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She shrugged. “Journalism is a difficult career, so I have to be ready to pivot to something else if it doesn’t work out.” Ouch. That sounded about right for a lot of industries.

Once she was gone, I relaxed and sent Sophie a message that she could come visit me if she wanted. Now that she was working remotely as an assistant for a literary agent, her schedule was flexible.

I’m on my way with coffee and treats

Oh bless her.

Sophie did havelots of treats and coffee with her and I was almost as eager for that as I was to see her.

“It’s incredible. These shelves are gorgeous,” she said, running her hand along one.

“Thanks,” I said, chugging my coffee down and begging it to hit my bloodstream as quickly as possible. “You should haveseen the woman who built them. She had themostgorgeous arms. Let’s say I didn’t get a lot of other work done that day.”

Sophie laughed and pulled an almond croissant out of the bag and took a careful bite.

“Ohhh, hot. Was she single?”

I sighed. “Married.”

“Bummer.”

“Plus, she had red hair and I don’t think you should have more than one redhead in a relationship.” I flipped my ponytail and Sophie cackled.

“That’s probably wise. Good thing you and Cade didn’t meet sooner.”

Cade wasn’t my type. She was a little bit too…something. A great friend, but not someone I’d want to date.

“How’s Reid?” I asked as we leaned against the checkout counter. I still didn’t have any chairs in here. I’d ordered some folding chairs that we’d use for events and book clubs, but they were on backorder and wouldn’t be here for another week. I’d also ordered a few accent chairs for customers to sit on, and to make the space cozier.

Shockingly, those were also on backorder. Once the murals were finished this week, I wanted to hit up a few places to get some accent tables and other decorative elements. I’d rather get something vintage or used than something new. I wanted the store to feel cozy and lived in. Like you were stepping inside someone’s living room. Shoppers should feel comfortable above all. Comfortable to browse and look and find whatever books were right for them.

“Reid is great. She’s making us chocolate cupcakes as we speak.” Sophie’s smile was radiant.

“I love how much you love her,” I said, and she giggled.

“I love her so much. It scares me how much.”

She had another bite of her croissant, still smiling.

“So does that mean you might be thinking about locking her down? Putting a ring on it?”

Sophie exhaled. “I don’t know. It took a long time to even get Reid on board with a relationship period. And then she’s dealing with processing her family stuff still.”

I nodded. “Have you talked about it?”

Sophie nodded. “I mean, in an abstract sense. But no concrete plans.” She shrugged. “I’m not in a rush. I’m really not. We’re happy.”

They were, but if I knew Sophie, and I did, I knew she would want a big, gorgeous wedding where she could invite everyone she adored and probably wear a princess dress and force Reid to say a bunch of wonderful and embarrassing things about her in public. And don’t forget about the food and the cake and the dancing all night.

Part of me thought about having a word with Reid, but that would be interfering a little too much. Telling Jo about it might be the way to go. She’d have more insight into how Reid’s mind worked and what she was thinking. My suspicion was that Reid wasn’t as ambivalent about getting engaged as Sophie seemed to think.

“Are you going to have bookshelf ladders?” she asked, reminding me where I was.

“I really wanted to, but it seemed like a huge safety hazard. And they’d really just be for aesthetics. All I could see was a lawsuit.” Even though this was a romance bookstore, my brain went to kid proofing the space every time.

Sophie frowned. “Yeah, that makes sense, but what a shame.”

“I know,” I said with a sigh.