The bell above the bookstore door announced Maeve’s entry. An employee called out, “Welcome to Mapletown Books!”
Maeve squinted through the glare of the morning sunlight pouring in the front windows to see who had greeted her. The woman came into focus when Maeve approached the bookshelf she was restocking. As the worker turned to face her, a sliver of silvery blond hair escaped her clip. Pushing it away, she smiled. “Can I help you find something?”
“Are you Andrea?” Maeve asked.
“Yes?”
“I’m Maeve. I’m here for the job interview.”
Andrea exclaimed, “Oh! Good.” She held onto the bookcase and slowly pushed herself to a standing position. “You don’t know how glad I was to get your email. I’m supposed to be retiring and downgrading to part-time, but I haven’t been able to find enough help to make that possible. There is Mallory, but she’s still in school and can only work from 3:30 to 7:00. I need someone to take the 9:00 to 3:30 shift at least three days a week. Is that something you could do?”
Surprised at the lady’s eagerness to hire her, Maeve took several seconds to form a response. “Um, yes! That will work out perfectly. My schedule is wide open.”
Andrea’s smile could’ve lit the room, were the sunlight not already doing such a brilliant job. “Excellent!” Placing a hand on Maeve’s forearm, she said, “It’ll be much easier for you to get up and down to restock these shelves than it is for me. My old joints went ahead and retired without me, I’m afraid!”
Maeve was no spring chicken either, though she might be twenty years younger than Andrea, if she had to guess. She could still climb a stepladder and bend down if necessary, especially if she stretched beforehand. “I’ve been doing a lot of climbing and squatting while working on my new place. At least I’m not out of practice.”
Andrea turned toward her, an inquisitive look on her face. “Where do you live? I’m familiar with most of the surrounding area.”
“The old Jamison place,” she answered.
Shock covered Andrea’s face. “You’re kidding!”
“No, I’m afraid not. I knew going in it would be a huge project, but I bought it so cheap that I’ve had money left to pour into updates. It’s been keeping me busy, but I’m ready to get back out among the living.”
Andrea raised her eyebrows. “Interesting choice of words. But I sympathize. After my hip surgery, I was off work for six weeks. The solitude drove me nuts!” Pointing to a table near the coffeepot, she instructed, “Please, sit. Let’s have a cup and chat.”
Maeve took a seat while Andrea poured the brew. Passing a basket of creamer and sugar packets across the table, Andrea said, “I hope this is to your liking. It’s much easier than keeping those fancy refrigerated creamers in stock.”
“It suits me just fine.” Maeve peeled open a couple of creamers and dumped them into her coffee. “This smells like quality coffee.”
“Oh, it is. I wouldn’t want the big chain bookstore in Endtown to show us up.”
Stirring in the sugar, Maeve asked, “How far away is that?”
“It’s about thirty minutes from here. I suppose that’s far enough to encourage the locals to come to us first. Of course, there aren’t nearly as many locals in Mapletown. We only have a population of 1400.”
Maeve took a sip. The brew was indeed as good as that in any big bookstore coffee shop. “In my experience, small town residents tend to be far more loyal to their hometown businesses than those living in big cities. They appreciate having stores nearby, and they want to keep them in business so they don’t have to drive further to shop.”
Andrea leaned forward on her elbows. “Speaking of your experience, tell me about your work history. What did you do before coming to Mapletown?”
Maeve took a deep breath and released a laugh. “What did I not do? Let’s see, my first job was at a clothing boutique. When the place closed five years after I started, I went to a factory for a year and a half. Then I spent ten years working in an office as a data entry clerk. When they closed, I waited tables at a fish and steak restaurant for three years before a friend asked me to join her at her new bakery, where I worked until I moved here about a month ago.”
Andrea appeared impressed. “So you have plenty of customer service experience, then.”
Lifting her mug, Maeve nodded in Andrea’s direction and replied, “That, I do.”
Andrea set her cup on a crocheted coaster. “I think you’d be a great addition to our little staff. Now, I know the pay is probably less than that of your previous jobs, but I hope that the enjoyment you get from working here will make up for that. If you’re looking to fix a loneliness problem, we’ve got you covered. The people in this town are some of the friendliest I’ve met.”
Maeve smiled as she thought of the emerald pendant hiding in her wall. Money might not be an issue, especially if this scavenger hunt led to similar treasures. “That sounds just up my alley.”