Library

Chapter 12

GEORGE

I crouched in front of the mini fridges behind the counter, counting cartons of milk. It was nearly closing time, and I was taking advantage of the lull in customers to take an inventory of what I needed to order. After the movie night last night, I was looking forward to a quiet evening in.

“George.”

I looked up to find Romina standing next to me behind the counter, her sensible black leather handbag slung over her shoulder. Romina would have usually left by now, but a group of tourists had ordered a late lunch just before the kitchen was due to close, and it had thrown the entire afternoon off.

“The cornbread is in the oven. I’ve set an alarm for twenty minutes. The pulled pork has been in the slow cooker since morning, so it’s probably ready now, but I figured we might as well leave it in for a bit longer to let the flavors develop. You’re okay to get them both out?”

I nodded. “Yes. That sounds great, thank you. I’m sorry you had to stay so late. The pork smells incredible.” The rich smoky scent of Romina’s pulled pork had been making my stomach rumble all afternoon.It would be tomorrow’s lunchtime special.

“Well, I made a huge batch, so if you want some for dinner, there’s plenty.”Romina shifted on her feet, clearly eager to get home.

I grinned. “I will definitely take you up on that. See you tomorrow!”

I finished counting the milk and then stood, surveying the café. There were only two customers left, and they looked like they were finishing up.

I grabbed a cloth and a bottle of surface cleaner and started wiping down the tables.

Ten minutes later, both customers had paid and left. I flipped the Open sign on the front door to Closed and went to find Hannah, who’d leaped at my request to check that the bookstore section was in order. I peered down each aisle until I spotted her, head bent over a stack of books she was holding, studying one of the books intently. I smiled, warmth expanding across my chest. I loved how much she seemed to genuinely love books.

“Hannah?”

She jumped and turned to me, her eyes bright.

“Sorry. I was just going to clean Hugo and thought I’d check if you wanted anything to drink first?” I asked.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m fine.” Hannah smiled. “I’ve just been putting away books that were lying around, and this one caught my eye. Have you read this? It sounds fantastic.” She held up the book she’d been examining. It was The Glass Den, a literary fiction novel by a debut author that had received a lot of buzz lately.

I shook my head. “No. I’ve read some great things about it, but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.” I hadn’t had much time for reading lately, and I really missed it. “I was actually sent an advanced reader copy of that one. Let me take a look and see if I can find it for you.” Hannah sounded so excited about the book, and it seemed a shame for the advanced reader copy to go to waste.

“Oh, if it’s not too hard to find it, that would be great,” Hannah said.

“No, that’s fine. It’ll be a good opportunity for me to show you the storage shed anyway.”

Hannah put down the books and followed me past the kitchen to the back door, which opened onto a small yard with a quaint-looking wooden shed in one corner.

“Oh, cute!” Hannah exclaimed.

“Unfortunately, it’s not so cute inside,” I said as we walked over the grass toward it.

I twisted the key and, with some difficulty, opened the door. “Hmm, that must have shifted due to the hot weather.”

The door swung shut behind us. The small windows didn’t provide much natural light, so I flicked the light switch and winced as it illuminated the shed.

“Sorry, it’s a complete mess in here.” I hadn’t been in the shed for a few days, and seeing it fresh through Hannah’s eyes, it was even worse than I’d remembered. Boxes were stacked precariously high. There was just enough space for the two of us to fit. Standing so close to Hannah, the memory of last night’s unexpected hug came rushing back to me—Hannah’s body pressed warm against mine, me inhaling her slightly floral scent, my body humming from the contact. She’s an employee, remember.

“Wow,” Hannah said, looking around. “No wonder you didn’t have room for those H. M. Stuart boxes.”

To my disappointment, H. M. Stuart had not shown up at Novel Gossip today, but presumably he’d come tomorrow morning since the books were being picked up in the afternoon. My stomach fluttered with a mix of nerves and excitement at the thought.

I grimaced. “Yeah. I’ve been meaning to spend some time in here sorting things out. I just haven’t had a chance recently.” I looked around the stack of boxes and spotted the one marked ARC, which was thankfully within reach. I pulled the box out and started searching through it.

“Aha!” I spotted The Glass Den and extracted it from the box, handing it to Hannah. “Here we go! I’ll be really interested to hear what you think of it.”

“Oh great, thanks! And I’d be happy to give you a hand in here after we close one day, if that would help?” Hannah offered with a smile.

I grinned at her. Having Hannah’s company would make the task a lot less daunting and a lot more enjoyable. “You know, I might just take you up on the offer. Although, I think I’d need to pay you double overtime and throw in a meal as well, given the state of this shed.”

Meal.

My heart jumped into my throat.

“Shit!”

“What is it? Hannah asked, eyes wide with concern.

“I was meant to get the pulled pork and cornbread out of the oven.” I looked at my watch, and my stomach plummeted. “Twenty minutes ago. Romina is going to kill me.”

“Oh no!” Hannah turned, twisted the door handle, and pushed to open it.

The door didn’t budge.

“Damn, it’s stuck,” she said. She leaned her shoulder against the door and pushed again, furrowing her brow in effort. “Sorry, it’s not opening. Do you want to have a try?”

Hannah moved away from the door, and I stepped up. I tried pushing the door with my hands, but it didn’t move. I stepped back and rammed the door with my shoulder, throwing all my body weight behind me. Nothing. Goddamnit. It was suddenly feeling very warm and slightly claustrophobic in here.

I tried ramming the door with the side of my body a few more times and then stopped to catch my breath.

I turned to Hannah. “Do you have your phone on you? We could call someone for help.” I’d left my phone on the counter.

Hannah shook her head. “No, sorry. I didn’t bring it with me.”

Damn.

My pulse racing, I tried to brainstorm a way out of here. This was not good. I’d come to terms with the fact that the cornbread was ruined, but if we didn’t get out soon, I was worried that it might start burning in the oven and blanket Novel Gossip in smoke or, even worse, start a fire that might spread. Fuck.

Sweat pricked my face as I looked around for something I could use to try to lever open the door, but there were only boxes and boxes of books.

“Hey, George,” Hannah said.

I turned to find her staring at one of the small square windows that lined the shed’s walls, well over five feet off the ground.

“I think I could get through the window if we stacked up the boxes so I can climb up, turn around, and then drop down feet first.”

I eyed the small window and frowned. There was no way I’d fit through there. But Hannah, with her slighter frame, might be able to. But the idea of Hannah potentially injuring herself in the process was not an appealing one.

“Hmm. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“Seriously, George. It’s worth a try. Otherwise, we’ll be stuck here until at least morning.”

That was assuming Romina or someone else would actually hear our cries for help out here, which wasn’t a given. And that Novel Gossip didn’t burn to the ground and take us with it.

“Let me just have a few more tries at opening the door,” I said, not willing to admit defeat just yet.

I slammed my body against the door three more times without success.

“George, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Hannah said gently. “Come on, let me have a try with the window.”

Hannah had a point. My shoulder was aching. If I injured my arm, then I’d be limited use in the café, and that would only exacerbate our staffing issues and put additional pressure on Hannah. But if Hannah hurt herself, that would be even worse.

As if she’d been reading my mind, Hannah said, “I can do it.”

Hannah said those words with such conviction, I believed her. And at this point, I couldn’t think of any other option to escape.

“If you’re sure…” I said. “Thank you.”

We stacked boxes of books so they resembled steps leading to the window, and then Hannah stepped up them carefully. I stayed close to Hannah in case she lost balance and I had to catch her. The boxes wobbled precariously as she reached the top. My stomach lurched, and I put one hand on the boxes and the other on her arm to steady her.

“Thanks,” Hannah said, smiling down at me.

Hannah opened the window, and then I held the boxes as Hannah carefully turned around. She dangled her feet out the window and then rotated her body so she was facing me.

“Here goes!” Hannah said cheerfully as she let her body drop out the window.

I stood on a box and peered out, relieved to see Hannah had landed on her feet, apparently unharmed. Thank god.

She looked up at me, concern in her eyes, as she repositioned her glasses on her nose. We’d been so focused on escaping the shed, we hadn’t discussed what Hannah would do once she got out.

Now that Hannah was safe, my top priority was Novel Gossip and Max, who was upstairs in my apartment. “Don’t worry about me. If you can turn off the oven and take the pork off the stove, that would be amazing. Thank you!” I said.

Hannah nodded and raced into Novel Gossip, disappearing out of sight. I faintly heard the high-pitched sound of smoke alarms going off inside. Shit. I stuck my head out the window and inhaled. To my relief, I couldn’t see or smell any smoke.

I felt so helpless, stuck in here while Hannah dealt with my mess. I examined the window more closely. Perhaps I could fit?

I waited another minute or two in the stuffy shed, jiggling my leg with nerves, and then lost my patience. Screw it, I might as well try.

I carefully made my way up the makeshift steps. When I reached the top, I turned my body just as Hannah had, so I was facing the floor of the shed, and tentatively began to lower myself out of the window, feet first. I slipped my legs through with relative ease.

Okay, this is promising.

And then the window frame met my butt and did not want to let it through. I tried wriggling and pushing without any success. Shit. My initial instinct was right. I didn’t fit.

“George?” a voice, partially muffled by my ass, said.

Heat rushed to my face. Hannah.

Oh god. I winced. My ass is half hanging out the window.

“I thought I’d give the window a try. Turns out, I don’t fit!” I yelled, conscious I was facing away from Hannah, and the sound waves had my butt to contend with in order to make their way out of the shed through the window.

I tried pulling myself back into the shed, but it seemed my wriggling and pushing had gotten me well and truly wedged into the window frame. Fuck.

“Do you need to me to give you a boost back inside?” Hannah asked.

I cringed and then took a deep breath. As embarrassed as I felt right now, I knew I needed help.

“Yes, please!” I shouted.

I felt Hannah’s arms wrap around my legs. “Okay, on the count of three. One, two…three!”

I braced my hands against the inside of the window frame and thrust myself forward while Hannah pushed up. Nothing. My heart thumped in my ears.

“Do you mind if I put my hands on your butt?” Hannah yelled after a moment of silence. “I think it might make it easier to push.”

My cheeks exploded with heat. Good Lord, this is humiliating. But Hannah’s hands on my ass seemed like a better option than continuing to be stuck in the window and Hannah having to call for reinforcements. I didn’t need any more witnesses to my predicament.

“Okay!” I yelled, wincing.

Warm hands pressed against my butt cheeks. Oh god. This was definitely crossing some employer-employee boundaries.

“One, two, three!” Hannah yelled and then pushed hard against my butt.

I pushed off the window frame with my hands, wriggling my ass and trying not to think about how this would look from Hannah’s perspective, and suddenly my butt was free. I toppled forward onto the boxes, regaining my balance just in time to stop myself from falling to the ground.

“Are you okay?” Hannah asked, her voice now clear.

“Yes. Thank you,” I managed to say as I made my way down the boxes, my pulse beating double-time. I could still feel the warm imprints on my butt where Hannah’s hands had been.

When I reached the bottom, I took a deep breath and then walked back to the window, standing on the box to peer out. I’d planned to ask Hannah if Novel Gossip was okay but she wasn’t there.

A muffled noise near the door drew my attention. I turned around just in time to see the door shake and then open. I exhaled in relief. Hannah was standing there, pink-cheeked and out of breath, holding a long, curved pizza cutter. My heart bounced. She looked like some gorgeous leading woman out of an action movie, coming to save the day.

I resisted the urge to fling my arms around her and hug her. I’d just had Hannah’s hands on my butt, and I didn’t want to cross any more employee-employer boundaries tonight. “Thank you so much! I’m so sorry about all of this. How’s Novel Gossip?”

Hannah smiled. “It’s fine. The kitchen is a little smoky, and the cornbread is definitely ruined, but the pulled pork looks and smells amazing. The exhaust fan was on, so that helped a lot, and I also opened a few windows to help clear the air. I don’t think there will be any lasting damage.”

Relief washed over me. “Oh, thank god,” I said as I grabbed The Glass Den and walked out of the shed, taking a deep breath of fresh air. I locked the door behind me, resolving to call someone in the morning to fix it.

Hannah examined the pizza cutter. “Hopefully I haven’t damaged it. It was the only thing I could find to lever the door open. I can’t imagine Romina will be thrilled if it’s bent.”

“It looks fine from here, but I wouldn’t put it past Romina’s eagle eye to spot something we’ve missed. To be on the safe side, I’ll keep pizza off the menu for now,” I said, grinning. “And here’s the book, by the way.” I handed Hannah The Glass Den, which she’d left on a box in the shed.

“Thank you. After all that, hopefully it lives up to the hype.”

We walked back into Novel Gossip, and I sniffed the air. There was a distinctly smoky scent, mixed with the delicious, rich smell of pulled pork, but the smoke wasn’t overpowering. Hopefully nothing a good airing out wouldn’t fix.

The smell got stronger as we entered the kitchen. Trays of blackened cornbread muffins were sitting on the stove, under the exhaust fan, which was running at full power. Hannah had taken the pot of pulled pork off the stove. I walked over to it, opened the lid, and was nearly bowled over by the mouth-watering smell that hit me. I grabbed a spoon from the utensil rack and stirred it. Phew. It hadn’t stuck to the bottom of the pot. In fact, it seemed to have been caramelized to perfection.

“It smells incredible, doesn’t it?” Hannah stepped closer to me and peered into the pot.

“Sure does.” I grinned. “Hey, if you’re hungry, would you like some?”

Hannah looked up at me sharply, her eyes wide. “Won’t Romina notice?”

I chuckled. “That’s okay.She actually said it was fine to eat some.” I loved that Hannah had already picked up on who the real boss in the kitchen was.

“It is a wholelot more appealing than the leftover pasta dish I was planning to eat,” Hannah said.

“Come on. It’s the least you deserve after climbing out that window and saving the day. And then saving my ass!” I grinned.

While the memory of Hannah’s hands on my butt still made me cringe, I could see the funny side now that we were safely out of the shed, and Novel Gossip hadn’t sustained any lasting smoke or fire damage. “I’m planning to have some too. I can steam some greens to go with it, and while unfortunately we don’t have any cornbread, there’s some mashed potatoes left over that I could heat up.”

“You’ve convinced me,” Hannah said, her eyes twinkling. “My sad pasta and vodka sauce leftovers can’t compete with that!”

I prepared the greens, and Hannah heated up the mashed potatoes, and before long, we were sitting at one of the tables in the café, digging into the food.

“I really built up an appetite after our impromptu escape room experience,” Hannah said.

I chuckled. “I’d forgotten some people pay good money to be trapped in a room and work out how to escape. That will be twenty dollars for the privilege, thank you.” I held out my hand.

Hannah laughed. “The very real risk of Novel Gossip burning down really added an extra level of pressure. You could probably charge a premium for that.” She took another bite and groaned. “Thank goodness the pork survived. I think it’s on par with last night’s beef Wellington, if not better—if that’s possible.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Does this mean you’re giving up our plan to bring back the hits of the ‘80s?”

“No! I’m fully committed to the cause.” Hannah’s lips curved upward. “But I will also be campaigning to keep pulled pork on the menu.”

“You know, after last night’s conversation, I half expected you to show up today wearing a fanny pack and a mullet.” I put a forkful of pork in my mouth and chewed slowly, savoring the tender, juicy meat and rich smoky flavors.

“A fanny pack would be incredibly practical for work. Perhaps you should make it part of the staff uniform. But unfortunately, I don’t have one just lying around. Although, you never know—I still haven’t finished unpacking, so who knows what treasures I’ll unearth in the process.”

“Did you just move here recently, then? Or are you just one of those people, like me, who take their time to unpack?” I asked, jumping at the excuse to find out more about Hannah. “I have a bad feeling I still have one or two unopened boxes from my move here, and that was three years ago!”

Hannah laughed. ”That always happens to me too. But in this case, I did just move here last week, so I have an excuse.”

“Hey, no judgment here,” I said. “And welcome to Sapphire Springs.”

“Thanks.” Hannah looked around Novel Gossip, her face bright. “I really love this space. Did you set up Novel Gossip yourself or buy it from someone already like this?”

Pride welled in my chest. “I set it up. When I bought this place, it was a rundown old restaurant that hadn’t been used for years.”

“Oh, wow! Well, you did an incredible job. It’s such a warm, cozy space. I love the name, by the way.” Hannah took another bite of pork.

“I’m glad you like it.” I smiled at her, and our eyes connected for a moment. “I can’t take full credit for the name. It’s the Instagram handle of a Bookstagrammer I like—I did ask her permission first, though. I always thought it would be the perfect name for a café-bookstore.”

“It really is. Do you like owning your own business?”

“Honestly, it’s great. I get to combine two of my passions—books and food. I really feel like I’m part of the community and love the relationships I’ve been able to build with my regulars.” I paused, realizing I’d been painting a very rosy view of small business ownership. “Don’t get me wrong, like most small businesses, it’s not without stress—especially recently with the staffing issues I’ve had—so it’s been an enormous relief to have you on board. But overall I love it.” I grinned at Hannah. I thought I caught a strange expression cross her face, but it vanished before I had time to analyze it.

“That’s great,” Hannah said, smiling again. “I always thought it would be amazing to own a bookstore and be able to help people discover new books.”

I grinned. “I love that aspect as well. Especially the last few years, with publishers getting so much better at publishing diverse stories, I love being able to stock books that I would have killed to have read as a child, about queer people like me living normal, happy lives. I make a point of stocking books with diverse representation generally, in the hope all our customers will be able to see themselves reflected.”

Hannah nodded vigorously. “While there’s still a long way to go, it’s great representation has been improving. I get so furious hearing about book bans though, and unfortunately, it’s in those states banning queer books that there’s the most need for kids to access them.” Hannah paused, her face softening. “Maybe I’ve just got a misconceived stereotype of Florida in my head, but I imagine that Florida probably wasn’t the easiest place to grow up in the ‘90s as a queer kid.”

“Yeah. Dunedin, where I grew up, is currently in one of the more liberal pockets of Florida, but in the ‘90s, it was much more conservative. It certainly wasn’t the most accepting place. And I definitely didn’t have any queer role models in my life.”

“That must have been hard. Were your parents okay with you being queer?”

“It took a bit of adjustment. Mom and Dad decided to only have one child because Dad traveled a lot for work—well, at least that’s what they told me. Perhaps I was such a handful it put them off a second kid.”

Hannah laughed. “I doubt that. But as an only child myself, I can’t deny I’ve had similar thoughts. But sorry, go on, I think I interrupted.”

I grinned. “No problem. Nothing like a bit of only child solidarity. Mom had always wanted a daughter, so she was thrilled when I turned out to be a girl. Unfortunately for her, I turned out to be a bit of a disappointment in the girl department. Instead of playing with dolls or wearing dresses, I ran wild with the O’Brien brothers next door, lived in shorts and t-shirts, and cut my hair as short as Mom would allow. I also insisted on shortening my given name, Georgina, to George, which Mom was not happy about.”

“That must have been difficult, especially if you knew at the time that your mom didn’t approve,” Hannah said gently.

“Yeah. Dad was always a distant figure in my life, so I didn’t really care what he thought. But I did feel terrible about disappointing Mom—but not terrible enough to change how I presented or who I played with. I think Mom had hoped it was just a tomboy phase that I’d grow out of, but as I grew older and it became clear it wasn’t a phase, I could tell Mom mourned the loss of having a daughter whose hair she could style, who she could share makeup tips with, and dress up for prom in a sparkling gown.”

Hannah’s face was soft. “That sucks. I’m sorry.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. Despite all that, I never doubted that Mom loved me, no matter what. And while I’d rejected most stereotypical ‘girl’ pastimes, we had a shared love of cooking. According to her, I’d insisted on ‘helping’ her make dinner from the age of two. Most nights, we’d cook dinner together, chatting about our day. So even though we were very different, cooking brought us together.”

Hannah broke into a smile. “Oh, that’s so lovely. I can just imagine adorable toddler-tomboy George standing on a stool and making a complete mess of ‘helping’ to make a cake. Maybe if I’d had something like cooking to bond with my parents, we wouldn’t have such a strained relationship. Was your mom okay when you came out?”

“I told her when I was seventeen, while I was chopping carrots for a salad to pair with the steak she was frying in a pan.” I smiled at the memory. “I was incredibly nervous about how she’d react. I remember my hands shaking so much I struggled to cut the carrots into sticks the way she liked.” Even though I’d told her well over a decade ago, the memory was still so strong in my mind. “I finally got up enough courage after the first carrot to tell her. I felt so sick as I watched her swallow and stare at the steak as she digested the news.”

Hannah gazed at me intently, a look of concern on her face.

“But when she turned to me, she was smiling and she pulled me in for a long, warm hug. ‘Do you still want to come to church?’ was her only question. Mom didn’t always understand me, but she was always there for me.” I paused. “How about your parents? How did they take it?”

“I was so nervous telling them as well. I had put it off for months, even though they’d never shown any signs of being homophobic.” Hannah gave a wry smile. “But they were fine. The whole thing felt like a bit of a letdown, really. Coming out felt like it should have been a momentous occasion, but when I finally gathered the courage to break the news to them over breakfast, they barely seemed to register it. It was like I’d just told them I’d had a good sleep. I know I can’t complain, given how lucky I was that my family was so accepting, but they literally just said, ‘Okay,’ and then turned back to the morning papers they were reading.”

“That would definitely have been a bit anti-climatic.”

“Yeah. Well, that’s my parents for you.” Hannah shook her head, sounding defeated.

Hannah focused her attention on the almost empty plate in front of her, scraping it with her fork and put the last remnants in her mouth. She closed her eyes briefly in enjoyment.

“Would you like another serving?” I asked.

“I’m feeling so full I’d better not. But if there’s any left after the lunch rush tomorrow, it’ll be my first choice for lunch,” Hannah replied.

I smiled, making a mental note to put some aside for Hannah to make sure she didn’t miss out.

“Perfect. I’m planning to whip up another batch of cornbread tonight, so you’ll be able to enjoy it with that tomorrow.”

“Oh, yum! I’m happy to stay and help if you’d like.”

As tempting as Hannah’s offer was, she’d already had a long day, and I didn’t want to tire out my only employee.

“Thanks for the offer, but I should be fine. Cornbread is pretty easy to make. If I do a good enough job, Romina may not even notice the difference.”

Hannah chuckled. “Well, your secret is safe with me.” A serious look crossed her face, and she swallowed. “Um, speaking of secrets?—”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Shit. It sounded like the smoke alarm was going off in the kitchen again.

My heart sank. What now?

We looked at each other wide-eyed for a second and then jumped up and raced back to the kitchen.

When we got there, I surveyed the kitchen and exhaled. While the noise from the alarm in the kitchen was ear-piercing, there was no sign of any new smoke. Hannah had a pained look on her face and was holding her hands over her ears.

“Phew!” I yelled to Hannah, who took her hands off her ears so she could hear me. “It looks like everything’s fine. It must just be the sensors acting up. Why don’t you head home, and I’ll sort this out.”

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Hannah yelled.

“Yes!” I shouted. “I should just be able to reset it. It’s really easy. No point in us both injuring our hearing being exposed to this racket.”

Hannah nodded, covering her ears with her hands again, and turned to leave. As I went to get a ladder to reset the alarm, I remembered that Hannah had started to say something before the smoke alarm started sounding again. I wonder what it could have been? Presumably, if it was important, Hannah would tell me tomorrow.

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