What They Choose by Cora Baker

Author:Cora Baker [Baker, Cora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tannhauser Press
Published: 2022-05-22T16:00:00+00:00

Brian’s Books

Felix finished eating the mouse and was grooming himself. He sat on the neck stump of his favorite statue. It faced the sun, and the white marble wings reflected the heat even more. He paused his cleaning to watch the black motorcycle go quietly by…

***

El pulled into a parking space downtown on Main Street under the shade of a giant oak tree that was disrupting the sidewalk in front of Brian’s Books.

She was dreading the flood of emails she would get. With a sigh, she took her courier bag with her laptop and headed in.

All the shops in town had the same bell over the door. This building had deep bay windows on each side of the front door. Each side had displays of various used books that looked new. It was bigger than she first thought from the outside. Directly to her left were two leather wing-back chairs and a corner table between them with a lovely tulip-shaped reading lamp. There were also two small cafe tables with artfully mismatched wooden chairs. The walls in this small space were covered with framed old maps, newspaper front pages, and photographs. As she took out her laptop on one of the cafe tables, she noticed all were about Covington. It was a lovely setting.

The checkout desk was old oak and had a cash register that looked like it had been there for a hundred years.

The desk was vacant.

A hall made by the stacks to either side ran straight down the center of the store. Subtle lights illuminated a classic pointing finger sign that announced the contents of each alcove. SciFi and Fantasy held pride of place in the first two alcoves, left and right.

The wifi name she selected was BBooks. No password was required. Opening her email, it began downloading 611 emails.

“Oh, hello. I was out back. I didn’t hear you come in.” He had a tall armful of hardcover books he managed to set on the counter without incident. “I’m Brian. Can I help you find something?”

Brian had a mop of curly blond hair and round tortoiseshell glasses. He wore a black t-shirt that had a quote in a type-writer font. “It isn’t hoarding if it’s books!” He wore skinny jeans and penny loafers with actual pennies in them.

“I’m Eleanore,” she said. “And I am here to steal your Internet.”

“You must be Eleanore Wright. You must know Jake.”

“I do know Jake. He is the first person I met when I got here.”

“I was just going to the Bakery to get a coffee. Can I bring you one?” Brian paused at the door.

El would normally decline the offer from a man she had just met, but Brian was ten years younger than her and gave off a strong gay vibe. “That would be nice. I can go for you if you need to watch the shop.”

He waved her off with a gesture. “How do you like your coffee?”

“Black. Please. Thanks,” she said.

“Jake will really like you,” Brian said. “Watch the store, El.

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