Faye walked into the used book store and relished in the earthy smell of the aged volumes. Today, she was on the hunt for particularly weathered books, ones with mold-eaten covers and weak bindings that could be easily fixed and flipped. Most of the time, she didn’t even have to pay for them. Most bookstores just tossed the books they deemed unsellable, but if Faye made it in time, she happily took them. Now that she had been in Aston Cove for a while, she had a few connections with some bookstores and the local library, which made finding old books to restore fairly easy.

Today, Faye was alone. Oxalia was busy in her garden, Annika wanted to be by herself for the day, and Mabel and Leaf went to check out some fortune teller downtown. It was rare for Faye to be alone; Annika usually joined her in the library, Leaf always found time to pester her throughout the day, and when she wasn’t busy, Mabel would join Faye in the living room for coffee and conversation. Faye got used to having someone at her side, but she didn’t mind the solitude for a few hours.

Faye made her way to the front desk and rung the tiny bell. Today, the shop was fairly empty, but the owner knew that she’d be coming. She looked around at the stacks of books and wondered if she could get something for herself.

“Can I help you?” asked a familiar voice. Faye turned her attention back to the desk, and saw a young man walking out of the back room.

“Jasper? I didn’t know you worked here.”

He smiled. “Only on the weekends.”

“Oh,” was all Faye could say.

“So, did you need some help? A recommendation, maybe?”

“Not today, no.” Faye went to brush a lock of hair behind her ear, only to remember that it was up in a bun. “I’m here to pick up some discarded books.”

“Gotcha. I’ll be right back.” Jasper disappeared into the back room and Faye let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Stop being so silly, Faye told herself, He’s just some guy.

Jasper returned from the back room holding a cardboard box full of carefully stacked books. “I believe these are yours,” he said, setting the box onto the counter with a thud.

“Thanks.”

“Will that be all for today, miss?”

Faye looked around at the empty store and the bookshelves stocked with pre-owned books and though about Annika. “Actually, I could use a recommendation.”

“Did you have a genre in mind?”

“Nonfiction. Or maybe…” Faye thought for a moment. “Historical fiction? I think she might like that.”

“She?”

“My housemate. She reads books faster than I can get them.” Faye smiled at the thought of Anni’s voracious literature appetite. “I usually get her nonfiction history books, but I think historical fiction might be of interest to her.”

Jasper stepped from behind the counter. “Right this way,” he said, leading Faye to the back of the store. “I’m not sure why they hide them back here,” he said once they reached a section marked Historical Fiction, “These are some of my favorites.”

“Maybe you could convince your manager to let you set up a table up front.”

Jasper shrugged. “Maybe.” He turned to the bookshelf in front of them. “What do you think your housemate would like? Alternate history, maybe?”

Faye nodded and Jasper pulled four books from the shelf. They were used, alright—the corners of the paperbacks were bent and frayed, the pages were dog-eared and, in one of the books, someone had written some notes in the margins. Thankfully, it was just pencil, but it was still there.

“I think this will be enough,” Faye said, and she carried them back to the front desk. Jasper rung up her purchase, and it came to just under twenty dollars.

“Come back sometime, okay?” Jasper said, smiling, “Your housemate might want some more books.”

-

Faye opened the front door of her home and was met with the smell of bread baking in the kitchen.

“Leaf?” Mabel called from the kitchen.

“No, it’s just me.” Faye returned. She wheeled her wagon inside and closed the door behind her.

“Oh good, I need another set of hands,” Mabel said, popping her head out of the kitchen threshold, “Come help me, would you?” Faye walked into the kitchen and was handed a pair of oven mitts. “Take the bread out of the oven; I need to chop these veggies.”

Faye put on the mitts and opened the oven, a wave of yeasty heat gently blowing back the hair in her bangs. “Where is everyone, anyway?” Faye asked, removing the bread loaf from the oven racks.

“Well, Leaf just kinda disappeared after we came back. Oxalia’s out back. I think Anni might be in the library.”

Faye set the pan on a cooling rack on the counter. “I got some books for her at the bookstore. Did you know that the librarian worked there?”

Mabel stopped chopping a carrot and shot Faye a knowing glance. “Jasper, right?”

Faye took off the mitts and set them on the counter. “Yeah. I wonder if he works anywhere else.”

“I bet you do,” Mabel said, and continued chopping.

Faye rolled her eyes. “What are you making?”

“Vegetable soup. You know, you could ask him out if you wanted.”

“What? No.”

Mabel gathered the chopped carrots and put them into a bowl. “Hey, I’m just saying.”

“I just met him.”

“I know.”

“I don’t have time for a boyfriend anyway.”

“Oh yeah, you’re very busy.” Mabel chuckled.

“Mabel!”

Mabel set down her knife and smoothed her apron with her hands. “Listen Faye,” she said, turning to her, “I’ve seen you go through this before. You find somebody you like, but you won’t allow yourself to accept that you like them. Just go for it, it might be fun.”

Faye’s ears were hot, but she said nothing.

“I think these veggies are ready to go on. Could you get a pot from the cabinet?”