Sneak peek of One Last Bookmark by Kayla Hicks

Standing in the back of the bookstore staring at the blinking voicemail message on my phone, I felt as if everything in my life were on the verge of imploding.

Terrified to hear yet another last-notice message, I turned off the screen and shoved my phone back into my purse. There was nothing to be done at the moment other than to keep chugging along.

Pinning my hair up into a messy bun, I pushed through the door to the front of the store.

“Try to straighten up a bit, will you? I want everything to look perfect for the signing,” Dad said.

Nodding, I got to work on straightening a large stack of books on the closest shelf.

Dad had started this bookstore with my mother before I was born. It had always been a dream of his to open a bookstore and he had even managed to do it in New York City. He always said it was a city where dreams came true.

We were hosting a book signing for a new and upcoming author who was sure to hit the best sellers list.

It was a blessing that this author wanted to focus on helping small businesses get sales. Apparently, his grandparents had owned a small mom and pop restaurant when he was younger. It was described as a place that felt like home. After seeing how much they struggled he wanted to help small businesses as much as he could.

He was our last hope to save the bookstore. With so many big-box stores and online shopping, small businesses like my fathers were feeling the worst of it.

“Owen will be here in fifteen minutes to set up. I am going to see if we have any other tables in the back,” Dad said before hurrying off.

Walking to the counter, I took a long sip of my coffee, readying myself for the day.

I couldn’t help but hope that this was going to be me someday. I was going to publish all the books I had hidden away on my computer, just waiting to be read. Then I could make my father’s book store the chief seller, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

The overhead bell chimed on the front door. I turned, mid-sip, to see Owen standing in the doorway, two large bags in hand.

I was stunned at how handsome he was. Tall with deep auburn hair accompanied by a dash of faint freckles across his nose and under his eyes. He had a little muscle to him, however was lean like a runner.

He scanned the storefront before spotting me peeking out from behind the counter.

“Hello there, I’m Owen…”

“Henderson,” I finished.

His smile almost made me drop my coffee, so I quickly set my cup on the cashier’s counter.

“Where should I set up?” he asked, wiggling his heavy bags mid-air.

“Right, sorry. You’re a little early,” I babbled.

“I’m just a little nervous, so I tried to be early. You never know what could happen. This is New York, after all.”

Smiling, I pushed a stray hair out of my face before walking towards him when my foot caught on a stack of books next to the shelf, causing me to fall flat on my face.

As soon as I hit the thin gray carpet, I wanted to rewind to about twenty minutes ago when my father had told me to straighten up.

“Are you right?” Owen asked urgently.

I heard his heavy bags hit the floor before his brown leather business shoes appeared in front of me.

He reached down, helping me to my feet.

“Yes, don’t worry that happens all the time.”

“You falling over books?” he asked with a smirk.

I stood there momentarily speechless while he smiled at me.

“Owen, you’re here earlier than expected!” Dad said breaking the silence. “Emily, why haven’t you helped him set up?”

I opened my mouth in an attempt to answer.

“Emily was just offering me a cup of coffee and thanking me for doing my signing here. She has been just lovely,” Owen said.

My eyebrow arched in question, I shot him a sideways glance. Reaching backward, I snatched my own coffee cup off the counter and handed it to Owen.

“Thank you, Emily,” he said taking a sip. “Delicious! Is that Caramel?”

I felt my face flush in response.

Walking over to his large navy bags, I tugged at them, dragging them over towards the table.

“Is there anything else you need from us? I’ve put out a posting to the paper and a few book bloggers for your genre,” Dad explained.

“No, that’s more than enough. Thank you. It’s hard enough to get established as an indie author, makes it easier when more established businesses talk about you.”

My father wore a grin that practically reached his ears.

He waved me away as he started chattering about his vision for Owen’s setup. At some point during the conversation, I was handed a flag and a sign to hang outside the door.

Taking a small, ragged step ladder outside, I propped it near the large brick wall. Sliding the flag into the holder, I then stepped down to find a good spot on the large window to put the sign on.

The bell of the door again as I taped the last corner of the sign up on the window.

“Need any help?” Owen asked.

My cheeks flushed again as I stepped backward.

“Nope. I think we are all set up out here. Are you done setting up already?” I asked.

“No, but your father insisted that he had a vision of how it should look so I let him do it.”

I glanced at my watch.

“Got somewhere else to be?” he asked.

I laughed. “Uh, not particularly. Seems I am in need of some coffee since I managed to do a coffee run for someone else this morning. Somehow, I forgot my own in the process.”

He nodded taking a long sip of my coffee. He leaned against the brick, gazing up and down the street.

“Is it far? Someone got me coffee but it was only half full.”

“Man, can’t find good help these days, can you?” I laughed.

He shook his head, laughing as well. Pushing off of the brick wall, he poked his head inside the front door.

He buttoned up his black coat, tugging up his collar as a cool October breeze blew leaves down the street. I tore my gaze from him and watched as they danced through the wind, mixing the oranges, browns, and yellows.

Pulling the opening of my own sweater together, I suddenly felt very under-dressed.

“How long have you worked in your father’s bookshop?” Owen asked.

“I guess since I was in High School. Maybe five years now.”

His mouth made a small pout momentarily as he listened to my words.

We crossed the street, finding ourselves in front of Laurel’s Coffee Shop. I had been coming here forever, it was routine for me to stop by every morning and grab a coffee as they were cheap in price but rich in flavor.

“This is a hole in the wall type of place, isn’t it?” Owen asked.

I smiled. “I guess it is. They have great coffee but what’s better is their breakfast food.”

Pushing open the door revealed a tiled gray, honeycomb flooring, and dark wood tables. The thing I loved most about this shop was that each table had a set of books as the centerpiece. People often grabbed them to read as they ate here.

“Emily, weren’t you already here this morning?” asked Jane.

“Yes, there were unforeseen circumstances that led me to need another coffee,” I explained.

Jane had worked here ever since I started coming here. She was two years older than me but gave sage advice.

“So, who is this Emily? Please tell me you’re dating him,” Jane pleaded.

Rolling my eyes I watched her gaze rake over him as if he were a juicy steak, although I couldn’t blame her.

“No Jane, this is Owen Henderson. He’s the author doing a book signing at the book shop today.”

She pursed her bright red lips with an unconvinced expression on her face.

Owen stuck out his hand. “Hi Jane, I’m Owen. Unfortunately, Emily is way out of my league and I am emotionally damaged.”

Emotionally damaged how? I thought

Jane laughed and shook his hand. “Hi, Owen. You’re right, Emily is way out of your league but I could put in a good word for you.”

Feeling the embarrassment clearly written across my face, I knew it was time to change the subject.

“Jane, can I have my usual? Can you also get him one of your Cinnabons?”

“Perfect! They are fresh out of the oven. Owen, what drink will you have?” Jane asked.

“Same as her.”

Shaking her head as we walked towards the cash register, I searched my pocket grabbing my last twenty. My mind flashed back to the message I had waiting for me on my phone. This was my coffee money for the whole week.

“Please put your money away. I stole your coffee, remember?” Owen said grabbing his own money.

I wavered feeling guilty about my current funds, but he thankfully pushed my money away.

“Okay, that will be ten-fifty,” Jane said.

Owen handed her a twenty.

“Emily, I’m putting in my good word now,” she said with an exaggerated wink.

“Thank you, Owen,” I said, as I looked away from Jane’s eager face.

While I waved to Jane as we walked back past her window, she made kissing faces at us causing a customer to give us both a confused look.

“Jane seems nice.“

“She’s the best, I feel as if we’ve been friends a lifetime even though it’s only been a few years. She always manages to make our shift fly by.“

“Does she work at the bookstore too?” he asked.

Internally cringing, I tried to explain. “Uh, no. I work there too. I work three jobs actually.“

We stopped outside the bookshop, his eyebrows high in surprise. “Three jobs? How on earth do you work three jobs?“

“With the help of Jane’s coffee,“ I said raising my cup.

I wasn’t going to go into explicit detail about the fact that only two of them paid anything. Working here at the bookstore in the mornings was only to give my father an extra hand. He didn’t have any extra money to hire help.

“We should get in there and see what my Dad has set up for you.“

Nodding, he followed me inside.

Stepping in, we were greeted with a large poster backdrop behind the small table which displayed a large headshot of Owen and the cover of his book. My father had a book propped up for display on the table and the cashier counter. Next to the table on the floor, the rest of his books sat in his open bags ready to be grabbed.

“Oh good, you’re both back. Owen, I couldn’t find any pens for the signing in your bags but I put five on the table just in case,” my father explained excitedly.

He turned back to turn on the backlights. I turned to Owen and mouthed five pens! making him laugh.

When my father returned to the front of the store he glanced at his watch.

“Well, it looks like ten minutes until showtime! I see some people are already lining up outside.“

I turned around seeing that sure enough, there was a line forming on the sidewalk outside.

What a day this was going to turn out to be.

One Last Bookmark is now available for Pre-order, releasing on December 13th.