The Wrong Mr. Right (The Queen's Cove Series #2)(31)

Wyatt led us to an empty booth and set down a stack of books. He gestured at me. “Hand me your phone.”

“Why?” My stomach dropped. “Oh god. Am I going on Tinder? I’ve heard it’s only for hookups now, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”

He snorted. “No, we’re not setting you up on Tinder.” He pulled a tiny white square out of his pocket. “You’re going to sell books.” He plugged in the square and installed an app before handing it back to me to input the store’s banking info.

My thumb hovered over the screen and I hesitated. My dad wouldn’t like this. A phone with a square didn’t have that small town charm, he’d insist. This was different. This was new. A twinge of guilt hit me in the stomach.

I glanced at Wyatt, watching me carefully, waiting.

My dad wasn’t here, though, was he? I was the one running the store every day. I was the one trying to keep the bookstore afloat. There were tons of people out today on the street, shopping and wandering around the town. We might even make a few sales.

I had to keep the store afloat, and what my dad didn’t know for today wouldn’t hurt him. I tapped in the store’s banking info, and bang. We were set up for credit card payments.

Wyatt and Liya retrieved the rest of the books while customers milled around the table. Liya had brought out a small shelf that sat on top to display our favorites. We even brought the little Staff Picks! sign.

A woman with a straw hat picked up a copy of So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo and read the back cover while her friend browsed the titles on the table.

“I loved that book,” I told her. “She blends data with personal stories about race in America, and it’s eye opening. Her writing is beautiful.”

She nodded and pulled her wallet out of her tote bag. “I’ll take it.”

Wyatt watched with a little smile on his face as I figured out how to use the square on my phone with her credit card.

The woman pulled out her phone. “Do you have social media?”

“We do.” I rattled off our social media handles. “We’re over there.” I pointed over my shoulder at the bookstore.

“Found you,” she said, lighting up. “Gorgeous photos. I’m so glad I found you.”

“Oh.” My face warmed but I grinned at her. “Me too.”

“Do you have anything like The Vampire Diaries?” Straw Hat Woman’s friend asked.

“Here,” Wyatt said, taking the phone from me. “I’ll do that. You do the books, bookworm.”

I found the title I was searching for and handed it to the woman. “Hot vampires, a Southern waitress, a dangerous vampire king, and an unsolved murder. It’s a long series so you can keep reading if you enjoy.” I shrugged. “The books are better than the TV show.”

While Liya was in an animated conversation with someone about a sci-fi romance series about blue aliens, I snapped a picture and posted it. I had caught Liya as she angled the book cover to the camera.

Pemberley Books is at the Queen’s Cove farmer’s market today. Come talk about books with us!

For the next hour, Liya and I helped customers find what they were searching for and Wyatt processed the sales.

“Do you have anything like Bridgerton?” a woman in her early twenties asked.

My eyes lit up. “Yes.” I grabbed a historical romance off the table and thrust it in her hands.

A dad in cargo shorts and a baseball hat led his teenager up to the stand. “My kid is non-binary. Do you have any YA books with non-binary main characters?”

“Or trans,” his teenager added.

I was already reaching for a couple books. “Do you have a specific genre, like fantasy or rom-com?”

They considered this. “I like fantasy stuff.”

“You’re in luck.” I picked out two titles and handed them over. “I have more in the bookstore over there in case these aren’t what you’re looking for.”

They smiled big at me and the dad pulled out his wallet.

“I’ll help you over here, bud,” Wyatt said, beckoning them over.

From half a block away, I spotted Don hustling toward the table. “Oh, no.”

“What?” Liya glanced where I was looking. “Oh, no.”

“Hannah.” He crossed his arms and surveyed the book stand.

“Hi, Don.” My voice was tentative. I shot Wyatt a glance. He was helping the dad pay but a little smile pulled at his mouth.

Don nodded and leaned in, lowering his voice. “I’m happy to see you outside. Glad my rejection didn’t send you into a depression.”

My mouth flattened into a line. “Can I help you with something today?” Anything to move this conversation along.

He perked up. “I wanted to see if you had the second in that orc series.”

“Oh. Um. Yeah, it’s back at the shop. I’ll go grab it.”

When I returned to the stand with the second book in the series, Don had his camera up, snapping more pictures of Liya chatting with a customer.

He put his camera down when he spotted me and reached for the book. “Perfect, thank you. I lent my copy to Miri and she is loving it.”

Miri Yang was Don’s best friend. She also ran a popular social media account with town events. She had reposted one of my pictures the other day, an image of Liya in the window of the store as she placed a book up on the shelf.