Page 68 of No Such Thing as Serendipity

“You’ve been holding out on me.” I pretended to glare at her.

“I wouldn’t go complaining,” Katlynn said. “You look amazing.”

I felt amazing, too. “What about the rest of you? I’d say we all clean up pretty well.”

“Hey, where’s Dana?” I asked, finally noticing she wasn’t there.

“She went with the girls from the Gratitude Grotto,” Helena said.

With Noelle’s group. I breathed a sigh of relief. I wanted to enjoy my friends, not spend the day being ogled.

We’d stopped at a restaurant off the highway and had a leisurely lunch before we drove into downtown Madison. As hard as I tried, nobody would tell me what our plans were. We had three hours to kill. I hoped they’d planned something more than wandering in and out of the downtown shops.

Emma had me park in a lot one block off State Street. As we pulled into our parking spot, I glanced over my shoulder at Helena. “I’m sorry. I forgot to ask. Are you up for walking?”

Helena gave me a smile, and her eyes looked clear, without the pain I usually saw in them. “I’m doing well today, but thanks for asking. Walking will do me good.”

I couldn’t help but notice Katlynn jumped out of the truck and helped Helena down. Ever since Helena had broken down in the sharing circle, Katlynn made it her mission to look out for Helena. It was an odd pairing, but who was I to judge?

As soon as we rounded the corner onto State Street, I had an idea where we were headed. The sign for Lift Our Voices Bookstore was just down the block. I thought of letting Emma surprise me, but since she’d tormented me by not telling me, I figured turnabout was fair play.

“Hey.” I pointed. “Isn’t that Robyn’s bookstore?”

Annie, who was walking just in front of Emma and me, groaned.

“What?” I said, going for clueless.

Emma shot me a dirty look. “Don’t give up your day job for acting. You’re not good at it.”

I laughed and put my arm around Emma while she laughed with me. Only a week ago, I’d scoffed at the feminist bookstore, but now I was eager to visit.

What was this place doing to me? I pulled Emma closer and said, “Thanks, sis.”

“For what?” Emma twisted in my grasp so she could see my face.

“For pushing me to do something I never would have done myself.”

“Does that mean you’ll listen to me from now on?”

I laughed. “Not a chance.”

When we entered the store, it was larger than I expected. From the outside, I hadn’t recognized the bookstore occupied two storefronts. I’d thought the second was a café. Actually, it was. While connected to the bookstore, the large room sported acoffee bar, but where I expected there to be tables, rows of chairs lined the space.

I turned to Emma and pointed. “Is that why we’re here?”

Emma smiled. “One reason. We’ve got almost an hour to browse the shelves. Remember how much you loved to go to Borders when we were kids?”

I remembered. Back then, I could spend hours and hours lost in the bookstore. Sadly, I couldn’t remember the last time I picked up a book that wasn’t work related.

“I’m so happy you guys made it,” Robyn said as she appeared from between the bookshelves. She opened her arms wide. “Welcome.”

As the group exchanged greetings, I couldn’t help but notice how the space suited Robyn. It might sound cliché, but she seemed in her element, as if the bookstore was a part of her.

“Please,” she said. “You ladies browse. Get a cup of coffee. You have plenty of time since the program doesn’t start for another forty-five minutes.”

Annie smiled. “I’m going to take a quick look around, but I can’t stay. Still, I must check out your bookstore.”

Robyn tilted her head. “Other plans?”