The Cinnamon Bun Book Store: TikTok Made Me Buy It (Dream Harbor, Book 2)
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store: Chapter 12

‘What do you think, Hazel?’

Jacob’s question, shouted across the front half of the bookstore, snapped Hazel out of her daydream. She blinked. It was a wildly inappropriate daydream. Well, not so much a daydream as the vivid memory of Noah getting her off on the beach yesterday, playing over and over in her head.

‘Uh … what do I think about what?’

The members of the Dream Harbor Book Club grinned at her from their seats around the little coffee table Hazel had set up in the reading nook. They sat in various chairs they’d pulled from other corners of the shop for their weekly meeting. Their books and coffees were scattered across the table. They had been here for nearly an hour already dissecting their latest read. The one with the pirate.

The way their eyes were lit up, their cheeks pink with delight, she knew whatever they were asking her was also wildly inappropriate for a Wednesday morning.

She came out from behind the counter and hurried over to where they were set up before Jacob had the chance to yell his question again.

‘We were wondering,’ he said, his mouth tipping into a nearly evil grin, ‘What do you think about sex in a hammock? Personally, I think there wouldn’t be enough resistance, you know … for the thrusting.’

Hazel’s cheeks went up in flames. The Hazel that existed on the beach, the one that kissed Noah, the one that let him debauch her on a public beach, was not here. That Hazel seemed to only come out when Noah was around.

‘I think the rocking motion might be nice, though,’ Linda weighed in, oblivious to Hazel’s growing embarrassment. Linda smiled at her wife, Nancy, and Hazel was sure the two were silently sharing some kind of memory she didn’t want to get into in the middle of her place of business.

‘I told you before, you need to keep the conversations PG.’ Hazel glanced over to where a mother was shopping with her toddler in the kids’ section. She gave them a little wave and turned back to the giggling group in front of her.

‘Sorry, Hazel,’ Jeanie said, the pirate romance clutched to her chest. ‘We’ll tone it down.’

‘We definitely won’t,’ Kaori said with a laugh. ‘But we’ll lower our voices.’

‘Thank you,’ Hazel said with a nod, intending to turn and go back to the safety behind the counter when she stopped herself. ‘I’d been meaning to ask you all something, actually.’

‘Was it about hammocks?’ Jacob asked with a laugh.

‘Definitely not.’ Hazel cleared her throat, ready to get some answers about her little mystery. Her prime suspects for who was messing with the romance section were all sitting right in front of her. Despite the suspects Noah had suggested, Hazel still thought the book club was the likeliest culprit.

As much as Hazel had been having fun following her little clues, she was starting to wonder if it was all a joke. Or worse, some kind of Dream Harbor plot to help poor Hazel and her boring life. Hazel’s face burned with a different type of embarrassment. The type that came from wondering what people thought of you and being sure it wasn’t good.

Not that she thought her friends and neighbors didn’t like her, but what if they saw her as pitifully as she saw herself? Or worse, what if they didn’t think about her at all and these clues were meant for someone else and she’d just inserted herself into the story where she didn’t belong. What if she was stealing someone else’s adventure?

Horribly embarrassing.

‘Have you noticed anything strange in the Romance section lately?’

Isabel tapped her chin with her pen. ‘Stranger than moth men with vibrating tongues or giant blue aliens or minotaurs donating their––’

Hazel held up a hand to stop her. What did these people read? Although that vibrating tongue sounded interesting… No. She shook her head. Not the time for that.

‘I mean, I’ve found some defaced books.’

Heads shot up at that, all eyes on her.

‘Someone has been defacing romance novels?’ Kaori asked like she was preparing for battle, like she would defend the romance section with her life. Hazel had to admire their dedication to the genre.

‘No, no. Not like that. I just noticed a few books were … marked up.’

‘That’s weird,’ Jeanie said. ‘Why would someone do that?’

‘I don’t know. But I didn’t know if you guys were doing some kind of … I don’t know, a secret romance thing…’

‘A secret romance thing?’ Isabel asked, handing Mateo another crayon. The little boy sat at her feet scribbling on a coloring sheet. ‘Not sure what that means, Hazel, but now I kinda want to do a secret romance thing!’

‘Ooo we could do like a blind date with a book sort of thing!’ Jacob piped in.

‘Now, how would that work exactly?’ Kaori asked, leaning forward, the book defacing crimes already forgotten.

‘Yeah, would it be sort of like a Secret Santa where we gift each other a secret book?’ Jeanie was all in, already writing notes in the notebook she’d brought along. And just like that the Dream Harbor Book Club was off and running on their next secret-romance book idea and Hazel had no more answers than she had this morning. Although, Nancy and Linda were suspiciously quiet when Hazel asked about the defaced books and even now the two women were studiously avoiding her eye.

Were the two oldest members of the book club messing with her books? Were they messing with her? Nancy looked up and flashed her a smile before jumping into the conversation.

Maybe she’d been imagining it.

Maybe that beach orgasm had scrambled her brain.

Maybe she should just be happy that the clues were taking her down some very enjoyable roads so far.

Jeanie grabbed her hand before she could walk away and tugged her down onto the arm of her chair. ‘We’ll let you know if we notice anything,’ she whispered as the rest of the group continued their chatter. ‘We can’t have people ruining your books.’

Hazel smiled at her friend. ‘Thanks, Jeanie.’

‘Maybe it’s a ghost,’ she said with a smile.

Hazel laughed. ‘I don’t think Casper can hold a highlighter.’

Jeanie’s response was cut off by her phone vibrating on the table. ‘Sorry, sorry!’ She reached for the phone but not before Jacob spotted who was calling.

‘It’s Bennett!’ he said, clapping his hands. ‘Answer it.’

Jeanie rolled her eyes but answered the call. Her brother’s face filled the screen. He looked remarkably like Jeanie, same dark hair, same expressive eyebrows, but where Jeanie’s eyes were a dark brown, Bennett’s were light blue, almost gray, and a dark stubble covered his jawline. If Hazel wasn’t in over her head with a certain ginger fisherman, she would probably replace Jeanie’s brother to be quite cute. But she had enough on her plate.

‘Hey, Ben, I’m at book club.’

‘Hi, Bennett!’ Jacob called and Jeanie rolled her eyes with a laugh.

‘Hey, book club.’

‘Hi Bennett!’ The other members echoed. Ben’s smile grew.

‘When are you coming for a visit?’ Jacob continued, scooting closer to Jeanie so their faces shared the screen. Hazel had to laugh at the bemused expression on Bennett’s face. Apparently, Jeanie’s brother had become an honorary, long-distance member of the book club, although Hazel had no idea if he read the books.

‘Actually,’ Jeanie cut in before her brother could answer. ‘I’ve been trying to convince Bennett to come stay for the holidays.’

Jacob’s eyes lit up. ‘You definitely should! It’s so beautiful here in December and then you can meet my new boyfriend.’

‘Boyfriend, huh? Hope this one treats you better.’

Jeanie waved a hand between them. ‘You two can have your little guy-chat later. Have you considered my idea?’

‘I’ve considered it.’

‘And?’

‘Jeanie, a month away is a long time.’

‘But you can work remotely!’

‘I have the dogs…’

‘Bring them!’

A dog barked somewhere on Bennett’s end as though agreeing with her and Jeanie grinned. ‘See. They want a vacation, too.’

Bennett rolled his eyes, but Hazel could see his resolve cracking.

‘We can go get a tree and go ice-skating and do all the winter stuff you never get to do anymore!’ Jeanie was on a roll now and she got up to finish the call away from the group.

‘Tell him we will pick a sweet holiday read so we don’t damage his delicate sensibilities!’ Isabel called as Jeanie walked away.

Hazel hoped Ben would say yes. Jeanie missed him and she would love to meet her friend’s brother. But thinking ahead to the holidays also left a panicked feeling in her stomach, a feeling of already missing something. Missing someone.

What would her and Noah be by the holidays? Friends? Back to acquaintances? How do you go back to casual conversations and friendly smiles with someone who previously put his hand down your pants?

This was why Hazel didn’t do casual.

She didn’t know how.

But Noah did. He’d teach her, right? He’d show her how to end this thing between them, just like he ended all his other summer flings. She’d chosen him for her summer of fun for a reason. She could learn to be reckless and he could get her out of his system – after their interlude on the beach, Hazel could no longer deny that Noah did in fact have the hots for her. But it wouldn’t last. They didn’t make sense together. Noah needed a girl who would go rock climbing with him or jet skiing or… or… other adventurous things like that. And he certainly wouldn’t be content to spend the weekend in bed reading and working on the Sunday crossword puzzle. Right? Right. Keeping this thing short and sweet was a win win.

Somehow this line of reasoning was doing nothing to stop the dread in her gut. She didn’t want to think about the holidays or what her life would look like then. Would she be exactly the same as she was now but with one less Noah in her life?

A depressing thought she quickly shook off.

This was her wild and crazy twenties condensed into two months. She refused to overthink it.

The book club meeting was slowly breaking up so she got up and wandered back to the front counter, straightening a pile of books on the New Releases table. The latest autumnal themed romance novels were selling fast and she’d have to order more soon. It turned out the book club wasn’t wrong about what people liked to read. At least her boss would be happy.

Melinda Church was the current owner of The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore but she only made an appearance here once every quarter or so. Her rich father had swept into town about ten years ago and bought it for her when she was only eighteen. The entire town had gone into a panic that he would change everything about their quaint bookstore, or worse, tear it down completely. But the store was a gift and he let his daughter do what she wanted with it.

As it turned out, after the first couple of years when she went wild with bizarre decorating choices (one whole wall was still covered in chalkboard paint, though Hazel had moved the children’s section over there and let the toddlers take out their artistic inclinations in a sanctioned area) and questionable book orders (for a few months they had nothing but self-help books and psychological thrillers doing nothing good for the mental health of the town), she tired of the whole enterprise. She gave Hazel a promotion and a raise and left her in charge of the store. She came in from the city four times a year to make sure the place was still standing and to occasionally change the name of the shop when she felt bored.

Hazel didn’t mind. The situation worked well for her.

She finished her straightening and went back behind the counter as the book club trickled out. It was a good job, running the bookstore. She loved it, but she couldn’t help but wonder what she might have done instead if she hadn’t been made manager so early on. Had she intended to work here forever?

She honestly couldn’t remember.

Jeanie wandered back into the shop, saying goodbye to her fellow book clubbers as they made their way out the door. She came over to the counter.

‘So did you convince him?’ Hazel asked, gesturing toward the phone.

Jeanie shrugged. ‘Maybe. He’s still not sure, but I think it would be good for him.’

‘And good for you.’

Her friend smiled. ‘And me. I miss him. And he could stay in my apartment above the shop and I could stay at Logan’s.’

Hazel lifted her eyebrows. ‘So … you’re moving in with Logan?’

Jeanie’s cheeks colored. ‘It could be a good test run.’

‘Yeah, and you’re there all the time anyway.’

Jeanie’s dark brows knitted together. ‘True … but officially moving in feels like a bigger deal.’

Hazel shrugged. ‘He adores you.’

Jeanie’s smile bloomed at Hazel’s reminder. ‘I know.’

‘And he doesn’t care that you leave your dirty socks around the house.’

‘Hey! He told you that?’

Hazel laughed. ‘He said it like it was cute!’

Jeanie made a face and went to grab her notebook and romance novel from the reading nook. ‘I have to get back to the café and then I have to tell Logan to stop literally airing our dirty laundry.’

‘Your secret is safe with me.’ Hazel assured her with a smile.

Jeanie pretended to scowl at her but the woman was too cheerful to pull it off. ‘Oh, so what about the defaced books? Are they just scribbled in or what?’

‘Oh … uh…’ Hazel pushed her glasses up her nose. A need to protect her clues flared up inside her. It didn’t make sense but she wasn’t ready to share them, to share this whole bizarre summer. She wasn’t ready for everyone to think she was so pathetic that she had latched on to some randomly highlighted lines and based the last two months of her twenties on them. ‘Yeah, just seems to be some random marks. Probably a kid or something.’

‘Hmm. Strange.’

‘I’ll keep a better eye on things. I’m sure it won’t happen again.’ Even as she said it she hoped her words wouldn’t come true. If the clues stopped, what excuse would she have to keep hanging out with Noah?

His face above her as she came apart yesterday, the blue sky, bright behind his copper hair, flashed through her mind. Right. That might be a good enough reason. For the next few weeks anyway.

‘Okay, let me know if you need anything!’

‘Thanks, Jeanie.’

‘See you later!’

Hazel watched Jeanie walk past the large front windows of the shop before turning back to her work. She had orders to put in for next month and all the chatter about Bennett coming for Christmas reminded her she needed to get the holiday books in ASAP. It might still feel like summer outside but cozy season was rapidly approaching.

She had been very cozy yesterday, huddled under Noah’s blanket into the late afternoon. She’d returned home a little sunburned, very wind-blown, and more than a little bit … happy.

For better or worse, Noah and the clues were making her happy.

And as a birthday gift to herself she refused to think about all the ways it could go horribly wrong.