by K M Morgan
Deanna greeted her friend with a question.
“Having fun?” Deanna joked.
“I don’t think I’ve felt this uncomfortable since I had my root canal,” Amelia replied.
“Don’t hold back your true feelings,” Deanna cracked.
“I’m not. This is a disaster.”
“Yeah. It does have the makings of a dumpster fire.”
“As if this store isn’t having enough problems keeping its doors open. We’re not exactly in the age of the mom-and-pop bookshop anymore.”
“I hear you. The big-box megastores are doing a good job of putting corner stores out of business without mom-and-pop shops shooting themselves in the foot,” Deanna said.
Amelia corrected her. “You mean mom and pop’s foolhardy son.”
“True. Although Wyatt seems to be quite pleased with the reading.”
Amelia was still in disbelief. “That just goes to show what a mistake it was to put him in a management position. He has no idea how to run a successful business. I mean, we should be doing as much as possible to bring customers in, not drive them away.”
“Speaking of customers, now would be a good time to point me to that new Wendy Whimsy book,” Deanna suggested.
Amelia’s mood completely changed. Sheer excitement came to her face.
“You’re going to love it,” Amelia boasted.
Deanna was surprised. “Wait a minute. Did you already read it?”
“Of course. And let me tell you, Wendy’s more whimsical than ever.”
Deanna cut her friend off. “No spoilers. I don’t want to know what’s coming.”
Amelia couldn’t resist saying one more thing about the book. “I don’t think you’ll be able to see the killer coming this time.”
“Are you underestimating my sleuthing skills?”
“No. What I’m saying is, as good as you are at picking the killer in these books, I think this one will stump you.”
Deanna did not like where this conversation was going. “What did I tell you about spoilers?”
Amelia relented. “All right. I’m just saying—”
“Say no more.”
“Okay. Let me go get the book for you.” Amelia only took a few steps then stopped as she looked across the store. “In a minute.”
Deanna turned to see what had stopped Amelia. It looked like a showdown was inevitable on the other side of the bookshop.
***
Apparently, Amelia and Deanna weren’t the only ones in the store that did not enjoy the author reading. Wyatt’s father, Kenneth Gibson, approached his son, looking hot and bothered.
Chapters Galore had been in the Gibson family for seventy-four years. Kenneth had been running the place for the last thirty years since his father retired. The original plan was for Kenneth to one day turn over the reins to his son, Wyatt. For a number of reasons, it looked like that wouldn’t happen.
It definitely wasn’t because Kenneth was eager to keep burning the candle at both ends for decades to come. For a man who was only in his midsixties, Kenneth looked overly tired and worn down. Unfortunately, that made him appear a good ten years older than his actual age. His balding head didn’t help.
Most middle-aged men either went bald or had their hair turn gray. Kenneth had the unenviable misfortune of balding while simultaneously seeing his remaining patches of hair going gray.
What Kenneth lacked in hair, he made up for in height. He looked tall enough to be a basketball player. That, combined with his skinny frame, made for a gawky combination. Unlike his son, Kenneth had the look of a librarian. He was clean shaven, wore plain khakis, and had on a chess-board-patterned sweater.
Kenneth wasted no time in chewing out Wyatt. What was surprising was how he seemed to have equal disdain for both his son and his son’s girlfriend.
“What’s she doing up there? I didn’t authorize an author reading today,” Kenneth barked.
“As the assistant manager, I took the initiative to give a groundbreaking author the stage,” Wyatt explained.
Kenneth looked around and saw nothing but empty chairs in front of the stage. “Groundbreaking? The only thing that was broken here was a new low for attendance. I’ve seen science fiction poetry readings that had more people show up.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault the people of Desert Palms have no taste,” Wyatt insisted.
“The only person you can point the finger of blame at is yourself. You wonder why I haven’t turned this place over to you. Bonehead moves like this are why.”
“Don’t call me a bonehead.”
“I just call them as I see them. You’ve been bragging for years about your big vision for the future. If you’re going to do things like this, you might as well put up a Going out of Business sign,” Kenneth said.
Wyatt fired back. “Like you’re doing much better. You’re running a sinking ship here.”
“I wouldn’t underestimate your father like that. Either way, I’d rather go down fighting with my ship than hand it off to you, where it’s guaranteed to sink. You complain about other people’s taste, but you’re the one with a freaky girlfriend.”
Wyatt immediately came to Hailey’s defense. “Hey, don’t talk about her like that.”
Hailey wasn’t about to let Kenneth’s comment rest at that. The insult cut a little too deep for her. Up until that moment, she’d stayed in the background, letting her boyfriend wage his own war of words with his father. No longer. She stood up for herself.
“I can defend myself, Wyatt.” Hailey then glared at Kenneth. “Don’t you dare call me a freak.”
Kenneth didn’t back down. “This is my bookstore. I’ll call you whatever I want. Besides, both you and your writing are freaky.”
“I’m not going to let you talk to her like that. I’m warning you—show Hailey some respect,” Wyatt demanded.
“She doesn’t even have any respect for herself, so why should I respect her?” Kenneth then turned his focus back to Hailey. “There’s a reason you had to vanity publish that book. No one else wanted it.”
Wyatt glared at his father. “I don’t know what your problem is.”
“Simple. I raised you right, so how could you turn out so wrong?” Kenneth asked.
“You shouldn’t mistake different for wrong,” Wyatt said.
“Who says it’s a mistake?” Kenneth replied.
Wyatt grew more frustrated. “The fact is, you never liked Hailey. From day one, you’ve never given her a chance.”
“Why should I? Have you looked at her? The tattoos, the piercings, the blue hair. Not to mention that twisted crap she writes. It’s embarrassing. We’re a wholesome family,” Kenneth explained.
This time, Hailey blew her top. “You know, I’ve held my tongue a long time because you’re Wyatt’s father, but now the gloves are going to come off. You’re nothing but a hypocrite and a bigot. You have a lot of nerve judging me after all the things I’ve heard you’ve been doing behind closed doors—”
That touched a serious nerve. Kenneth wasn’t going to stand for that. “That’s it. Get out of here, and never come back.”
Wyatt stood up for Hailey. “Don’t you dare talk to her like that.”
“You, shut up. I’m doing you a favor. You were normal before you met her. I remember when you used to be a mathlete, and now look at you. It’s her fault. Hailey ruined you,” Kenneth replied.
“No, she accepted me for who I am. The real me. Not the squeaky-clean stiff you want me to be. We just want to be accepted for who we are,” Wyatt said.
Kenneth shook his head. “You’re just as much of a freak as she is.”
Hailey put her hand on Wyatt’s shoulder. “Forget it. Your dad’s a lost cause.”
Wyatt stared into his father’s eyes. “I think you’re right.”
Kenneth scoffed. “I can’t believe you’re taking your girlfriend’s side over your father.”
Wyatt decided to add fuel to the fire. “Oh, and just so you know, she’
s not my girlfriend. Hailey is my fiancée. We’re getting married.”
Kenneth completely lost it. “Over my dead body.”
“You can’t stop us,” Wyatt insisted.
Kenneth glared. “We’ll see about that.”
Just as their standoff was at its most heated, their argument was interrupted by an irate customer.
“Kenneth, I need to have a word with you,” Trudy Carter demanded.
To make things worse, Trudy wasn’t just any old unhappy eighty-two-year-old patron. This retiree had a very specific bone to pick with him.
Kenneth was in no mood to deal with Trudy. “Not now. I’m in the middle of something.”
Trudy wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “I’m your mother. Don’t talk to me that way.”
He corrected her. “Mother-in-law.”
Trudy put her foot down. “I’m going to give you ten seconds to get over here. Do you understand?”
Kenneth sighed, knowing he was about to be on the receiving end of some very unpleasant business.
Chapter Four
Deanna and Amelia watched from afar as the bookstore devolved into ground zero for familial dysfunction. They were happy to be out of the line of fire. At the same time, they were highly curious as to what was being said. It wasn’t like Kenneth and Trudy were trying to keep it secret. They were arguing in plain view of the public.
There was a particular irony in the fact that Kenneth pulled his mother-in-law aside to the Self Help section to calm her down, especially since it had little chance of working. Trudy was a little firecracker. Despite being in her eighties, she had the pluck of someone two decades younger. Make no mistake—even though she was petite, she packed a big punch. Trudy was ready to take no prisoners, and she had her sights squarely set on Kenneth.
Their conversation did not start on the best note. Then again, Kenneth did himself no favors by carrying over his frustration from the previous conversation with his son. Instead of taking a deep breath to calm down, he snapped at his mother-in-law.
“What’s the problem now?” Kenneth asked.
“I have a major complaint.”
“What a surprise.”
“Hold your tongue.”
“I wish you could take that advice, but you never do.”
“Do you talk to all of your customers like that?” Trudy scoffed. “No wonder your store is failing.”
“You’re not a customer, Trudy. Customers buy things,” Kenneth insisted.
Trudy set him straight. “Don’t use that tone with me. I’m your elder. Respect me.”
“Look, this is not the best time.”
“Too bad. I don’t operate on your time, nor do I follow your rules. Instead, I make my own.”
The conversation had just begun, and Kenneth was already fed up. “I don’t need a lecture.”
“Actually, that’s exactly what you need. I have wisdom beyond your years. The fact is, if you had listened to me this whole time, your son wouldn’t have ended up with such a freak for a girlfriend,” Trudy declared.
Kenneth lost his cool. “You listen to me. I don’t care if you’re my mother-in-law. No one comes into my bookstore and tells me off.”
Trudy didn’t back down. “How did my daughter end up with such a numbskull?”
Kenneth tried to shoo his mother-in-law out of the store. “Trudy, I have a business to run. Time for you to leave.”
Trudy put her foot down. “Not until we talk about Ten Shades of Black and Blue.”
Kenneth winced. There wasn’t a book he wanted to talk about less with his mother-in-law. The book was heavy on sadomasochism and tawdry sex scenes. It was also selling like mad. Copies were practically flying off the shelves.
Kenneth had seen some rather unlikely people picking up the book out of fascination. He hoped his octogenarian mother-in-law was not one of them.
“Please tell me you’re not reading that. It would freak me out,” Kenneth said.
Trudy became offended. “Read it? I would do nothing of the sort.”
Kenneth breathed a sigh of relief.
“That book is prurient filth,” Trudy declared.
“I don’t disagree.”
Trudy was outraged. “Then why do you have copies in this store?”
“Because it’s a best seller.”
“I want you to remove all the copies from your shelves. A respectable business would not sell things like that.”
“Are you crazy? No way would I stop selling that book.”
“Why not? You agree that it’s filth.”
“It also happens to be one of the few things that are keeping this store in business. Sales of that book are keeping us afloat at the moment.”
Trudy wasn’t done pleading her case. “But if we don’t have morals, what do we have?”
“Money. And as much of it as possible.”
Trudy was getting nowhere with her son-in-law. She decided to go with a different tack. “Look, I know we’ve had a rocky history.”
“To say the least.”
“You have a chance to do something of value here, to stand up against the debasement of our society. Don’t keep that book on the shelves just to spite me.”
“I’m not going to keep selling the book to spite you. I’m going to do it to stay in business.”
“Fine. I’ll just have Charlotte take the books off the shelves.”
“Oh no you won’t. This is my bookstore. I make the final decisions around here, not Charlotte,” Kenneth insisted.
Trudy shook her head. “After all these years, you’re still a fool. Charlotte deserves so much better than you.”
“That’s it. I’ve heard enough.”
“I’m not done yet. You know, you may have convinced my daughter you’re a good man, but you’ll never fool me. I know you’re rotten to the core.”
By that point, Kenneth couldn’t wait to get his mother-in-law out of the store. “That’s it, Trudy. Your time is up. We’re done. Now, get out of here.”
Kenneth then turned around and walked away.
Trudy stared daggers into his back. “We’re far from done.”
Chapter Five
After back-to-back contentious arguments, Kenneth had a full head of steam. He looked ready to blow at any minute. That was why Deanna’s friend Amelia wanted to be nowhere near him.
Unfortunately, on the way back to the cash register, Kenneth spotted Amelia and approached.
Uh-oh.
This had the makings of a disaster. No one wanted to bear the brunt of someone else’s anger, much less their boss. Trouble seemed unavoidable.
Deanna wished there were something she could do for her friend. She couldn’t think of anything.
Kenneth wasted no time in cutting straight to the point. “Amelia, I’ve been looking for you. I have to talk to you in my office.”
Amelia tried to stall. “Now?”
“Of course now.”
“But I’m with a customer.”
Kenneth gave Deanna a quick glance then turned his attention back to Amelia. “Nice try, but you’re gabbing on company time with a friend, not a customer.”
Deanna grabbed a book from the nearest shelf. “Who says I’m not both?”
Kenneth stared at the book Deanna had just picked up. “Are you a big fan of Simple Microwaving Techniques for the Modern Man?”
Deanna was confused for a moment, then she looked down at the book in her hand. It was a how-to manual for men who couldn’t find their way around the kitchen.
Drats.
Of all the books in the store, what were the odds she’d pick up such an ill-suited one? She had to think on the fly.
“Uh, my boyfriend can’t cook to save his life. I wouldn’t want him to starve if I leave town for a girls’ weekend,” Deanna joked.
“That’s why they invented takeout,” Kenneth replied.
“Still, you should never underestimate the power of a man who knows his way around the kitchen,” Amelia added.<
br />
Kenneth was in no mood to joke around. He put an end to the banter and stared Amelia down. “In my office, now.”
Amelia gulped.
Just as Amelia was about to make her way to Kenneth’s office, she caught an amazing break.
***
“Kenneth, just the man I was looking for,” Victor Wright said.
Considering it was just the midafternoon, it was incredible how many bitter arguments Kenneth had been a part of. Even so, none of them had the explosive potential of the one that seemed to be on deck.
Amelia had told Deanna about Victor previously. He was a clean-shaven, athletic man in his midforties with a handsome face, enough gel in his hair to keep a cosmetics company in business for years, and a fake, slimy grin that would make a used-car salesman proud.
None of that mattered to Kenneth. The important and cringe-worthy detail that set Kenneth off was that Victor was a local land developer. It was funny because despite how well-tailored Victor’s wardrobe was, appearances could only hide his greasiness so much. There was a confidence in him that was beyond cocky, bleeding all the way into swagger.
Usually, Amelia would be repelled by someone like Victor, but his sudden appearance at the store was the only thing keeping her out of her boss’s office at the moment. As a matter of fact, with Kenneth’s focus squarely on Victor, Amelia was able to fade completely into the background with Deanna and just watch the drama unfold.
Kenneth wasted no time with small talk. “Victor, what are you doing here?”
Victor tried to get Kenneth to warm up to him. “I just wanted to see how things are going. It’s good to see you again.”
Victor outstretched his hand, but Kenneth refused to shake it.
Even more, Kenneth became hostile. “For the last time, I’m not selling.”
Victor tried not to be thrown off. He kept up his fake smile. “I wasn’t planning on talking business so soon, but so be it.” He suddenly switched into high-pressure sales mode. “Kenneth, my man, I’m telling you, an offer like this won’t come around again.”
