Page 4 of Under Daddy's Spell

“They say a picture is worth a thousand words,” she uttered, as she took a picture of the cover and copyright page ofGreat Expectationsthen sent it to him. She almost left it at that, hoping to spike his curiosity enough for him to call, but dashed off an explanatory text just in case.

A man sold me this pristine-condition first edition and a whole boxful of others. You won’t believe what’s in here, Dad. Call me when you get this.

Feeling like a kid at Christmas, Tessa wanted to discover what other treasures her meager dollar had bought, but the bell jingled, and three customers walked in.

She quickly repacked her treasures and slid the box under the register counter as she greeted them.

“Good afternoon, ladies. What can I help you with today?”

“Caffeine, stat! It’s been one helluva day,” one exclaimed, the other two nodding in agreement. They looked in their late teens, one with a knapsack over her shoulder. College students, she suspected.

Relaxing with an espresso after noon would have the opposite effect on Tessa and keep her up half the night. But maybe it was exam week, and that’s what they were going for.

“Can you be a little more specific?” Tessa crossed the front of the store to the coffee bar. She waved at the menu board. “We’ve got hot and iced coffee, blended drinks, flavored tea, and smoothies. Name your poison.”

“Three white-mocha lattes,” the same girl said, ordering for all of them.

“But with extra chocolate shavings, please,” a pixyish blonde chimed in.

“And extra whipped cream,” the reed-slender redhead added.

“Coming right up. Feel free to look around while you wait. If you find something interesting, you can sample a chapter or two while you sip at the tables.”

They made a beeline, as expected, for the romance sections.

While she didn’t have Angie’s flare with whipped cream, shavings, and drizzles, she got by. But even the noisy bean grinder was drowned out by more banging and drilling and what sounded like an electric saw coming from next door.

The girls emerged from the aisles.

“Can we get those to go?” the group's spokesperson shouted. “It’s too loud to think, let alone read in here.”

“Of course,” she said, grabbing lids for their drinks and then ringing them up.

As they scurried out the door, Tessa glared at the wall through which she could still hear a deafening cacophony of construction equipment.

“Whatever is going on over there, I sure hope it doesn’t take long.”

More customers came in and left quickly, without buying a thing, chased away by the racket. Tessa had to wait until Kayla arrived at four to go next door and find out what was happening.

Unfortunately, she ended with little more information than when she started. There was a construction crew knocking down walls and essentially gutting the space next to her. The foreman she spoke to said they were hired for demo only, and none of the guys on his crew knew the plan once it was done.

When she left, she scanned the windows for a coming-soon sign but saw only that a permit was on file with the city.

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