We walked to the front door of the bookstore, side by side. No hand holding this time, not like when we’d left his office the other day. I understood, since we needed to act discrete and not upset Beatrice, even if she’d done more than her fair share of upsetting both Asher and I, but still. I would have liked to have the feel of his hand in mine, that tiny bit of comfort.
Asher opened the door for me and I stepped inside. Robert had finished setting up my area since the last time and I nearly rushed over in glee to investigate what he’d done, but I stopped myself. At the counter, older, with fading red and grey hair, stood Robert.
“Jessika!” he said, smiling wide. “Wonderful for you to stop by. I’ve added some new additions to your shelves. Do you want to see?”#p#分页标题#e#
Asher stepped in behind me and nodded to Robert.
“Oh, did you bring a friend?” Robert asked. He never missed a stride and moved out behind the counter to greet us both. “I’m Robert,” he said, holding out his hand.
Asher took his hand and shook it. “Asher,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“You look familiar,” Robert said. “Have you been here before?”
“No.” Asher shook his head. “It’s a lovely place, though. Jessika has said nice things about it. I’m hoping to become more of a frequenter. I always enjoy a good book.”
“Well, Jessika’s been a great help here. I should probably pay her, that’s how useful she is, but, well…”
I shook my head. “No, no. I like it. I just come in for fun.”
“I know. I appreciate it. Shall we go see the new additions to your section? Maybe your friend will find it interesting. I’d love to—”
“We didn’t actually come for that right now, Robert,” I said. The confused look in his eyes hurt to see, but I promised myself I’d make it up to him later.
“I was hoping you’d know my wife,” Asher added, taking control of the conversation. “Beatrice Landseer? Or do you know a Solomon Royce? He works for me, and…”
“Oh,” Robert said. “Oh! You’re Asher. Asher Landseer. Yes, I recognize you. I… this isn’t really… I should have tidied up. It doesn’t always look like this, you see, and…”
“No, no. It looks wonderful. It reminds me of my library at home. I’d love to look around after, but I have pressing matters to attend to with Beatrice and Solomon right now.”
Robert nodded. “I think they’re out back. It was a surprise when they first came here, actually. I don’t know what brought them, but they’ve offered to help me out quite a lot. I’m sure you’re aware, since you’re Beatrice’s husband. She’s a little harsh sometimes, but I think deep down she’s a good person. Should I go get them?”
“Oh, no. Jessika knows her way around, right?”
I nodded. “You can stay here for the early morning rush, Robert. We’ll only be a second.”
Robert guffawed. “Early morning rush. Right! I think having you four in the store is the most people I’ve had this early in the morning in years.”
I grinned. “We’ll buy four times as much before we leave. How about that?”
“That would be wonderful,” Robert said. “You don’t have to, of course, but that would be wonderful. Your wife and that other fellow are in the back, Mr. Landseer. It’s a little hectic over there, so please pardon the clutter. I use it as storage for extra bookcases mainly.”
“I’ll show you,” I said to Asher, tugging on his jacket sleeve. To Robert, I added, “Thank you, Robert.”
Robert nodded and shuffled back around the counter, fiddling with a few of the books stored back there.
I led Asher through the bookstore. We passed by my section briefly and I whispered to him about it, explaining how Robert had set it up for me. He smiled and glanced at a few of the books before we pressed on.
Robert’s bookstore was mostly orderly, but nothing like a conventional bookstore. He set up little reading areas behind bookcases shaped into rooms, with blank spaces as doors. Asher and I walked past the children’s reading area, where some local parents brought their younger kids for special readings after school, and then through the gaming room. That was my idea, too, even if I knew nothing about it. The older kids, high school level or so, loved playing these trading card games and adventures and dragons or something, so why not give them a place to do it here? The bookstore was nearly an impromptu after-school daycare in those regards, but Robert seemed to like it. He made a few sales from it, and it filled the store with more people and kept him busy.