Page 1 of The Luck of Finding You
1
PRESENT DAY—TALLY
Very few things make me as happy as a cloudy, cool day in fall. Technically, the start of fall isn’t for a couple of weeks since it’s still early September. The leaves on the trees outside The Book Shop are starting to turn already, and the crisp morning air makes me smile. I’ve got a small pumpkin under one arm, and I’m wearing a light cable-knit sweater, even though I know I’ll regret that choice by noon.
The familiar click of my heels on the pavement also calms me. I take in the trees and breathe in the morning air. I normally hate mornings, but once that autumn air hits, everything changes for me. My older sister, Holly, says autumn is the only time of year that I smile, and she might be right. I used to be the most optimistic person I knew. But after the end of my senior year, when it felt like the universe pulled the rug out from under me, everything changed. And even though that was five years ago, the only time I feel like myself is in fall.
The cowbell above the door clangs as I open it. I don’t lock the door behind me, because Olivia, the thirty-year-old who also works here part time, is opening with me today and will be here to cover the register while I’m in my meeting. But I push that thought away, pausing like I do every morning to take in the space.
The Book Shop has been a staple on Center Street in Provo for the past thirty years. We sell only used books, something that Marsha was always adamant about. I let out a short breath, remembering why I’m still standing at the door. I’m waiting to hear her footsteps upstairs, waiting for the door at the far back of the store to open, for Marsha to be standing there, having just come from her small upstairs apartment.
But she won’t come down today or ever again. She’s been gone for three weeks, and before then, I’d forgotten how much it hurts to lose someone you love. There’s another hole in my heart. One for my mom, and one for Marsha. Marsha was the first person who took me in after Mom died, right after I graduated from high school.
“Just open the shop,” I mutter to myself, pushing the memories away. It’s too much to think about Marsha and Mom today.
I move through my opening routine. The street outside is slowly starting to wake as the bike shop across the street opens and people walk by on their way to work. I flip on the lights and start the hot chocolate machine. Marsha had been serving hot chocolate instead of coffee at the shop since she opened the doors all those years ago. Her favorite thing was to tell customers that they could get coffee at any bookstore, but The Book Shop was different.
Plus, she hated coffee, so I don’t think anything would have made her switch to selling it. I was wary at first, but I’ve come to love having a morning cup of hot chocolate.
I turn on the ancient computer that we use for sales. Olivia has been mentioning for months that we need to replace it. She’s right, of course, but there just isn’t money to update our systems, so we have to make it work. Even if it will take the next forty-five minutes for it to actually start running. The familiar hum of the monitor calms my nerves.
I grab my favorite mug, purple and blue and covered with Michael Scott’s face. Marsha got it for me that first Christmas I worked here because she knew how much I loveThe Office.I stick the mug under the hot chocolate machine, sighing as the aroma of steaming chocolate hits me.
The bell over the door chimes. “Morning!” Olivia calls to me. I wave in greeting but don’t turn to look at her. We’re co-workers, acquaintances, not really friends, and I need some hot chocolate in me before I have an actual conversation. Some people need coffee in the mornings, I need hot chocolate. Olivia’s worked here long enough that she knows this. She heads to the back of the store, where there is a small hallway leading to our tiny office that doubles as our break room. There’s a new box of books someone dropped off last night that I left in there. She can start cataloging them while I finish my opening routine.
Once my hot chocolate is ready, I take my steaming mug and a random book to the plush red sofa in the far corner of the store, opposite the office. Customers use it occasionally, but it’s become my favorite spot the past few weeks. I tuck my legs under myself and pull out my phone. My heart beats a little faster at the1icon hovering over the Twitter app.
I have one new message.
From Mo. Which is perfect, because I need our morning chat today more than ever.
Mo and I started messaging each other about two years ago, when he found my raving review about one of Simone Sorrows’s books on my book blog. On the online world, I go by my middle name, Nora, after Nora Ephron. My mom was obsessed with her and all things romance. Dad vetoed it being my first name, but as a romance reviewer online, it works as my alias.
I smile and open the message from Mo. Mo is the name of the main character from Simone’s current fantasy romance series, the book that brought us together. I’m about eighty percent sure that it’s not his real name, and even though we know a lot about each other, neither of us has ever asked whether or not we use our real names online.
MoReads:Morning! Aren’t Mondays just the best? Also, have you seen this?? >
I gasp and click on the link, quickly reading through the article. As a book blogger, I’m sometimes on the in for big announcements like this. I’ve emailed Simone’s publicist several times to offer to help with book launches or reviews but with no response. This is a surprise.
Excitement fills my body as I read the news. “No way!” I shout.
Olivia pops her head out of the hallway. “You say something?”
“Just talking to myself,” I tell her, not looking up from my phone. Simone’s new book will be out in three weeks, and the last book in the series will be out next year.
TheNoraReview:WHAT!? NO WAY!!!
Also, Mondays are not the best. Especially when you have work meetings. But this news does make it a little better.
It’s not completely a lie. I do have a meeting today, and it’s likely about the shop. One week ago, a Mr. Thorne, Marsha’s lawyer, reached out to me and said that my presence was required at the reading of Marsha’s will. That is where I have to go at one today. But I’m trying not to think about it.
I fidget in my seat as I wait for Mo’s reply, wanting to jump up and scream and dance. That’s when I notice that Simone is doing a book tour along with the release. I click on the event days and times, knowing that there’s no way she’ll visit anywhere close to me since big authors rarely seem to come to Utah.
“No way!” I say again, quickly tapping to purchase tickets to the event that’s a month away in St. George. It’s only a four-hour drive, so I can definitely make the trip. It’s on a Saturday, but Olivia can probably cover the shop. “Hey, Olivia?”
“Yeah?” Olivia calls from the office.
“Could you come here a second?” I say, distracted because my phone vibrates in my hand.
