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Cat nodded. “Just as I expected.”

“Seriously, Cat. I know you can’t help but think about her sometimes.”

“If it were up to Cory she would erase the woman from my memory,” Cat said.

Jessica laughed. “You’ve got that right.”

“Now, CeCe is a little more reasonable. She simply wants her banned from the metroplex.”

They both laughed.

“I wasn’t really thinking of her in the way you might imagine. I was looking at second chance romances and thought there was no way that would ever happen to me.”

“Really?” Jessica said, tilting her head. “You mean to tell me if Hattie walked in here right now and told you what a fool she’d been, you wouldn’t reconsider?”

Before Cat could reply, a bell echoed through the store, indicating a customer had come in the front door.

Cat smiled. “I’ve got this.” She winked at Jessica and walked towards the front of the store.

Cat put on her best smile and was silently grateful to this customer who just helped her avoid answering a question she didn’t even want to think about, much less believe would happen.

“Hi, welcome to Your Next Great Read. I would be happy to help you find a book or point you in the direction of your favorite genre,” Cat said.

The woman who’d walked into the store returned Cat’s smile and paused. “Are you the owner?”

Cat nodded. “Yes ma’am. I’m Cat Sloan.” She held out her hand and the woman gently held it then released it. Cat could feel the warmth from this woman’s hand and once again smiled at her.

“I’ve been watching this place during construction and couldn’t wait for you to open. I’m Elena Burkett.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Elena. You must love books since you were waiting for us,” Cat said.

“I do love to read and honestly it’s too easy to download a book these days, but there’s something about walking among the titles and seeing what draws you in,” Elena said.

The smile on Cat’s face grew. “That is exactly how I feel. You never know what you’ll discover from simply browsing around the store.”

“That’s what I’d like to do, but I wanted to ask about a specific genre, if I may,” Elena said.

“Please do. I’m here to guide you on this adventure or step away when you want to explore on your own.”

Elena chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “Do you mean that or are you trying to sell me a book?”

“Oh, I mean it, but …” Cat let her voice trail off as she grinned.

“I think you may love books as much as I do,” Elena stated.

“I did quit my job to open a bookstore, so yes, I love books. You’ll find a wide variety of genres in the store, but I have a love of sapphic fiction and romance so there is an extensive inventory of those titles,” Cat explained.

“Show me,” Elena said as her eyes widened.

Cat grinned and guided Elena past the displays at the front of the store and into her favorite section.

“There are labels at the top of each shelf so you’ll know what books those shelves hold. For example, this first section is romance. But it is further broken down into more specific tropes.”

“Oh, I see,” Elena said, scanning the shelves. “There’s age gap and friends to lovers. Oh, and second chance. How about ice queens? The chillier the better.”

Cat chuckled. “Oh, Elena. I have ice queens on top of ice queens.” Cat showed her the section and then pointed out a few favorites.

“I’ll let you look through the titles without me looking over your shoulder, but I wanted to point out the reading nook at the end of these shelves.”