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I smiled. “And you also have more than several. How long have you been doing this?”
“Five years.”
“That’s nice.” I extended my free hand. “I’m Robert Kilgore, by the way.”
She didn’t take it. “I know.”
“You know?” I asked and blinked at her for a beat before it all clicked into clarity. It had been years since high school, but the heart-shaped face was unmistakable, just more mature and somehow more angled. I recognized the eyes too, although this version was older and better than when I’d last saw her. Adulthood had been kind to Anya,very kind... “Anya Post? I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you at first.”
Anya raised her eyebrow and stepped forward as if to move past me. “That’s me. Now, is there something I can help you with?”
“No, I—”
“If you don’t mind, we need to leave the vault. Gwen doesn’t like to have it open for long because she doesn’t want the books exposed to the elements.”
“Certainly,” I replied.And what a fantastic idea. Probably helps generate some good sales each year.
Still a little mystified, I followed Anya out of the small room. She carefully closed the door behind us, locked the vault door, and brushed her hands on her wide-leg jeans. “What brings you to The Green Frog?”
“Just...I thought I would stop by and check it out. I haven’t seen the place in years.”
Her expression was unreadable, but she started walking to the front showroom, and I followed her once more. “Well, as you can see, we’re still here.”
“That’s admirable. The store has been open, what? Forty years?”
“Something like that.”
We were back in the main area now, and I glanced around, taking in various tables piled high with multicolored romance novels, the long shelf of YA novels, a manga section, coffee table books, and more. The displays were haphazard and cluttered, but there was a certain comfort that came from that. This store had been here a long time, and while that showed in almost every crevice, I suspected patrons were pleased that nothing much changed from year to year. They knew what they were getting with The Green Frog, and I bet they relished that.
“Must be nice,” I mused, mostly to myself.
“What?”
Shaking my head at having said those words aloud, I turned back to her. “Just that the store has managed to hang on. That’s a major feat.”
“I guess it is.” She wandered over to the cash wrap desk and stepped behind it as if to put a line of defense, between herself and me.Why does she seem like she’s on edge?Sure, we hadn’t run in the same circles in high school, but I didn’t have a bad impression of her. “But business is always changing, and so is this community.”
Something about her tone made my stomach twist. Finally, I understood her hidden meaning. “You’re talking about the store I’m opening downtown.”
“I heard you took over the old bakery space.”
“Word travels fast in New Burlington, doesn’t it?” I laughed to myself. “I guess that hasn’t changed either.”
“It’s not just gossip. I drove by the other day when I was on my way to the post office, and I saw you had the lights on and all kinds of crews hustling in and out.”
“We’ve been working hard,” I admitted. “And it’s not only going to be a bookstore.”
She raised her eyebrow.
“It’s going to be a bourbon bar too. And maybe a restaurant.”
“Bourbon and books. How impressive.” But she didn’t sound impressed. She sounded annoyed. Skeptical. Disgusted, even.Maybe she doesn’t understand how great this idea is.
“I figure readers want something more than just—”
“What? Books?”
I nodded.
