Sunlight streaming through the open window woke Dahlia the next morning. She checked her watch with bleary eyes, dismayed to see it was after eight. Normally, waking up at eight a.m. on a Saturday morning meant she could sleep for a while longer, but now she was a business owner—at least until she could find someone to take over management of the bookstore. She groaned and swung her legs off the bed. After a quick shower, she had just enough time to stop at the Bluebonnet Café for a chocolate chip muffin and large latte. As she’d heard, the pastry selection was excellent.

She opened the store at nine on the dot. Business was brisk, with weekenders buying beach reads. She perused the operations manual in between customers. At noon, she flipped the sign over on the door to announce she’d be back in half an hour. She had to find someone to run the bookstore for her, so she needed to pay a visit to Adam, the owner of the town newspaper. Since it was Saturday, she wasn’t sure if he’d be in, but she couldn’t put the chore off.

She peered through the windows of the Candle Beach Weekly, but the lights were off, except for what appeared to be a light on in a back room. She was standing on her tiptoes to get a better view when a sound from behind startled her. She lowered herself to standing and turned around.

“Excuse me, can I help you with something?” A man carrying a box of donuts and a copy of The Seattle Times jangled a ring of keys, which he then used to unlock the door.

“Hi.” She followed him inside. “I’m Dahlia, Ruth Wright’s great-niece.”

“Pleased to meet you, I’m Adam Rigg. I own the Candle Beach Weekly.” He placed the donuts and newspaper on his desk before shaking her hand.

She’d assumed the newspaper owner would be older, but with his freckles and tousled, carrot-red hair she felt like she’d just met Dennis the Menace in person. Immediately, she was at ease with him. “You’re much younger than I expected,” she blurted out.

“I get that a lot. It works to my advantage, because people tend to tell me things they wouldn’t divulge to anyone else. It’s like I’m undercover in my own skin.” He waggled his eyebrows devilishly at her and she laughed.

Then she eyed the newspaper pointedly. “A competitor’s paper?”

“We only publish local news. I like to keep up on what’s happening in the rest of the state and the world. What can I do for you?” He offered her the box of donuts and she selected a maple bar. Not much chance she’d have time for a real lunch.

“I’m trying to find someone qualified to manage the bookstore after I go back to Seattle on Monday. Gretchen Roberts mentioned you might be able to help me find someone.”

“Hmm. Did she?” He grinned and his freckled skin flushed. “She does tend to overestimate my talents. No one comes to mind at the moment. It’ll be hard to locate someone on such short notice, but let me think about it.”

Dahlia had hoped for better, but she wasn’t surprised to hear him say he didn’t have a good candidate for her either.

“So you’re only in town until Monday?”

“That was the plan, but it appears I’ll need to stay a little longer to find a new manager for To Be Read.”

“We couldn’t talk you into moving to Candle Beach?”

“No, I don’t think so. Why?” She took another donut out of the box, grabbed a chair from an employee’s desk and settled in with her unhealthy lunch.

“Always good to get some fresh blood in town. Many of us who grew up here have moved to bigger cities, and we could use more young people.”

“Are you a native Candle Beach-ian?” she asked. She couldn’t remember seeing him when she’d visited in the summers.

“Yes, I’ve lived here all my life.” He must have seen her perplexed gaze. “You probably don’t remember me because you came in the summers and I spent most of every summer with my grandparents in Idaho. Grandma was a teacher and had the summers off, so it was the best time to visit them.”

“Ah, that explains it.” The donut stuck to the roof of her mouth. She motioned at the coffee pot across the room. “May I have some?”

“Sure, it’s fresh today, help yourself.”

She poured herself a full cup of coffee and sat back down. She didn’t usually feel so comfortable chatting with strangers, but something about Candle Beach relaxed her and made it a natural act. To be honest, she didn’t have many friends in Seattle either, and it had felt good to converse with her old friend Gretchen and what she hoped was a new friend in Adam.

“So I’m assuming you’ve decided to keep the bookstore for the full year instead of selling it?” he asked.

“Does everyone in town know about the terms of Aunt Ruth’s will?” The gossip mill in this town was amazing.

“It is a small town,” he admitted. “News travels fast.”

“Well, I haven’t decided. I thought I could hang on to it for a year, but without a manager, I don’t know if that will work.” She leaned forward and wrapped her hands around her coffee mug.

“Have you heard about the new Book Warehouse going into downtown Haven Shores?” he asked, referring to the town about thirty minutes south of Candle Beach.

“No,” she said. “What about it?”

“It might be something for you to consider. Bookstore customers might decide to make the drive to Haven Shores for a better selection now. Ruth always did a good job of promoting the store and making it a welcoming place for customers, but the competition could make it difficult to turn a profit by the end of the year.”

Dahlia fell silent. Her trip to Candle Beach had felt like watching a chain of dominoes toppling slowly, one after another. Aunt Ruth’s house was falling apart, she couldn’t find a bookstore manager, and with a new competitor in the area, how would she afford a manager? What was next? If she couldn’t make the bookstore a success, maybe she should sell it if the prospective buyer’s offer was still on the table.

She looked up at the round clock on the wall and stood. “Thanks for your help and advice. I’ve got to get back to the bookstore, but I may be back to pick your brain again in the future.”

“No problem. Let me know if you need anything else while you’re in town.” He held the door open for her. “Please say hi to Gretchen for me if you see her. She hasn’t been around in a while.” He smiled at her as she stepped out onto the sidewalk.

“I will, thanks again.” She hurried off down the street.

* * *

Customers weren’t exactly lining up at the door when Dahlia unlocked the bookstore and flipped the sign around to ‘Open’ again. She retrieved the lawyer’s business card from her purse in the back room and phoned the law office. She found herself pacing the floor between the main part of the bookstore and the storeroom as the phone rang on the other end.

What if business didn’t pick up during the week? There was no way she could turn a profit without an increase in foot traffic. She didn’t have the skills to turn the business around. Selling now could be her best option if the buyer was still interested.

“Hello, law offices of Schmidt, Anders, and James. How may I help you?” the receptionist chirped, jerking Dahlia out of her thoughts.

“Yes, Larry Anders please. This is Dahlia Winters, calling about Ruth Wright’s estate.” She flipped the card between her fingers, creasing the crisp, white paperboard.

Larry’s voice came over the line. “Ms. Winters. How may I help you?”

“I’m here in Candle Beach and I’m having trouble finding a manager for my aunt’s bookstore. To be truthful, this whole thing is a mess.” She took a deep breath. “I’d like to accept the offer on the bookstore and list the house as well. There are a few repairs that need to be made, but I can get a handyman scheduled while I’m in town.”

“Ms. Winters, I’m sorry to say that the offer on the bookstore has been revoked,” Larry said. “I did warn you that it was only valid until five o’clock last Wednesday.”

Dahlia fell silent. If selling the bookstore was no longer an option, she had no choice but to make it profitable. At that moment, she realized she had no idea about To Be Read’s or Aunt Ruth’s financial status.

“Can you please provide me with more information about the bookstore’s finances? And Aunt Ruth’s house needs work. Are there funds to cover that?”

Larry gave her a brief overview of her aunt’s finances and promised to email her a full list of assets. “Please let us know if you’d like us to put you in touch with a real estate agent to list the bookstore. If you decide to sell, you should put the properties on the market soon in case the economy worsens at a later date.”

After promising to call him back with her decision, she hung up the phone. Then she went into Ruth’s office and sank down in the desk chair. Things were worse than she’d thought. While Ruth’s own finances were fairly strong, with enough money to more than adequately fund the house repairs and anything else she needed for the property, she had used Uncle Ed’s pension to subsidize the bookstore losses for years. With a history of losses, finding another potential buyer would be even tougher. Sitting in her aunt’s chair, she closed her eyes, hoping that somehow Ruth’s spirit would tell her what to do.

Before she received any messages from beyond the grave, the bookstore doorbell chimed, alerting her to a potential customer. She rose from the chair, shrugged her shoulders back and walked into the main room. She’d sleep on her decision and call the lawyer back in the morning.