Jane had seen Annie do these things effortlessly for years. She had an instinct, honed over two decades of running the shop, for knowing which customers wanted to talk, which ones were open for recommendations, and which ones just came in to browse in silence. Jane didn’t have a clue about these things. She’d always preferred the company of characters in stories over that of real people. The fact that she was sitting behind the counter in a book shop helped a little, but wouldn’t do her much good when someone asked for a recommendation. She might be the writer in their marriage, but Annie was a million times more well-read than Jane.

She eyed the display of her own books Mia had insisted they put up. Jane had managed to stop her putting a cardboard cutout of herself next to it. That was taking things about a dozen steps too far.

Jane took a deep breath and let some of her anxieties flow away. It was just selling books. A simple transaction. And maybe Annie was right. Maybe she would enjoy it. Even if she didn’t, she definitely liked that she was doing something for her wife. And it wasn’t as if the book she was writing was going anywhere anytime soon.

Jane ambled to the coffee counter. She was drinking too much coffee since the Pink Bean had moved in. She felt more jittery, more alert but not in a pleasant way. She thought she’d try one of those herbal teas they sold.

Mia had barely batted an eyelash when Annie had waved goodbye and left Jane in charge of the shop. Perhaps she deemed it normal that Jane would take over once in a while. Perhaps it was.

Jane ordered a cup of lemon and ginger tea.

“Do you have a minute? I’d like to run something by you,” Mia asked.

Mia had said the exact same thing when she’d suggested building a Jane Quinn shrine in the shop, so her words put the fear of god into Jane. But she could hardly say she was pressed for time.

“Sure.”

“Shall we sit?” Mia gestured at a table. She launched straight into it. “You have a new book coming out next week, right?”

Jane nodded. “Yes, the last one in the Broken Hearts series.”

“How about we have a little book launch party for it? Right here in the shop?”

“Oh, no. That’s a terrible idea.” Jane didn’t see the point in mincing her words.

“It is? Why?” Mia leaned back and sported a rather incredulous expression on her face.