Page 59 of It's a Brewtiful Day
Upon reaching the store, I was surprised it was still closed. Thankfully, I’d brought my keys, and twisting it in the lock, I entered and deactivated the alarm. Locking the door behind me, I skipped up the stairs to the counter. It took all of five seconds to locate my backpack, but finding my phone was different. It wasn’t in my bag, or just lying on the counter, so I picked up the old school landline and dialled my phone, hoping to hear it ring out. My phone was dead air; there still wasn’t cell service so Ihung up.
“Dang it.” I pushed a stack of books aside and found my phone by accident when the book covering it slipped off to the side.
The landline phone rang.
“Pages and Dreams.”
“Sage?”
“Harvey?”
My boss coughed and then cleared his throat. “Glad I got in touch with you; this lack of cell service is chapping my behind.” He coughed again, and I pulled the phone away from my ear. “Sorry ‘bout that. Glad you’re there. Has it been busy?”
“I hope not since I only popped in here to get the bag I’d left behind. I thought you were working today, so I was a little surprised to have unlocked the store.”
“Well… I had planned on it, but I was in the ER last night.”
“Oh my goodness.” A sea of panic filled my veins. “Are you okay?”
He chuckled in his old man voice. “Yeah, fine fine. It was precautionary. I was in a minor fender-bender during that storm. I rear-ended a vehicle that didn’t have functioning brake lights.”
“You’re okay?”
“Fine. Just sore.”
My shoulders sagged as I heard the reassurance in his voice. “That’s a relief, and I’m glad you’re okay.”
“So yeah, I didn’t make it in today. Obviously.”
A figure moving outside the window grabbed my attention, and the second I noticed it was Elliot I dropped to my knees and crawled on the floor, peering around the edge of the counter with the handset pressed to my ear.
“—are you there if you’re not working?”
It took a second to clue in that I was still talking to Harvey, all my attention had been focused on the gorgeous man trying the door and seeing that it was locked. “I, ah, forgot my things, and I wanted to check on the store.” I was worried he’d hit his head, as I was sure I’d told him that already.
“Is there any damage?”
“To what? Oh, right. The store.” I really needed to pay more attention to Harvey.
Elliot was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk, turning his head occasionally toward the store.
“Um, yeah, the awning is torn and will need to be replaced, but everything else seems fine.”
“No floods?” Harvey cleared his throat rather aggressively.
I hadn’t thought to look, but there wasn’t a musty, damp smell when I walked in, just that lovely, aged book scent I craved. “None that I’ve noticed.”
“Fine, that’s fine. Great even.”
Elliot pushed his face to the window, and I pulled back, counting to five before I even dared totake another peek. Before I hit four, I caved and watched as he double-tapped his fist against the window before walking away.
“Pop a sign up of some sort that says we are closed today and tomorrow but we’ll reopen on Saturday morning. I need you to do that please.”
“Absolutely.” But I wasn’t fully listening as my heart was pounding against my ribs.
“I’m going to stay home and rest, but I’ll be in on Sunday to help out. Put on the sign that Sunday will be a twelve to four kind of deal.”
The small-town lifestyle always allowed for a change in hours. The residents understood, especially after last night’s storm.