store and the stockroom. “I brought doughnuts. Oh. You’re doing your thing again.”
“My thing,” Tina repeated with a smile. “It’s more than just ‘a thing.’ It’s what keeps this place going. It’s why people keep coming back.”
“I’ll have to check the online reviews, but I’m pretty sure no one ever wrote that they wanted to come back here just because the essential oils were in alphabetical order,” Nia teased.
“No, because people don’t really know what it is they want,” Tina explained. “They just want their shopping experience to go smoothly, whatever that might mean. I do my best to make it happen. And actually, I had a woman compliment me on the store layout just last week.”
“Really?” Nia got the window cleaner and a rag out from under the counter and went to the front of the store to polish any fingerprints that’d been left by wayward children.
“Yes. She told me how happy she was that the walkways were wide enough for a stroller to fit through. Apparently, another shop she’d visited was so cramped and narrow that she couldn’t get more than a few feet inside the store.” Tina had been thrilled at the compliment.
“I thought the aisles had to be at least wide enough for a wheelchair to get through.” Nia squinted and then rubbed the glass a little harder.
“They do, but it doesn’t mean every shop owner actually does what they’re supposed to. I imagine the store won’t be open for long, but you know how it is this time of year. People are so eager to grab a few souvenirs that they’ll go anywhere without a huge line.” Tina looked up at the lights. “Do you think we should change the lighting temperature? Maybe something a little warmer.”
Nia laughed. “No one can say you don’t have a passion for what you do.”
“You’re right, and today I’m even more excited,” Tina told her.
“Why?”
“It’s shipment day! Obviously! I know you didn’t walk past those two towering stacks of boxes that arrived last night andforget!” Tina hurried to the back, wanting to see how much she could accomplish before it was time to officially open.
Nia followed her. “Anything new this week?”
“I got some tarot decks from a different publisher that we weren’t carrying before. I thought it’d be good to have a few more options. I think we have a couple of new incense sticks, too.” Tina sliced through the packing tape on a box and opened it, rummaging through the contents to ensure everything on the packing list was accurate before distributing the items throughout the store.
“Oh, these are cute!” Nia opened a box full of wind chimes, all with various themes related to the shop. “Zodiac, celestial, black cats, lotus… These are so cute! It’s too bad we didn’t have these a little earlier. I think we might’ve sold out of them at the height of tourist season.”
“I agree, and I ordered them in plenty of time, but the supplier had some computer issues and got behind. They’ll still make good inventory. I just have to find a good place to put them.” Tina opened the next box, which was smaller but also very heavy. It was full of carved crystal animals.
“Why don’t we hang one of each up in the front windows?” Nia suggested. “That way, people can see them, and we can reuse that old candle display that we didn’t know what to do with.”
“Oh, Nia! That’s a fantastic idea! I think I might have some hooks we can use to hang the display pieces from. Let me see.” She rushed across the stockroom and rummaged around in a drawer.
“You’re in an awfully good mood today,” Nia noted.
“Of course, I am.” Tina found the hooks she was looking for. “It’s shipment day, and that always makes me happy. Would you grab the stepladder?”
They returned to the front of the store. “I know it does, but I think it’s more than that.”
Tina checked the antique clock on the back wall and then flipped over the ‘open’ sign. She didn’t mind if customers came in and saw them working on the display. “What do you think it is, oh wise one?”
Nia unfolded the stepladder and positioned it in the corner near the window. She shot her boss a grin. “A man.”
“I already got a thorough interrogation from my sisters after Dex left the covenstead the other night,” Tina told her as she climbed up the ladder and tested out one of the hooks.
“But you guys are so cute together!” Nia unboxed the windchime with the moon and stars and handed it up to her. “You, Dex, and Sage. You’re like a sweet little family.”
Tina smiled despite herself. She’d started thinking about the three of them like that, too. “It’s too early for such things,” she reminded both herself and Nia.
“Early in the morning or early in the relationship?” Nia quipped.
