Page 2 of Snowflakes and Sparks

“Of course, I’ll be right there.”

I turned to Dean with a big smile on my face. “Kate just asked me to talk about an opportunity with her.”

“She’s so going to give you that promotion,” he said. His eyes were twinkling with expectation. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve forgotten how to breathe. I can’t believe it’s finally happening. I knew that Linda was about to retire, but I never thought it would happen this fast. Wasn’t she supposed to stay on until February?”

“Oh, honey, what does it matter? The important thing is that you’re getting her job.”

I took a deep breath. “How does my hair look? Do I have any stains on my shirt?”

Dean placed his hands on my shoulders. “Relax. You look perfectly fine, as always. You can do this.”

“You’re right. I have to stay calm. I’ve got this.”

“Now go before she thinks you don’t care about being promoted,” Dean said and ushered me toward the stairs leading to the store’s offices.

“I’m buying you drinks at the Velvet Straw tonight to celebrate, okay?” I said, grinning.

Dean gave me a thumbs up. “You’re on.”

I counted to three before descending the stairs. Kate’s door was left ajar and I gave it a gentle knock.

“Come in.”

I swung the door open, then closed it behind me, nerves racing through me.

“Take a seat,” Kate said, not taking her eyes off her computer screen. “You’d think they’d make these ordering systems easy. I can’t get rid of this list of books I selected by accident. No matter where I click, the column won’t budge. What if we end up with five hundred of these in all of our stores? Nobody will want to buy a book with a butt-ugly cover like this,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

I got up and went over to her side of the desk. “May I?”

“Please. If you know of a way to get them removed from the order list, I’d be thrilled.”

After a few clicks, I had deleted the books from the ordering system. “There you go. All fixed. Now you won’t ever have to look at those covers again.”

I walked back to the other side of the desk, seating myself in one of the comfy plush chairs opposite my boss. “Thank you, Suzie. This is the exact reason why I wanted to discuss this opportunity with you. I need someone who’s hands on, knows the systems, is good with customers and isn’t afraid to take the initiative.”

I nodded. “I can absolutely relate to all of those things.”

“I’ll be honest with you. Managing a big national book chain isn’t always easy, but I love the fact that I have fantastic employees like you to help me build this chain into the best in the country.”

“I’m pretty sure we’re high up the ladder already,” I said. Got It Covered was an innovative and classy bookstore – at least that’s what theL.A. Timeshad called it multiple times before. Our stores had a luxurious yet homey feel to them, and our L.A. branch hosted a lot of exclusive book signings with famous authors and celebrities. Apart from books, we also offered e-readers, stationery and a bespoke line of gorgeous accessories like literary-themed mugs and posters. Like our billboards stated, we were every book lover’s dream.

“We’re doing great, but I like to keep my feet on the ground,” Kate said. “Things can change overnight in this industry, so we need to stay on top of things. Having an immaculate reputation is wonderful, but we need to keep the momentum going. Expansion and innovation are two key factors I want to focus on.”

I nodded. “Absolutely.”

“How would you like to be store manager, Suzie?” she asked me.

I fist-pumped the air before realizing that might be inappropriate. “It would be a dream come true.”

Kate sighed and leaned back in her chair. “You can’t believe how happy I am to hear you say that. It’s bad enough that one of our employees died. I wouldn’t know what to do if you’d said no.”

A pit formed in my stomach. “Linda is dead? But I just saw her this morning.”

I wondered what could’ve possibly happened to her between nine a.m. and now that had killed her.

“Linda?” Kate frowned. “She’s still alive and kicking, don’t you worry about her. Linda is a tough cookie. I’m talking about…” She let her gaze wander over a letter on her desk. “Claire. Yes. Claire Wilson from our store in Old Pine Cove. Poor thing died in a skiing accident.”

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