“It couldn’t possibly be more over and done with. I gave Angie so many chances and, one by one, she screwed them all up.” Lou glanced at Mia from the corner of her eye. “I think I’ll just remain single like you for the foreseeable future.” They arrived at the bookshop and Lou regretted being there already, because it would halt their conversation and she suddenly found she had a lot of things to talk about with Mia.

“Mia and Lou.” There was a strange note in Annie’s voice. She emerged from behind the counter and kissed them both on the cheeks. “My saviors.”

“Does that mean I no longer have to pay for my books?” Mia asked.

“If I don’t have to pay for the five lattes you will serve me every day,” Annie retorted. She seemed more alive to Lou than when she’d last seen her. Like she’d found the spring in her step again. She turned to Lou. “Can you imagine Mia and me in this shop together? I have an inkling half of the Newtown lesbians will take up reading print books again just to impress the cute barista.”

Was that a pang of jealousy Lou detected coursing through her? It wouldn’t surprise her if Mia was the resident heartbreaker of Newtown. She knew very well a lot of lesbians hung out here, and she wasn’t liking the mental image of Mia being hit on by a slew of them.

“Please, Annie. I hope you’re not about to make this deal so you can parade me around for my looks. I can guarantee you’re setting yourself up for major disappointment,” Mia said.

Annie gave Lou a look that Lou deciphered as wanting to say: Can you believe that girl?

“What have you got for me today, Annie?” Mia asked, changing the subject. “Actually, I’ll take one of these as well.” She glanced around the shop. “Ah, there they are.” Mia walked to a shelf in the furthest corner of the shop that had a sticker on it with Lesbian Romance. “Oh yes, the sequel to the one Sheryl lent me.” She turned to Annie. “Now that I’ve started on Jane’s books, I’m not stopping until I’ve gone through them all.”

She brought the book she had picked to the counter. “You really shouldn’t hide those in the corner. You should make a big display of them.”

“You try telling Jane that,” Annie said.

“Maybe I will,” Mia replied.

“Sparks will fly in my old shop. I look forward to it already,” Annie said.

“I would very much like a front row seat when that conversation takes place,” Lou said.