Love Among the Shelves
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Oonagh C. K.
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256K
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31
Chapter 1
GRACE
Snow pressed against the bookstore windows in lazy swirls, each flake catching the pale December light that filtered through Chicago’s gray sky. Inside, the air carried the warmth of cinnamon tea Hannah had brewed and the comforting mustiness of well-loved books.
“Grace, if one more person asks for that ridiculous cookbook, I’m staging a revolt,” Hannah announced from the front window. She was arranging what she’d labeled “Last-Minute Gifts That Won’t Get You Disowned”—her attempt to inject humor into our increasingly desperate holiday sales push.
I glanced up from my laptop, where I’d been pretending to work on inventory instead of staring at overdue invoices. “The celebrity one where he clearly doesn’t know how to boil water, or the one that promises to revolutionize Thanksgiving leftovers with an air fryer?”
“The air fryer masterpiece.” She held up a book with a garish cover featuring what appeared to be a turkey wearing tiny goggles. “Someone actually asked if we had it in hardcover. For the weight, I assume—better as a weapon than a cookbook.”
I managed a laugh, though it felt hollow in my chest. Hannah had this way of finding light in everything, a twenty-year-old optimism that hadn’t yet been ground down by reality. Some days, I envied that innocence.
Today, it felt like looking at who I used to be.
She checked her phone and grabbed her coat from behind the counter. “Mind if I take lunch early? My sister’s meeting me in the Loop, and you know how she gets when I’m late.”
“Go ahead. And bring me back something sweet from that bakery on Clark.”
“The cinnamon bun that’s basically dessert masquerading as breakfast?”
“That’s the one.”
After she left, silence pressed in from all sides. Even Sinatra’s voice from the ancient radio seemed muted, swallowed by the weight of everything I was trying not to think about.
I reached under the counter for the envelope I’d been avoiding all morning, my fingers reluctant to touch what felt like a death sentence.
Payment overdue. Immediate action required.
The numbers at the bottom stared back like a judgment I’d already lost. Twenty-eight years old, and I was already drowning in the dream I’d thought would save me.
This bookstore was supposed to be proof that I could build something lasting, something that mattered. Instead, it felt like standing on cracking ice with nowhere solid left to go.
I shoved the letter back into hiding, as if not seeing it could somehow make it disappear. The bell above the door chimed, saving me from spiraling further into self-pity.
A blast of December air swept in, and I looked up expecting the usual pre-holiday chaos—a frazzled parent, a wandering tourist, maybe someone killing time before lunch.
Instead, a man stepped inside who didn’t quite fit the cozy bookstore aesthetic. He was tall, with dark hair dusted with snow, wearing a charcoal wool coat that had definitely never seen the inside of a department store.
There was something about his presence that commanded attention without trying to.
My first instinct was to look away. My second was to keep watching and hope he didn’t notice.
His gaze met mine for a moment. His eyes were sharp and assessing in a way that made me forget what I’d been typing.
“Can I help you find something?” I asked, proud that my voice came out steady.
“I’m looking for a book,” he said. His voice was low and even—not the tired low of someone at the end of a long day, but the kind that made you want to lean closer to catch every word.
“We have quite a few of those.”
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “It’s called The Clockmaker’s Garden. It’s older, probably out of print.”
I tilted my head. “Not exactly flying off our holiday bestseller table. Any particular reason you’re looking for it now?”
“It was the first book I ever read on my own,” he said, and something in his expression shifted. “I had a copy as a kid, but I lost it.”
The way he said lost it carried more weight than those two words should have.
“I might have it in the back,” I told him. “Give me a minute.”
The truth was, I knew exactly where it was tucked away on my rare-books shelf, gathering dust for months. The cover was worn, the pages yellowed with age, but the whimsical illustrations were still vibrant.
I’d always wondered who would eventually claim it.
When I returned and placed it on the counter, his entire demeanor changed. Not dramatically, but enough that I caught the moment recognition hit—something settling behind his eyes like coming home.
“That’s it,” he said softly. His fingertips brushed the cover as if it might dissolve at too firm a touch.
“It’s a first edition,” I warned. “Which means it’s not cheap.”
He didn’t even flinch at the price on the back. Most people would have walked away or at least hesitated. He simply reached for his wallet.
As I wrapped it carefully, first in protective plastic, then in brown paper, I could feel him watching me. I took extra care with the corners, making sure everything was secure before sliding it across the counter.
“Thank you, Grace,” he said.
I froze. “I…didn’t tell you my name.”
He glanced toward the small sign by the register: Ask for Grace!
“Oh. Right.” Heat crept up my neck. “I forgot about the sign.”
He smiled then, and it transformed his entire face, genuine warmth replacing that earlier intensity.
Then he was gone, the bell jingling in his wake, leaving only a swirl of cold air and the lingering scent of winter.
Hannah appeared from the back room barely thirty seconds later, arms full of returned books. “Okay, who was that devastatingly handsome man I just saw walking out with a purchase?”
“I have no idea.”
She studied my face with the intensity of a detective. “You’re smiling.”
“I’m not smiling.”
“You absolutely are. It’s very suspicious.”
“I’m just…thinking about the cinnamon bun you’ve brought me,” I said, holding out my hand.
“Uh-huh.” She leaned against the counter, handing over a brown paper bag that smelled like heaven. “You should have run after him. Asked for his number.”
“Pretty sure that’s not how customer service works.”
“Could be a new business model. Very personalized retail experience.”
I rolled my eyes and took the bag, the warm cinnamon bun inside already improving my day significantly.
***
By the time I locked up and stepped outside, the sky had deepened to that particular winter blue that comes right before darkness falls completely. My breath formed small clouds in the frigid air, and snow crunched satisfyingly under my boots as I made my way home.
Inside the building, the hallway carried its usual mixture of scents: someone’s burned dinner, Mrs. Kowalski’s lavender perfume, and the faint mustiness that seemed permanent in these old Chicago apartments. I fumbled for my keys while juggling my purse, lukewarm tea, and the bag of cranberry muffins Hannah had insisted I take.
The first thing I saw when I opened my door was the mountain of unopened mail on my kitchen table. Not just a pile—a legitimate mountain of ignored responsibility. Some envelopes looked official and threatening, others were bills wearing thin disguises, and a few were probably Christmas cards from relatives who still thought of me as twelve years old.
I dropped my coat and bag, kicked off my snow-dampened boots, and stared at the paper avalanche. It stared back.
My phone rang before I could decide between tackling the mail or continuing to pretend it didn’t exist. Emily’s photo appeared on the screen—my mother, looking eternally concerned about my life choices.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Grace, honey, you sound tired. Are you eating properly? Sleeping enough?”
How did she know?
“Define properly.”
She sighed in that practiced way mothers perfect over the years. “I’m asking because you always get run down in winter. You should be taking vitamin D supplements. And maybe getting out more. Seeing people.”
“I see people all the time. I run a bookstore.”
“That’s not the same thing, and you know it.”
Her voice softened, and I could hear the familiar clink of dishes in the background; she was probably making her evening tea. “I just don’t want you to be lonely, sweetheart.”
“I’m fine, Mom. Really. How are the preparations for tomorrow’s party going?”
“Oh, the usual Christmas chaos. Mrs. Henderson is convinced the caterer is trying to poison everyone with too much garlic, and your mother keeps threatening to hide in her library until January. You are coming, right?”
“It is tradition.”
“That’s exactly what I told your mother, too. It’s gonna be a lovely time, and who knows, you might meet someone. I have background info on most of them, so the best place to find the best one.”
“Yeah, I don’t know. If the person needs a top-tier lawyer, I don’t think we are quite on the same level.”
We talked for another twenty minutes about neighbors and holiday plans and whether I might come home for New Year’s. I made noncommittal noises about thinking it over.
When I hung up, the apartment felt impossibly quiet. The pile of mail continued its silent judgment from across the room.
I made more tea instead.
