Cottage at the Beach (The Off Season) by Lee Tobin McClain

Author:Lee Tobin McClain [McClain, Lee Tobin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2020-02-24T18:30:00+00:00

* * *

SATURDAY EVENING, JULIE walked through the bookstore at the end of her shift, inhaling the scent of books, straightening shelves and running a feather duster over the few high spots that might have collected cobwebs, checking in with the couple of customers who were still browsing.

She wished it wasn’t almost time to close. She found Saturday nights to be downright lonesome. Yes, she could go out, and she’d tried dancing with a couple of guys at the bar, even been asked for her phone number, but it didn’t fill the void.

Mary had driven to a restaurant up the shore with a friend. Ria and the girls were undoubtedly busy, and anyway, Julie didn’t want to impose on them. None of them wanted to spend time with her outside of their scheduled shifts.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself. She had a great job, a place to live, a daughter and two granddaughters who loved her. In fact, she had plans with Ria and her granddaughters to do mani-pedis tomorrow for Mother’s Day.

Lots of women didn’t have it so good.

Decisively, she flipped the switch to turn off the soft jazz they always played in the background.

“Oh, you’re closing! I’m sorry!” Erica Rowe emerged from the mystery section with a book in her hand. “Do you still have time to ring this up?”

“No problem. I’m in no hurry.” She took Erica’s book and went behind the counter. “Oh, this is a good one.” She rang up the book and ran Erica’s credit card. “You’ll be really surprised at the end, unless you’re a smarter reader than I am.”

“I’m not. I never try to guess the ending of mystery novels. I just like how everything turns out so neat and perfect.”

“Unlike life.” Julie slid the book and receipt into a Lighthouse Lit bag.

“My mom and I always read the same books and talked about them,” Erica said, her voice wistful. “She loved to read. She even kept a list every year of all the books she’d read.”

“That’s a great idea.” Julie studied Erica’s sad face, and her heart went out to the younger woman. She didn’t know Erica well, but she’d heard Erica and her sister didn’t have much family. “Mother’s Day weekend can be tough. Did you lose your mom recently?”

“Two years ago, and I miss her every day.” Erica’s eyes got a little shiny.

Julie brought the bag with the book around the counter and patted Erica’s shoulders. “I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about her?”

Erica sniffed and smiled. “You’re so sweet. Thanks, but no.” She held up the bag. “I was just looking to find a distraction. My sister and her daughter went out to dinner and I just didn’t feel like going home alone.”

“I hear that,” Julie said.

“What’s new with you?” Erica seemed to want to change the subject, but also prolong the conversation.

Even though Julie didn’t know Erica well, maybe because of that, she blurted out the truth: “I just found out my ex is getting married to his pregnant girlfriend.

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