Chapter Three
Becca’s day was off to a crappy start. She’d had a surprise reunion with Brad, her car needed a new bumper, and she was sure any minute then, she’d be getting a text from the guy she hit with a quote for a gazillion dollars to fix his car. She had no extra money and she knew she was screwed. But, she also had no time to feel sorry for herself. She’d dropped the groceries on the counter at home and took off for work before her mom or dad caught sight of her car. It was her problem and she would deal with it. She was certainly too old for a lecture from her parents.
While Becca sat in her car in front of the book store, a/c blasting, she flipped through Instagram on her phone. She only had another minute or so left on her ten-minute break, which was just long enough to check how many likes her last post had received. Only thirty-two. She scrutinized the picture. It was a pretty butterfly checking out her mom’s rose bush earlier that morning. She thought it was cute at the time but it was kind of boring now that she looked at it again. It wasn’t like she had a cute dog or a funny-acting cat she could post pics of though.
Becca had thought she was done with all the pretending when she moved back home to Snowy Ridge. When she was still married to Todd, and they were living in sunny California, she put on the biggest, best show via Facebook. She posted daily snaps of herself all around Los Angeles, looking like she was having the time of her life. Sipping a green smoothie in front of a pricey juice bar, wearing expensive sun glasses. (The smoothie, homemade and placed in a washed out plastic cup, and the sunglasses borrowed from a friend.) Or, strutting around in Louis Vutton’s (knock offs and strolling only while in the store). If she happened by an upscale event, she got as close as she could without getting screamed at and took a quick selfie. #timeofmylife And she adored a good beach shot of her toes as the waves rolled over them. Like, “look at me, I’m so carefree I can be at the beach at two o’clock in the afternoon on a Wednesday.” Never mind that she should have been looking for work. Todd’s meager salary sure didn’t cut it. The two of them existed on bags of potatoes, just $1.99 for a ten-pounder at the discount mart, and dollar store spaghetti sauce and pasta. Most of his checks went to pay the rent on their pricey one-bedroom apartment in San Pedro. They didn’t exactly live in the best of neighborhoods but it was what they could afford while living close enough for Todd to still commute to work.
Becca disabled her Facebook account when she and Todd divorced. She couldn’t stand to see his posts as he began dating again. And thoughts of their friends and family seeing it too, was horrifying. She was completely humiliated. She had to shut down Facebook to save her sanity. But then, somehow, she’d found herself spending too much time on Instagram and with a whole new agenda: making Snowy Ridge, and her new life there, seem like the coziest, most idyllic, warm, small-town wonderland any person had ever crossed. Which, it really was a nice place to live and all, but, her life wasn’t exactly all hot cocoas in front of the fireplace and carefully placed skis against a wood cabin in a light snow drift as her Instagram account would have you believe. Same shit, different social media platform. She was sorta pathetic.
Back inside the store, Becca carefully stacked the four, thick hard-cover books on the white lace that she had draped on the small end table. She readjusted her medium iced Mocha from MoonBeans and dropped a few white coneflowers, that she picked early that morning, pre- dramatic events, in front of it. Perfect. She snapped a pic and uploaded to her Instagram, choosing the Mayfair filter. She typed, “I love my job! #bookstagram #booksellerslife.”
“Becca?” Fran, the owner of Novel Idea, called out.
Becca heard her approaching and quickly shoved the lace and flowers into a nearby trash can. “Yes?” Becca rubbed her palms on her jeans. There had been a bit of caramel on the edge of the garbage can and naturally she’d stuck her hand right into it.
“Are you done arranging the James Patterson display?” Fran, a pretty, petite white-haired woman in her late sixties, looked at her expectantly.
Becca’s eyes scanned the nearby cart. She didn’t see the Patterson books. Shoot. They must still be in the back. “Just about,” she replied.
“Great, when you’re done, meet me in Historical Fiction. We have to overhaul the whole area and my back is aching something awful today. I’m afraid you’ll have to do all the heavy work.”
“Of course, no problem. I’ll be there soon.”
Fran walked away, rubbing her back as she stretched.
When Fran was completely out of sight, Becca pushed the cart through the aisles toward the back to retrieve the missing books. So, this wasn’t exactly a #booksellerslife she was leading but it’s not like there was a hashtag for minimum wage stock girl romanticizing entry-level help now was there? Or maybe there was? She sure wasn’t going to find out. She’d rather things in her life look rosier than they were. She hated people feeling sorry for her. But the low pay she made at Novel Idea wasn’t helping her get the life she wanted. Which was why she was starting her new second job at Starlight Pub that afternoon. And bonus, she got to work with her good friend, Luci Foster.
Becca and Luci had been close friends all through high school but then started to drift after graduation, which naturally happened with most of their large group of friends. Luci still attended her and Todd’s wedding and they kept tabs on each other via Facebook for a few years. But the distance between them when Luci moved to the east coast and Becca moved to the west coast made their contact far and few in-between. Never mind that loser ex-husband of hers had told her an elaborate story about him and Luci that made Becca go temporarily insane. She’d contacted Luci on Facebook and chewed her out good. Of course, Todd was a big liar and had made the whole story up. Becca had felt like such a giant idiot for ever believing him. It was really awkward when her and Luci first met up after Becca returned to Snowy Ridge.
Becca had been so happy when her mom had first mentioned that Luci was also living back in town. She wanted to rush right over to her house and see her old friend, to catch up and reminisce about the old days. But then she flashed to all the awful things she had said to Luci, the terrible names she had called her and the accusations she’d flung, and she didn’t know what to do. She finally decided that the two would eventually run into each other at some point so she would just find Luci and talk to her. She would explain that she had been an idiot and apologize. That ended up being minorly difficult as Luci must have also heard Becca was in town and was dodging her. Becca didn’t blame her. She would have dodged herself too if the roles had been reversed. But the two women finally talked and made up and Luci had quickly become one of her dearest friends again. And Becca was so excited that she was going to be working with her now, too. It would be like old times.
Becca had finished the Patterson display and put the finishing touches on Historical Fiction. She glanced at her watch and saw it was about time to punch out at the bookstore. “On to job number two,” she said out loud to herself. Working two jobs might prove to be an exhausting summer for her but she knew it would all be worth it in the end. She was going to get her life together and show everyone that she could stand up on her own two feet, without Todd and without her parents.