Chapter 51

fifty-one

Lily

Monday Evening

It's late Monday evening and I'm still on Delia & Nessa's couch being a miserable oaf. The inevitable conversation waiting for River and I will have to wait until after tomorrow's nonsense.

"I've got to do a little work in the office today, do you need me to grab anything for you while I'm there?" Delia asks before grabbing her purse and touching up her red lipstick in the mirror.

"I've got everything I need as far as I can tell, except something to make sure I don't die of boredom and being forced to sit still tomorrow," I admit.

"I've got a plan for that," Nessa winks from her horizontal position across the armchair near me.

"Actually, maybe grab me a few things, I'll text you what will be most comfortable to be in." I shrug and pick up my phone.

After a while, I convince Nessa to take a walk to Pages with me. Opening the door to the bookstore, Seth barely looks up from whatever his current read is.

"Yo, Seth, customers," Nessa teases him and he grunts at us.

Looking around the store you can see the touches his sisters added. There's a large seating area with a mix of plush chairs and two seaters near a refurbished coffee table. There's lots of low lighting and the shelves are a soft natural wood color reminding me of a ballet studio floor.

Next door was a large "blooming again soon" sign on the La Vie en Rose florist shop, and I guess I've really committed to returning because I'm nosey as hell.

"Seth, any idea who is taking over for Rosie? I'm shocked that she retired!"

His scowl deepens, causing Nessa and I to exchange a look of confusion, Seth is generally not a fan of most things but there's something there. Before we can prod him further, the door chimes and a few tourist customers wander in. Seth does his best attempt at putting on a pleasant customer service voice while we make our way through the rows of bookshelves. With a new memoir in hand, I make my way over to pay.