Page 61 of When the Woods Go Silent

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

ROSE

“Rose, quit lurking in the window. You look creepy,” Ruby calls from the next room over. I flush and slink away from the front windows, where I’ve been sneaking glances up and down the street.

It’s technically our soft opening, but I’m beginning to think we went a little too soft.

We’ve had the “Now Open” sign on the sidewalk for two hours now, and not a single person has been by. Well, except for our neighbor Charles, who came by early to raid our display of coffee and donuts.

The bells on the propped-open door jingle, and I look up, hopeful, but it must just be the breeze. It’s fully spring now, and the sweetness of fresh rain and heavy blossoms fills the front room as I take yet another tour of the immaculate bookshelves. The only thing that could make this day more perfect is some damn customers.

Movement on the sidewalk outside catches my eye, and I struggle to keep from running out to the porch and calling the trio of girls inside to browse. Then they actually do turn and head up our stairs, and I hustle back to the little checkout counter. I’m so excited I must not be paying attention, because I trip over something and sprawl flat on the floor just as the girls step into the shop.

Goddamn it, that hurt. Thankfully, Ruby sweeps in and takes over.

“Welcome toUnder the Covers, where it’s always morally gray,” she calls, giving the girls a little welcome spiel to distract them from my chaos, before letting them wander.

“Are you okay?” she hisses as I steady myself on the counter.

“Yeah. I tripped over my own fucking feet, is all.” Then I frown down at my palm, where a streak of blood glistens. “What the hell?”

“Go clean up. Maybe there’s a loose nail or something.” Ruby waves me away hurriedly, and I make my way to the back kitchen office, not wanting to be the awkward bloody store owner who scares away our first customers.

As I wash the scrape and blot it dry, I keep glancing over my shoulder. Obviously, there’s nobody here in the room with me, but embarrassment is making me imagine that there are eyes watching and judging my every move. Feeling like an idiot, I decide the scrape isn’t worth a bandage and hurry back to the counter with a disinfectant wipe. But when I kneel to clean up any stray droplets, I find the floor already clean.

“Thanks, Ruby,” I whisper as she passes by with a few books, heading to one of the girls. She frowns and shrugs, as if to say it’s all nothing. I work on convincing myself of the same thing, and I’m all smiles and normality when the girls bring their books to the counter.

The sales make us a little giddy, and we even take selfies with our very first customers, Ruby getting their social media handles so she can tag them later.

“I hope we didn’t scare them off,” I say, once they’re all out the door and the shop is quiet again.

“Nah. People love that stuff. Ooh, food!” Ruby squeals, and I see a tall, handsome man walking up the stairs, carrying a double stack of white bakery boxes.

“Torrence asked me to deliver these samples to you,” he says with a flirty smile. “He’s busy now, but he said to let him know your favorites and he’ll be happy to cater your grand opening.”

“Oh, yum,” Ruby says, popping open the top box. “These look amazing.”

“You must have made an impression.Goblin Marketdoesn’t do private events,” the delivery guy says, eying the two of us as though he sees a completely different impression.

“Well, maybe he wants to branch out and grow the business,” I suggest with a hand on my hip, wondering why it’s such a big deal. Arlo had seemed pretty against it, too.

The guy just shrugs and turns to go, and Ruby pulls me over to check out the goodies. There’s a huge variety, with about four bites of each item, enough for each of us to taste everything. I marvel at how much work Torrence must have put into this. He’s a mystery, for sure.

“I think he really likes you, Ru,” I say, giving her a teasing jab with my elbow. She giggles and blushes a bit, choosing a flaky pastry with something that looks like spinach baked inside. Another inappropriate moan slips through her mouth just as someone else walks through the door.

“Ruby,” I hiss, bumping my hip against hers as I realize Kier is back.

“Sorry,” she mumbles, covering her mouth with her palm and taking in the gorgeous ginger towering over us now. I hear her swallow hard, and I swallow a snicker.

“Back for your book?” I say, smiling up at him. He smiles back, but it’s a little tight.

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