Tap, tap, tap.

I hit my pen against the counter in a steady rhythm as I hummed a melody that had been stuck in my head for weeks.

It was a sad tune, and I couldn’t figure out why it kept coming to me. I wasn’t depressed, and the worst thing to happen to me lately was moving back home for the summer. Not that my family was terrible. I had just gotten used to a certain level of normalcy while off at college.

Tap, tap, tap.

I didn’t even want to be in the band. But in a string of weird circumstances that started with the original guitarist breaking his arm and ended with my neighbor, Matt, asking me to fill in, I was now officially part of River Valley’s most popular garage band.

They’d been playing gigs at a local bar called Wild Bill’s. A disgusting hole-in-the-wall that now featured a weekly teen night. Anyone who was anyone, and happened to be underage, was there on Thursday nights. The guys were getting more popular every week. People were even coming from other nearby small towns to watch them play. The things you did when you lived in the middle of nowhere.

“Excuse me.” A clipped voice interrupted my humming.

I’d been staring off into space and didn’t even realize we had a customer. I shook my head and looked up. A middle-aged woman stood on the other side of the counter. She planted one hand on her hip as she pressed her lips together tightly.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Obviously.”

“Can I help you find something?”

“I’m looking for a book.”

“Sure.” I got up from the chair that was behind the counter. “What is it?”

She sighed and the irritation that had been evident on her face faded. I could already tell she was one of those customers. “I can’t remember the title, but it’s blue and has red…maybe yellow words on the front.”

“Okay, do you remember anything else? The author? What it’s about?” I asked even though I had a feeling I already knew what book she was looking for. A string of women her age had been in the last couple days snatching it up. This always happened when Oprah featured a new title for her book club.

Thankfully, Mr. Matthews, the owner of this place, paid attention to all that crap and bought a bunch of copies as soon as the new book was announced. He also made sure it was proudly displayed on the wall behind the front counter so everyone who came in would see it. It was ideal for those customers who couldn’t remember the name, or what it looked like.

“I think it’s about a lady whose husband dies, and she’s left to fend for herself.” Wrong. “And the book is her struggle to survive or something.” Closer.

“And it’s blue?”

“Or maybe it was green. I don’t know. Shouldn’t you know what book I’m talking about? Everyone is reading it.”

She had a point. I should know which book she was looking for. I’d even read it. I took a deep breath and scrunched my face. All part of an exaggerated show, so she could see just how hard I was trying to help her. I even put a single finger to my lips. But when I looked off to the side of the store pretending to rack my brain for the title of the book she so desperately wanted, I spotted my sister.

Always so serious, she was giving me a stern look. This wasn’t the first time she’d caught me giving a customer a hard time.

Fine.

“I have a thought.” I smiled while grabbing the red book from the shelf behind me. “We had a few lovely ladies in yesterday, and they all bought this. Could it be the one you’re looking for?”

“Yes.” Her smile was sheepish. “But I could have sworn it was blue.”

“Happens to the best of us,” I said, before I rang up her purchase.

I quickly put her book in a bag and wished her a wonderful day as she left. As soon as the woman walked away, Sarah took her spot in front of the counter.

“It’s not nice to mess with people like that,” she said, still with the grim expression of her face.

“Oh, come on, I was about to grab it for her when I saw you. Besides, it’s so slow. I haven’t seen another human being in hours. I’m starving for the interaction.”

“You like the quiet.”

“I do,” I said with a wink.

“You’re impossible.”

“But you love me.”

“Yes, Rainier, I do. But only because someone has to.”

“Whatever.” I sat back down in my chair. “What’s up?”

“Not much, just shopping for a new bra and–”

“GA!” I interrupted. Why Sarah thought her brother wanted to hear about underwear shopping was beyond me.

She rolled her eyes. “I was shopping and thought I’d bring you a pretzel from the food court because I’m the best sister ever.”

“You’re my only sister.”

“Which is exactly why we need to stick together,” she said shoving a small bag into my hand. “Anyway, I gotta go to work. Just thought I’d stop by and say hi.”

“You really are the best though.”

“I know,” she said, already walking out of the small store. “No more torturing the customers.”

“I make no promises,” I answered, but she was out into the main walkway of the mall and didn’t hear me. Which was fine, I was ready to dig into my weak lunch. I’d forgotten to bring something, and Jenny hadn’t shown up to work yet.

It wasn’t like her to be late. She was my favorite person to work with, not that there were many employees at Between The Pages. The bookstore was usually pretty slow, so it gave us a bunch of time to goof off or read. We’d been working together off and on for the last couple years. It had given us plenty of time to fall into a comfortable work relationship.

I had a mouthful of pretzel when I saw a customer turning into the store. I chewed as quickly as I could and swallowed a bite that was too big, the kind that hurt the entire way down your esophagus. Eating in front of the customers was something Mr. Matthews frowned upon.

When the girl looked up, I realized it was Michelle, the boss’ daughter. I hastily set my pretzel aside and sat up straight in my chair. Whatever reason she was here, I knew it couldn’t be good. Of all days, why did Jenny have to be running late today? If she were here, I would disappear while she took care of it.

I forced a smile on my face. “Hi, Michelle. Can I help you with something?”

“You could talk some sense into my dad.” The grin on her face was equally forced. Her long dark hair was lying flat against her shoulders. Her skin was red like she’d been out in the sun for too long, and she was wearing a black shirt and khaki shorts. It was the same thing I was wearing.

The basic uniform for Between The Pages.

Tap, tap, tap.

This time, my tapping had nothing to do with the song I’d been humming earlier. “Why are you here, Michelle?” I asked slowly.

“Surprise, I’m your co-worker today.” The fake smile was still plastered on her face. She looked about as comfortable as I felt. This was not happening.

I hadn’t gone to school with Michelle. But after working for her father for the last couple years and hearing stories about her from Jenny, I didn’t think I wanted to know anything beyond her name.

She came behind the counter and pushed some papers over to set her designer purse down. Unfortunately, the pretzel I had shoved out of the way was with the papers and went falling to the floor. It wouldn’t have been so bad except the five-second rule wasn’t meant for pretzels covered in melted butter touching carpeted floors that were never vacuumed.

When I got out of my chair to clean up the mess, Michelle took the opportunity to sit down in my chair. If she noticed my food on the floor, she didn’t say anything. In fact, she didn’t say anything while she pouted in my seat.

By the time I’d cleaned up the pretzel and some other little messes I had on the counter, she’d pulled a magazine from the display rack near the register. She was flipping through the pages too quickly to be reading any of them. When she was done, she grabbed another.

Eventually, she put that one back and pulled out her phone. I watched her finger move across the screen as quickly as she turned pages, and I wondered if she was skimming everything she saw there too. I didn’t dare ask.

Instead, I put books away, took care of customers, and stayed out of Michelle’s way all while praying this was a one-time deal.