“At first, I couldn’t believe it was Jane Quinn you were talking about,” Amber said.

“Are you keen on reading some spicy lesbian romance then?” Caitlin said in a teasing tone.

“Aren’t you?” Amber retorted. “Or is that not intellectual enough for you?”

“I’ve read a few,” Caitlin admitted.

“I haven’t,” Sheryl said, “but I’ve bought a couple and I will rectify the situation as soon as possible.” Sheryl looked at Lou again.

“I couldn’t possibly read any of her books. Annie is a friend of my mother’s. It’s just all too… weird for me.”

“Oh come on, Lou,” Caitlin said. “You’re missing out. Put that thought out of your head at once.”

“I can’t. She’s like an aunt to me. It’s simply impossible.”

They all chuckled.

“Ah, Mia, tell us, have you read any of Jane Quinn’s books?”

Lou had taken her eye off the hallway entrance and hadn’t seen Mia arrive.

“I tried,” Mia said. “I really did, but I’ve known Annie for such a long time and I kept seeing her as one of the characters and I just couldn’t get over that. It was awkward when I went back to the shop, you know.” She smiled at Lou; Lou smiled back.

“So what are you saying?” Sheryl said, on a roll as usual. “If I were to write a lesbian romance, you would refuse to read it because you’d mistakenly cast me and Kristin in the roles of the characters? That’s just ridiculous. Where’s your imagination?”

“I just gave them almost the same reason, on account of Annie being a long-time family friend,” Lou said to Mia. “They refuse to accept it, even though Sheryl has the audacity to judge us without having read any of the books herself. I think she believes romance to be beneath her.”

Mia’s eyes narrowed. Perhaps she wasn’t expecting Lou to give Sheryl lip like that. Lou hadn’t been expecting it either, but this group of people just made her feel good about herself—made her able to be herself around them. And then, with Mia’s narrowed eyes on her, with her smile crooked like that, and her dark hair falling into her eyes, and her hand quickly swooping it away, a flash of the dream she’d had last night came back to her. The other person in the dream who had made her feel so good. It was Mia. Lou quickly took a few sips from her drink to wash away the unsettling feeling that came over her.

Mia looked away, and said to Sheryl, “I would read every word of romance you ever write without qualms, boss. Just make sure none of your characters wear vests every day.”