Page 157 of Safe With You

I rolled my eyes.

“Drive safe.”

“You lock up.”

With one last wave to Mila, Naomi headed out the front door, the bell chiming softly behind her. Without her voice filling the space, the bookstore settled into the quiet that usually came just before closing.

The woman in romance eventually brought two books to the counter. I rang her up, thanked her for coming in, and watched as she disappeared into the evening.

When the front door closed behind her, I reached over and flipped the sign.

CLOSED.

For a second, nobody said anything.

Behind me, I heard the scrape of a chair.

“I’ll wake her.”

I glanced toward the reading nook.

Mila was fast asleep with an open picture book resting across her lap.

I smiled.

“I think she’s earned five more minutes.”

Ellis looked over at her before looking back at me.

“I think you’re probably right.”

With the last customer gone and Mila asleep in the reading nook, the bookstore was finally still. The music continued softly overhead while headlights passed beyond the front windows.

I reached for the register drawer.

“I’ve got to count this down.”

Ellis was already walking toward the cart of books we’d abandoned earlier.

“What do you need me to do?”

I looked up.

“I didn’t ask you to stay.”

“You’ve already helped enough.”

“I know.”

He said it with the same easy certainty as before, already reaching for the cart.

I studied him for a second before handing him the stack of returns sitting beside the register.

“The blue cart first,” I said. “Everything on top goes back to fiction.”

He gave me a small salute. “Yes, ma’am.”

I laughed, shaking my head as I turned back to the register.