The Happily Ever After Bookstore Read online

  THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER BOOKSTORE

  BERNADETTE MARIE

  Copyright © 2022 by Bernadette Marie, THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER BOOKSTORE

  All rights reserved. SMASHWORDS EDITION

  * * *

  This is a fictional work. The names, characters, incidents, and locations are solely the concepts and products of the author’s imagination, or are used to create a fictitious story and should not be construed as real. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  * * *

  Published by 5 PRINCE PUBLISHING & BOOKS, LLC

  PO Box 865, Arvada, CO 80001

  www.5PrinceBooks.com

  * * *

  ISBN digital: 978-1-63112-283-5

  ISBN print: 978-1-63112-284-2

  * * *

  Cover Credit: Marianne Nowicki

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  Other Titles by Bernadette Marie

  I. The Book Swap

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  II. In with the Old

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  III. Happily Ever After

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Epilogue

  Please Review

  Meet The Author

  Other Titles from

  To Stan,

  * * *

  Sometimes you meet someone in August,

  fall in love in October,

  and are engaged by January.

  * * *

  Lucky me.

  * * *

  Thank you for being my Happily Ever After.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To my boys, I hope you find your happily ever after, no matter what that might look like to you. You deserve happiness, always.

  * * *

  To my Mama and Sissy, How lucky am I to get family and friends? Yeah, we could totally be in business together—haha. Though it would be a quilt store with a book section.

  * * *

  To Cate, Meh! (I love you!) Thank you for your knowledge and your humor.

  * * *

  To Ronda Simmons, thanks for the book and the fun inspiration! Potatoes for all! Check out her book: The Potato Primer.

  * * *

  To Kari Horst, Barbara Hackel, Mindy Berkner, Megan Hammond, and Carissa Robins—Thank you for taking the time to be the last set of eyes on this fun project. I appreciate you!

  * * *

  To my Dedicated and Valued Readers, Thank you for coming back time after time to fall in love with characters that are near and dear to my heart.

  OTHER TITLES BY BERNADETTE MARIE

  THE KELLER FAMILY SERIES

  The Executive’s Decision

  A Second Chance

  Opposite Attraction

  Center Stage

  Lost and Found

  Love Songs

  Home Run

  The Acceptance

  The Merger

  The Escape Clause

  A Romance for Christmas

  * * *

  THE WALKER FAMILY SERIES

  Walker Pride

  Stargazing

  Walker Bride

  Wanderlust

  Walker Revenge

  Victory

  Walker Spirit

  Beginnings

  Walker Defense

  Masterpiece

  At Last

  * * *

  THE MATCHMAKER SERIES

  Matchmakers

  Encore

  Finding Hope

  * * *

  THE THREE MRS. MONROES TRILOGY

  Amelia

  Penelope

  Vivian

  * * *

  THE ASPEN CREEK SERIES

  First Kiss

  Unexpected Admirer

  On Thin Ice

  Indomitable Spirit

  * * *

  THE DENVER BRIDE SERIES

  Cart Before the Horse

  Never Saw it Coming

  Candy Kisses

  * * *

  ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

  Chasing Shadows

  * * *

  PARANORMAL ROMANCES

  The Tea Shop

  The Last Goodbye

  * * *

  HOLIDAY FAVORITES

  Corporate Christmas

  Tropical Christmas

  Date for Hire

  * * *

  THE DEVEREAUX FAMILY SERIES

  Kennedy Devereaux

  Chase Devereaux

  Max Devereaux

  Paige Devereaux

  * * *

  FUNERALS AND WEDDINGS SERIES

  Something Lost

  Something Discovered

  Something Found

  Something Forbidden

  Something New

  * * *

  STAND ALONE TITLES

  The Happily Ever After Bookstore

  PART I

  THE BOOK SWAP

  CHAPTER 1

  Bells chimed above the door as Sadie pushed it open and walked into the bookstore. The smell of books, old and new, incense, teas, and soaps filled her nose.

  It had been cold enough outside that when she stepped into the warm store, her glasses fogged up.

  Slipping them off, she wiped them with the ends of her scarf, and put them back on.

  Sadie had been coming to the bookstore since high school. Leona, the bookstore owner, was a whimsical woman whom Sadie enjoyed. On her recommendation, Sadie read all the great classics, such as The Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, Romeo and Juliet.

  Leona was the first person to hand her a copy of Harry Potter. As she grew older, Sadie’s tastes changed quite a bit. Now, she rather enjoyed a contemporary romance that offered a happily ever after.

  She wasn’t above reading a great mystery or science-fiction novel, Sadie found that she just enjoyed people falling in love.

  Perhaps she enjoyed it as much as she did, now that she was edging out of her twenties, because she had yet to find love herself. Her mother had never found love, not even with Sadie’s father. But that wasn’t unusual, many of Sadie’s friends’ parents were not married either. It was a sign of the times. Things were hard. Money was tight. And, sometimes, people just didn’t care about one another after a while.

  Leona appeared from behind the bookshelf. Her wiry long hair, which was never colored and now glinted with strands of silver, hung past her shoulders, and the many bangle bracelets on her wrist jingled.

  “Sadie, my darling, how are you today?” Leona asked.

  Sadie hiked her purse up on her shoulder. “I am wonderful. How are you?”

  Leona waved her hands through the air, as she would often do, to encompass the store. “Everything is perfect. What have you come in for today? A new fantasy? I have one that will take you through the forest with fae. I have a new biography; of a silver screen legend. Oh, and I have a cookbook for you, or for your mother, so you can use all of those potatoes you have.“ Leona smiled.

  Sadie couldn’t help but smile at the comment. That summer, Sadie had purchased a book for her mother on gardening. It seemed as if all of a sudden the earth was speaking to Sadie’s mother, and she wanted to garden. As it was, the only thing her mother was handy at growing was potatoes.

  “I may have to look at the potato book after all. But I was thinking I would love a holiday romance.“

  Leona gave a low hum in consideration. “A holiday romance? The holidays are almost over.”

  Sadie nodded. “Yes, but I’m needing something to make me feel more festive, I suppose. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and my mom is so depressed, she didn’t want me to help her put up the tree or any lights this year. So I need some happily ever after.”

  Leona's forehead creased as she thought. “Go back to the romance section. Let me check my computer,” she said, lifting her brows in encouragement as the front doo
r chimed again.

  Sadie walked to the section on romance, which she was more than familiar with.

  Leona had shelves of new books and used books. Some of them Sadie had already read and brought back for store credit. But she looked at the spine of each book and knew buried in the pages were love stories which brought her hope.

  * * *

  Charlie winced at the smell of the small store when he walked in. Even his grandmother didn’t wear that many scents at one time. What was all of that?

  He’d considered turning around, but the woman who moved in behind the counter had already caught his eye.

  She smiled wide, her piercing blue eyes sparkling from six feet away. When she moved about behind the counter, her bracelets clanked together. Pushing her hair over her shoulder, she picked up a teacup from a saucer and lifted it to her lips.

  “Hello, how are you today?” she asked.

  Charlie felt a warmth resonate from her greeting, and he thought it was funny because a moment earlier he’d been freezing outside.

  “Good, thanks.” He pulled off his gloves and continued to walk into the store.

  “Are you looking for anything specific?” the woman asked.

  Charlie pulled off his hat and assumed his hair had sprung up when the woman’s eyes lifted. “I suppose I am. I’m looking for a book about some old movie star that just came out. I don’t know. The cover is white, and the image is in black and white.”

  The woman smiled wide. “I know exactly which one you’re looking for. It’s three shelves over and facing out. You can’t miss it.”

  Charlie nodded, tucking his cap and gloves into the pocket of his coat.

  He walked toward the section where the woman had directed him. A woman bundled in a coat and scarf looked at the shelves on the adjacent wall. Eventually, they were nearly back-to-back, each searching for books.

  The woman had been right. When he saw the book, he knew it right away. Charlie took it from the shelf and stepped back just as the woman behind him did the same.

  The woman stumbled one way, dropping her book, he stumbled the other direction, dropping his.

  “I’m so sorry,” the woman said as she scrambled to pick up both books. As she rose, the book he’d come for in her hand, Charlie blinked hard.

  The woman holding out the book to him looked as if she’d walked out of a cartoon illustration of a bookworm. Of course, she was real, and cute. Big round glasses accentuated large dark eyes. There were freckles on her nose, and her curly hair was piled atop her head in a very messy bun.

  Charlie wasn’t sure why he couldn’t even speak.

  “Vivian Leigh?” she asked, looking down at the book. “Are you an old movie buff?”

  Charlie blinked again, realizing she was talking to him. “No.”

  “Oh,” the woman said, her pink lips forming that O long after the words had vanished. “I wonder if this was the book Leona was telling me about.” She turned it over and looked at the back.

  “Who is Leona?” he asked.

  “The woman who owns the store.”

  “I told her what the cover of the book I was in search of looked like. She told me where to find it.”

  The woman, still holding out the book he’d dropped, smiled. “She’s a book miracle. She knows every book and every story in this store.” The woman looked again at the book in her hand. “But this wasn’t the one you wanted?”

  Charlie finally took the book from her. “No, well yes, it was. It’s not for me. It’s for my grandmother. She has Alzheimer's. She doesn’t remember any of us, but she remembers these people,” he said, looking at the cover of the book and then wondering why he’d shared that much information.

  “I think she’ll enjoy it then.”

  Charlie nodded and watched as the woman turned and walked away.

  Looking down at the book and then back up at the empty space where the woman had been, he wondered why he felt so odd. Maybe it was all the scents in the store, and they were just making him dizzy.

  CHAPTER 2

  “I think I found one,” Sadie said as she handed the book to Leona.

  “Oh, I like this one. You made a wise choice,” Leona said as the man who had bumped into Sadie walked up behind her.

  Leona lifted her head to acknowledge the man. “You found it.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I knew it when I saw it. Just like you’d said.”

  Leona took the book from him. “Let me get it wrapped up for you. It’s a Christmas gift, correct?”

  The man nodded and the mass of blond curls atop his head bounced as he did so. “For my grandmother.”

  Leona picked up Sadie’s book as well. “Let me wrap these up for you both, and we’ll get you on your way.”

  Leona carried the books to a counter behind the cash register and turned her back to them.

  The man leaned closer to Sadie. “She’s really wrapping them?”

  Sadie nodded. “She wraps everything. It doesn’t matter what it is. She believes that if you buy it for yourself, it’s a gift too.”

  The man nodded slowly and eased back.

  When Leona turned around, she had two books wrapped in Christmas paper. She slid them into brown craft bags with the bookstore's name stamped on the front.

  Leona rang up the two sales and gave each of them their totals.

  Sadie began to dig through her purse and the man handed Leona his credit card.

  “Actually, why don’t you put both books on my card,” he offered, and Sadie snapped her head.

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  The corners of the man’s mouth curled up. “I feel like it. I don’t know what it is about this store, but it makes me feel Christmassy.”

  Sadie looked around. Leona had added a few lights and that antique aluminum silver tree in the window. Maybe it was festive among the clutter.

  “Are you sure? You don’t know me.”

  The man nodded and held out his hand. “I’m Charlie.”

  Sadie shook his hand, though she still had her fingerless mittens on. “Sadie.”

  “Now I know you," Charlie said as Leona handed him both bags. “Merry Christmas, Sadie." He handed her the bag.

  “Merry Christmas, Charlie.”

  Charlie looked back at Leona. “Merry Christmas to you, too. My grandmother is going to love her book.”

  Leona pressed her hands together at her chest, as if in prayer, and smiled at Charlie. “Merry Christmas. I’m sure the book will make you very happy,” Leona said with a wink.

  Charlie waited for Leona to realize what she’d said, but she kept smiling at him, as if they shared some secret. Charlie decided that was his signal to leave, and he gave them both a little wave, and walked out of the store.