“Feel free. You have the run of the place. Not many people come here this time of the morning.”

She nodded slightly and then started walking around the store, slowly running her hands across the books on the shelves. Occasionally, she would pick one up, thumb through it and then set it back on the shelf. Julie noticed that she was mostly looking at fiction books.

“What genre do you read?”

“What?” the woman asked, turning around as if she was slightly startled.

“Oh. I was just asking what genre you read. Maybe I could suggest something?”

“Mostly women’s fiction. I like really emotional stories about strong women.”

Julie smiled. “Well, a lot of people recommend this author named Charlotte McLemore. We have a table full of her books over there.”

The woman turned and looked at the table, reaching down to pick up one of the books. “Do you have a particular one that you recommend?”

Julie smiled shyly. “I have to say that I haven’t really read any of them. Well, I started one last night because my partner here at the bookstore has been bugging me about it. The author is supposed to be coming here soon for a book signing.”

“Oh? So you haven’t read any of the books yet?”

“No. I tried to start one last night, but in all honesty I felt like it was a little slow.”

“Slow?”

“Yes, and I’m never telling my friend because she won’t leave me alone about it. I’m going to try to read it again on my lunch break today.”

“So you didn’t like it?”

“I can’t really say that because I don’t know. I only read the first page.”

The woman chuckled. “How can you tell anything about a book from the first page?”

Julie leaned against the front counter and crossed her arms. “I just feel like a book should be able to grab you from the very beginning. And the first page was pretty slow. I fell asleep.”

“You’re not doing a very good sales job,” the woman said, laughing.

“Sorry. Everyone loves those books, so I’m sure it’s just me.”

“I might give one a try. But I saw a different one over here that looked interesting from another author. I think I’ll look through that one a little bit first.”

“Would you care for a cup of coffee or a muffin?”

Her eyebrows raised. “I would love a cup! What kind of muffins do you have?”

“Well, I have chocolate, blueberry and apple cinnamon. My mom owns the bakery down the street, and she provides them to us.”

“I’ll take a blueberry muffin.”

She walked over and sat down at one of the tables and started looking through the book she had picked up.

Julie finished pouring the coffee and put the muffin on a small white plate before taking it to the table.

“So, is this your first time in Seagrove?”

The woman looked up at her. “It is. Very cute little town.”