Love Between the Pages: 8 Romances for Booklovers

by Bird, Peggy

  She wrapped her hands around her mug, sipping the sweet-smelling tea. Why was she so attracted to a man she’d barely met? The twinkle in his eyes and the twitch of his lips had made her feel playful and sexy. She wanted to rub her hands over his back, caressing the rippling muscles she’d seen while he’d been lugging books. She shook her head. Maybe she was reading too many romance novels.

  What would it be like to go out with him?

  She wouldn’t get the chance.

  She set down her mug, picked up Mountain Maverick and again began to read.

  • • •

  The drive to the office the next morning was a nightmare. Slick roads from the rain caused a spinout ahead of her, tying up traffic on the twisting mountain highway. It gave Annie too much time to think about what she was going to do all day. Ending a project was dull and took too long. She’d rather be starting a project … or a new relationship.

  Even if she wasn’t leaving, would she have the courage to go out with the bookstore owner? Would he even want to go out with her? It had been a long time since she’d been on a date. She hadn’t had time to get involved in a long-term relationship while she was raising David. At least that’s what she told herself. But the truth was she was afraid she’d get involved with another alcoholic like David’s father Fred. Or worse, an abuser.

  Once she reached her office, she yanked the envelope Randy had given her from her briefcase. Six months of benefits, a nice settlement that would last her about three months, help looking for a new job — all were standard in her company’s “termination package.” Piles of papers in triplicate, badge, key, and laptop turn-in forms. She shoved them back in the envelope and tossed it onto a corner of her desk. She wouldn’t need it if the job from New Jersey came through. There was no reason why it shouldn’t. She took out a pad of lined paper and began to make a list.

  Tell David

  Tell Fred (ugh)

  Find out details from Randy

  Connect with new boss in New Jersey

  Start transfer process

  Call realtor

  Contact corporate housing for help in finding an apartment in New Jersey

  Hold a garage sale

  Pack

  Move

  There. A nice ten-point list. Things were under control.

  The rest of the day passed quickly. Annie pretended the layoff hadn’t happened and everything was normal. No one asked about her situation and she didn’t volunteer the information. Still, it was a relief to have the day end. Sometimes not talking about the elephant in the room took more energy than kicking the damn beast.

  The commute home was far easier than it had been in the morning. The rain had ended during the day and the roads were dry. It was spring, she thought, time for a change in the weather. After months of gray skies, she was ready for the warmth of the sun.

  She turned off the highway at the Costanoa exit and drove the few miles to the tiny seaside village for her weekly dinner with Elizabeth. Wednesdays, along with alternate weekends, were Fred’s time with David. For Annie, the evenings had evolved into a girls’ night out with her friend. A single mom like herself, they’d met when Annie hired Sarah, Elizabeth’s daughter, to babysit David.

  Annie drove past Crystal Visions, with its tinsel wind sculptures dancing in the breeze and a sign in the window announcing the arrival of Patricia, a new psychic. Should she get a reading some night? No. She didn’t want any more bad news and she certainly didn’t need a tall, dark stranger.

  She continued past the Thomas Kinkade Gallery and the local wine bar and grabbed a parking spot by the breakwater. Dutifully, she emptied her coin purse into the meter. The Costanoa parking police were unrelenting and she didn’t need a ticket on top of everything else.

  The swoosh of incoming waves was a counterpoint to the clack of her heels on the cement sidewalk. Across the beach, artists had created massive driftwood sculptures that gleamed in the fading sun. Gusts of ocean breezes ruffled her coat and hurried her down the alley.

  When Annie got to Beauty by the Bay, Elizabeth was waiting on an older woman. Annie’s friend mouthed, “Five minutes,” without missing a beat with her customer.

  Annie watched her in admiration, wishing she could pull herself together as well as her friend did. Elizabeth’s five-foot-two stature was augmented by three-inch open-toed stiletto heels. With dark brown hair piled artfully on her head, antique teardrop earrings dangling from her ears, and luminescent red lipstick, she could have stepped from a Lancôme advertisement.

  While she waited, Annie wandered around the shop, sniffing new perfumes and smoothing rich cream on her skin from the sample bottles, loving the sensuousness of the scents and textures. Should she pay more attention to her looks? Even if her fantasy cowboy were unavailable, there’d be men in New Jersey. David only had two years of school left. It was time to start thinking of her own future.

  But where to begin with her makeover? Small pots of lotions competed for her attention. Special selections of nail colors nestled next to lengths of beaded necklaces and exotic earrings. She grabbed one of the silken scarves from its rack and draped it over her arm.

  The customer paid for her purchase and left. Elizabeth hurried over and embraced her. “What’s up?” she asked.

  “Is it that obvious?”

  Her friend nodded.

  “Nothing much. I’m moving to New Jersey, but other than that … ”

  Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “That’s crazy. Why would you do that?”

  Annie played with the blue paisley scarf she still had in her hand, debating how much to tell Elizabeth. “It’s for the best, really. A great opportunity to show them what I can do. Maybe I’ll finally get that bonus I’ve always tried for.”

  “You never were a very good liar. Let me close up and you can tell me the truth about what’s really going on.” She took the scarf that dangled over Annie’s arm, clipped off the price tag and wrapped it around Annie’s neck. “It’s yours. Somehow I think you need it.”

  “Thanks. That’s sweet. Anything I can help you with?”

  “No, it’s faster if I run around and do it myself.”

  Elizabeth hit a few keys on the register and ripped off the tape that spewed forth. She disappeared into the back room and re-emerged in a few minutes, pulling a sleek leather jacket around her.

  “Brrr,” Annie said buttoning her coat closed as they walked to the restaurant.

  “Yep,” said Elizabeth. She picked up the pace.

  A minute later, they arrived at Costanoa Grill, their favorite local haunt — at least in the off-season before hordes of tourists descended on the town.

  Two adjoining rooms made up the restaurant. A curved redwood bar anchored one corner while potted ficus threaded with twinkling lights provided accents to the stucco-covered walls and red-tiled floors. Behind the bar, a patio nook with intimate tables and a fireplace provided a view of the beach and one of the many coastal rivers.

  A willowy waitress with a diamond stud in her nose and a purple streak at the front of her hair detoured to Annie and Elizabeth’s table on her way to the kitchen. “The usual?” she asked.

  They nodded.

  “Thanks, Mandy,” Elizabeth said.

  “On its way.” Mandy scuttled off to rear of the restaurant.

  Elizabeth turned to Annie. “Now what’s all this nonsense?”

  “I’m being transferred to New Jersey.”

  “What if you don’t go?”

  “I’ll lose my job.”

  “That’s not a transfer, that’s blackmail. Any other options?”

  Annie shook her head. “They gave me the severance package yesterday. If I don’t take the job, that’s it.”

  “I hope it was a good package. That will give you time to look around here for a new job.”

  “I’m not going to look for a new job. I’m going to apply for the transfer. That way I keep all my benefits and my salary. It can’t be too bad in New Jersey.”

 
The waitress slid the glasses of chardonnay in front of them. “New Jersey?”

  “My company is moving me there,” Annie said.

  “You won’t like it,” the waitress said as she took out her order pad. “I grew up there. It’s like, totally different from California.”

  “But they both have oceans,” Annie said.

  “Like, totally different.” Mandy poised her pen over the pad. “What would you ladies like this evening?”

  Elizabeth ordered the pasta special. Annie sighed and ordered spinach salad with dressing on the side.

  They clinked their wine glasses. “Okay,” Elizabeth said. “Start at the beginning and tell me the whole story.”

  Annie took a deep breath and began. She described the scene in Randy’s office, giving Elizabeth the details of her compensation for being laid off.

  “Wow,” said Elizabeth. “All that money for not working?”

  “It’s not ‘all that money.’ It could last me maybe three or four months if I’m very careful.”

  “Still, that would give you enough time to find a job here.”

  Annie shook her head. “I’ve thought this all through. The economy’s iffy right now. And I’ve got a lot of seniority at JCN. If I left, I’d lose vacation time, pension, and stock benefits. I’m better off sticking with the company and moving. It’s the practical thing to do.”

  “I don’t think you should go.”

  Annie twirled the stem of her wine glass. Then she leaned forward. “I really need your support right now. I feel I need to go. I’ve made my decision and nothing is going to change it.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to question your decision. What can I do to help you? What did David say?”

  “I haven’t told him.”

  “He’s not going to be happy.”

  Annie shook her head. “No. But he’ll adapt. Kids do, you know.”

  “Not teenagers,” Elizabeth said.

  “I’ll make sure he understands that I’m doing this for him. It can’t be too bad,” Annie said and sipped her wine, releasing the taste of buttery lemon into her mouth. “The Atlantic Ocean can’t be that different from the Pacific. We could take in some Broadway shows.” She took another sip. “Maybe a change in job is the jolt my career needs. A promotion would mean more money for David’s college and my retirement.”

  “Money isn’t everything,” Elizabeth said.

  “It is when you don’t have it.”

  “I wish you had more faith that things would turn out okay.”

  “I wish I did, too. But in my life, things that are left to chance never turn out well.”

  “Annie, it doesn’t have to be that way.”

  “It does for me. I’m not you, Elizabeth. I didn’t grow up in a boisterous Italian family with too many siblings and more than enough love. It was me and my mother in Michigan and that’s it.” Annie’s words came out clipped.

  “Ouch.”

  “I’m sorry,” Annie said. “The uncertainty has me stressed out. Too many years living with Fred, never knowing what was going to happen. Was the call going to be from the police or the hospital? When was he going to be in a fatal accident because he was driving drunk? I need security. Money is security.”

  Elizabeth started to say something.

  Annie held up her finger to stop her friend from commenting. “I don’t know if you can understand what it’s like not having anyone to depend on. You have a great family. Your dad had a good job and so did your husband. When you grow up without money, things get bad … ” Her voice trailed off. She tried again. “I don’t want to lose my friends,” she said as she looked up at Elizabeth. She could feel her eyes fill with tears threatening to spill from behind her lashes. “This is my home. I love this town and these people. But I won’t go backwards. I won’t.”

  She took a tissue from her purse. “Can we stop talking about it?”

  Elizabeth nodded. “Sure.” She put her hand on her friend’s arm. “You know, I really admire you, Annie.”

  “Why?” Annie dabbed her eyes.

  “No matter what happens, you keep moving forward. You know what needs to be done and you do it. You’re so organized about it, too.”

  “Want to know the secret?”

  “Of course.”

  “Lists. I make lists. Then all I have to do is check off what needs to be done. Just like Santa Claus.”

  Elizabeth smiled.

  Mandy plunked their pasta and salad on the table. “Enjoy,” she said and whirled around to take an order from a nearby table.

  Annie dumped the entire container of salad dressing over the greens and sloshed her spinach leaves around the bowl.

  “I don’t know why you bother,” Elizabeth said.

  Annie looked up quizzically.

  “Getting it on the side, I mean. You always put all of it on anyway.”

  Annie grinned at her friend. “I like the illusion that I’m doing the right thing.”

  Elizabeth grinned back. “Any new men in your life?”

  Annie felt a betraying heat crawl up her neck. She shook her head. “You’re sex-crazed. Me, I’m done with men. I’m never getting involved with one again.”

  “You just haven’t found the right one.”

  “Yeah, right.” The image of the cowboy rose in her mind. She smiled at the memory.

  “So what’s that smile about?”

  Annie forked a piece of hard-boiled egg from her salad. “It’s not important. Besides, I’m hungry and this is delicious, as usual.”

  “Nice try. Who is he?”

  Annie put down her fork. “I went to the bookstore yesterday. The new owner was there.”

  “I’ve heard he’s gorgeous. And single.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I run a beauty store. I hear everything.” Elizabeth filled Annie in on what she’d heard about the new owner of Ocean Reads. Then she moved on to stories of other people in the area. Annie was grateful for the distraction. She didn’t want to think about moving or men.

  Elizabeth was in the middle of a story about a young girl who wanted her to wax off all of her eyebrows, when she stopped. “Mmm, mmm,” she hummed, her eyes on the entryway. “I wonder who that is.”

  Annie turned to see intense blue eyes focused on her. His smile was broad. She felt the warmth on the back of her neck creep up her cheeks. He put his finger to his forehead as if he was tipping his hat. She waved. And immediately felt ridiculous. She did not need to encourage the man — she was leaving the area. Nonetheless, the warmth stayed in her chest.

  “Let me guess,” Elizabeth said. “That must be the new owner of Ocean Reads. The rumors about his looks are definitely true. Let’s invite him to have dinner with us.”

  “Oh, no,” said Annie, but her friend was already waving him over.

  • • •

  John recognized the mass of blond curls and compact figure immediately. He felt the same pull of desire he had when he first saw her staring at him in the bookstore. Tonight Annie had on a green sweater that drew his eyes to the luscious curve of her breasts. When the woman with her waved him over, his heart beat a little faster.

  His boots thudded on the stone floor as he followed the hostess to their table.

  “Hello, again,” he said to Annie, smiling. Her thick-lashed hazel eyes looked back at him steadily. He forced his gaze to the other woman.

  “Hi, I’m Elizabeth,” she said, holding out her hand. “Annie says you’re new in town. Won’t you join us?”

  “John Johnson.” He shook her hand. “Thank you for the invitation.” He sat down in the unoccupied chair next to Elizabeth, giving him a good view of Annie. She grinned at him and her smile was beguiling. “Hi,” she said.

  “You’re from Montana, right?” Elizabeth asked. “How did you wind up in Santa Cruz?”

  “Drove south.”

  Annie chuckled at his joke and another loop snaked around his heart. Only Jessica had ever laughed consistently at his st
upid jokes.

  He turned back to Elizabeth.

  “I managed a bookstore in Missoula for about five years. Everyone in the independent book association knows about Ocean Reads. So when it came on the market, I knew it was a great opportunity.”

  “California is a long way from Montana,” Annie said.

  “It was a big step.”

  “How could you leave?”

  He sensed there was something behind the question, but he wasn’t sure what. “I took a gamble. Sometimes you have to. You can’t control everything — for some things, you just need to trust that it will turn out okay. You go forward even though you can’t see the ending. An independent bookstore with the reputation of Ocean Reads doesn’t come on the market often. It was an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives, help them find books that made them think, maybe even change their lives. I had the money — I’d just sold my ranch. I made an offer, the Crawfords accepted, and we hit the road.”

  “We?”

  “My horse and me.”

  “You’re not married?”

  “No.” He paused. “I was, but Jessica died a little over three years ago. Cancer.”

  “I’m sorry.” Annie rested her hand on top of his and he felt her warmth travel up his arm and touch his heart. He looked into her hazel eyes, staring so intently at him. There was no guile there, simply concern and caring.

  “Thank you. She was a wonderful woman, but she’s gone and I’ve gotten used to it, as much as you ever do, I suppose.”

  “Any children?” Elizabeth asked.

  He shook his head. “We were trying, but then she got sick. I always wanted them; I still want them. It’s in a Montana rancher’s blood — big strapping sons to help out with the work when you get too old to toss bales of hay around.” He laughed at the image in his mind and rubbed his thumb on Annie’s hand.