We locked gazes, hers strangely intense as she replied softly, “Everyone has asked that, and I just tell them that it’s time, but the truth is, I’m not sure. Time for what? My sister lives in Australia, and she thinks I’m wasting what’s left of my life in a small village where I can’t meet anyone. She wants me out there with her. She thinks I can’t move on from Arthur if I stay here. I’m not sure she’s right. But I’m not sure she’s wrong.”

Sympathy ached in my chest as we stood quietly for a moment. Then I asked, “Are you happy here, Penny?”

Her sigh was heavy, weighed down. “With the business, aye. And I love the people, my friends . . . but I think . . .” She trailed off, lowering her gaze.

“You think?”

Her small smile was chagrined. “Maybe I am lonely.” Her eyes widened as soon as the words were out of her mouth, and she suddenly gave a bark of confused laughter. “Now how did I end up telling you that?”

My answering smile was kind. “Because maybe you needed someone to tell.” I stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on Penny’s shoulder. “Follow your gut. I followed mine here and I already know it’s the best decision I’ve made in years.”

•   •   •

After lunch I began working on my new display. I moved everything from the top shelves of the front-facing bookcase to the two bottom shelves, and then took out the copies of Shakespeare that Penny had in stock. There were a few more copies of his completed works in the storeroom, so I brought those out too. She had multiple copies of Much Ado About Nothing, which made sense since the store name was clearly inspired by it.

For a while I stared at what I had, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with this display.

Flicking through plays to pull out quotes, I realized that I’d only ever read Much Ado About Nothing once, and before I knew it, I was standing in front of the bookcase, engrossed in the play. I decided Hero was an awesome name for a little girl, but that Shakespeare did her a disservice by matching her with Claudio in the end. Claudio believed the deception of Don John and Borachio, who convinced everyone that Hero had had sex with another guy before her wedding to Claudio. Claudio humiliated her at the altar, her family convinced everyone she died of shock and grief, and when her innocence was finally proven, they forced a devastated Claudio to marry her “cousin,” only for her cousin to be revealed as Hero. And they lived happily ever after.