2. Brock

Chapter two

Brock

T he fucking alarm went off, screaming at me to get up. Fuck that. My pillow was much too comfortable. I reached over, reluctantly, and slapped the top of the squawking box until it finally shut the fuck up. Then, I snuggled back down into my pillow, tucking the corner in a bit. Perfect luxury. My blanket was also perfect—soft but not too warm, not too cool. Just like fucking Goldilocks.

But I had to get up. I did not want to. It was days like this I wondered why I didn't give up. I could spend a lot more time in my soft and cushy bed or doing something else—anything else—but heading into town to open the bookstore. Pops would be angry with me if he heard those thoughts. He'd left me the store for a reason, and I knew he loved me and loved the store. He knew how much I'd loved it growing up. But making it actually work? A lot easier said than done. A tiny old-fashioned bookstore out in a hick town in the middle of nowhere did not make much money.

But. People relied on me. I'd promised Percy I would be there on time for the delivery. Letting people down was not my thing. At all. Even if I wasn't making much money and probably spent too much on his sticky buns, they did draw people into the store, and Percy was a great guy. Delivering the baked goods to the store every day helped both of us, but I knew a favor when I tasted one, even coated with cinnamon and icing. I owed him to at least be on time and not make him stand at the back of my store waiting for my lazy ass.

I groaned as my bladder reminded me that it also needed my attention as I simultaneously wondered if I'd remembered to set the timer on the coffee pot the night before.

Right on time, the buzzer in the kitchen downstairs went off. I sighed and sat up, sliding my feet into slippers I'd left beside the bed. There was no more fighting this. I'd made a commitment, and Pops would hate it if I broke my word.

Up and at ‘em.

Bathroom, coffee, get dressed, grab my helmet, and I was out the door.

I rode into town on my baby. She was a Harley Davidson Heritage Classic 114 in Atlas Silver Metallic, and she was a beauty. Ah…same trip I made every day except Tuesdays. But this was Friday and surely it would be a busier day.

The sun cut through the trees, dappling the road as I turned on to Main Street. Foggy Basin was a lovely town, familiar and smelling like home. As much as I wanted to hate the place, I had to admit, if it was only to myself in my secret soul of souls, that it was a comfort to live here again. There was something about a place like this, a small place where everyone knew everyone, a place where you grew up from a boy into a man. Something that resonated deep inside.

I revved my Harley as I passed The Blue Star Diner, Nuts and Bolts Hardware, and then Percy's place, Don't Go Bakin' My Heart. His sign was cute, with an outline of a heart that dripped chocolate instead of the word Heart . Kitschy but cute. I rode by the turn to the alley that wound to the back of my place, Books, Beans, and Buns. Why did Pops name it that? Why couldn't I stand to change it?

I preferred to park my hog in front of the store, where I could see it from the front desk, but Percy would be in the back. So after I got off and unlocked the store, leaving the closed sign on, I headed through the space to meet him out there.

"Percy! Thanks. Let me get that." I grabbed half of his trays from him as he pulled them out of his van.

"Thanks. How're things going?" He was a short guy, considerably shorter than me. I topped six feet with my biker boots on, but Percy was petite, barely hitting five feet, probably. He had gorgeous brown curls and piercing green eyes. Anyone would consider him a great catch. Especially if they liked fancy desserts. He loved whipping up extravagant concoctions and posting them on Instagram, which probably the whole town followed. But sticky buns and cinnamon rolls were what my customers preferred, so getting them from him was special.

"Things? Yeah, fine. The store is slow, but you know…"

Percy opened the door, and I pushed in and put the trays on the counter behind the coffee bar. "Yeah, I know. Well, slow days can be, uh…fun too. Right? If you know what to do." He winked at me, and I wasn't sure if he was making an insinuation or simply being nice.

Even though he was cute as a button, he didn't quite do it for me. No butterflies or anxious feelings when I was about to see him. Nothing. Nada. And too bad for that, but I had to take his comment as neighborly and awkward rather than flirting. "Right. I'm sure. But even when it's slow, I have a million things to do."

"Oh, sure, yeah. Me too. And, uh…I should probably get going anyway." He scrubbed a hand through his curls as he blushed.

"Sure."

"I'll send Reba for the empty trays before she comes to work." She was the student who helped him in the afternoons. He turned to go and stopped. "Oh, have you seen my latest Insta? I made a cool dragon riding a motorcycle out of chocolate yesterday." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and waved it in the air as he spoke. "Thought you'd like that. You know, the Harley and all."

"Yeah, I saw that. I liked it for sure." His talent was wasted here in Foggy Basin, but his heart was in the same place as mine—coming back home for family and getting trapped all over again. Well, maybe his return was happier than mine, but it didn't matter. Here we were.

"Yeah. Okay. Gotta go. Thanks."

"No, thank you. Again. These have helped me so much. There's no way I'd be able to bake shit. I don't know how Pops ever did that to start with." Getting Percy to deliver the buns part of the sign was one of my first changes. Out of desperation. It was either that or selling crappy pre-packed grocery store shit. I couldn't even manage Pillsbury-pop-it-in-the-oven baking.

He shrugged. "It works for both of us. See ya later, big guy!"

"Bye, Percy." I didn't follow him out the back door. I needed to get the buns out and the coffee brewing. Pops had created his own proprietary coffee bean, and that shit was good. A lot of people came in for that alone, and I needed the income. That was one thing I wasn't about to change.

There were still other things to do, though. Like adding a lending club where people could share books for a small membership fee. That might grab people who wanted to read better crap than they had in the library but couldn't afford a new book. There were a lot of people around the community who didn't make a lot of money, much like me and Percy. But there were often tourists that supplemented the income. Maybe not enough. I needed to think of things to bring in out-of-towners as well as still cater to locals.

I looked around. The layout needed updating too, but that would come. Currently, the shelves were arranged in a sort of labyrinth with some of the best sections hidden within. Like romance. The biggest selling genre and Pops had it squirreled away with only a couple of shelves dedicated to that section. I shook my head, thinking about it. He didn't know what he was doing, obviously. He emphasized the sections he enjoyed, like history, rather than the ones that would sell. They weren't even historical romances either but actual history books. And not interesting history like Titanic or the fall of Rome, but boring shit like some Pope came into power that no one ever heard of or the history of some foreign city I couldn't even pronounce. That crap would never sell.

Ah, what the hell was I even doing in this boring town? I thought I had gotten out when I left for college, but here I was sucked back in again. And all because I couldn't say no to Pops, even after he died.

The bells on the front door tinkled, and I hurried to the front. In this town, a closed sign meant closed even if the door was unlocked. People respected that. So who the fuck was barging in?

A smaller man with light brown hair stood off to the side of the door, peering out, completely oblivious to the store or me. "Can I help you?" I asked to get his attention.

The man jumped and spun around, holding his chest. "Geez, shit, you scared me." His voice was soft and lulling despite obviously being startled, and he was breathing hard, his gaze beneath his too-long hair bouncing around the place, searching for something, but I sure as hell didn't know what. "Um…look, can I like hide—hang out here. Hang out?"

"We're closed for another—"

"Yeah, I saw the sign, but I won't be a problem. Please. Help me?" His eyes pleaded for assistance from me. And all those missing butterflies when I looked at Percy suddenly came to life.