“Don’t hesitate if you actually need something though. I’m going to pretend I’m getting a haircut on the beach, but I’ll just be next door.”
“Shoo,” I called, waving my hand in at him.
After he left, I started cleaning. For once in my life, I didn’t mind it. At home, alone, I would’ve used magic to do the job quickly, but here in public, I dusted and wiped with my own two hands, like a regular person. Clint didn’t have time to fuss with dusting while he did all the other things involved with running this place.
The front door had a bell on it, so when I finished around the counter, I grabbed the duster and started on the shelves. I’d hear someone if they came in.
They were kinda bad. I took a quick circle around the place, locked the front door for just a second, and then twirled my finger in the middle of the room. Dust flew at me from all over the books, circling me as I twirled my finger.
Walking slowly so it didn’t actually get on me, I headed for the back door. Lifting my finger, I directed the dust tornado to be higher and ducked under it. I still had to twirl my finger, but I leaned out the back door and looked both ways.
Nobody there. Good. I stepped back and pointed my twirling finger out the door, then tucked it against my palm once the dust was all outside the door.
It fell to the ground slowly, floating on the slight breeze in the alley.
“There,” I said smugly and shut and locked the back door. I hurried back to the front and unlocked that door just in time to see a woman walking from across the street.
She looked so familiar. I hurried around the counter and hopped up on the stool before she saw me. “Hello,” I called as she walked in.
The woman shot me a smile and walked toward the stacks. As soon as she turned around, I was sure. It was the same woman from the lighthouse! The woman at Owen’s. Holy crap. The urge to text Olivia was strong. But if I did that, my crazy new partner in crime would rush over.
And she gave off the same sort of feelings that Drew did. Now that I was closer to her, I felt it. A low hum of power that was magical but different from a witch. She must’ve been another shifter, but what the hell had she been doing at Owen’s?
She browsed the stacks a little and then came up holding a paranormal romance.
“Will that be all?” I asked, trying my darndest to look like I hadn’t seen her at Owen’s.
“Yes, thank you.” She gave me a polite but disinterested smile and paid with cash.
The second she turned to go out the door, I yanked my phone out of my purse and snapped a picture. I wished I’d thought of it sooner, so I could’ve gotten one of her front, too. But I got her back and profile, so that would have to do. She walked out the door without noticing me snapping pics. I sent them to Olivia, who was apparently officially my new friend, because I hadn’t even considered calling anyone else to discuss this woman coming in.
“She just came in the store,” I hissed into the mouthpiece.
“What? Who? Are you okay?” Olivia sounded sleepy.
“The woman from the lighthouse. She just came into the store and bought a book about vampires and walked out.”
Olivia gasped. “No, you’re joking.”
“No,” I crowed. “I sent you her pictures.”
“I got them. I don’t recognize her at all, and I know everyone in town.” Olivia sounded annoyed by that fact. It was laughable.
Just then I spotted Clint about to come in the front door. “Clint is back. I’ll ask if she’s ever been in before.”
“Okay, see you later.”
I hung up and pressed the app for my photos, bringing up the picture of the woman.
“How’d it go?” Clint asked as he came in the door. “I see you didn’t manage to burn the place down while I was gone.”
I laughed at the tease in his tone. “Well, I tried, but it just wouldn’t take.”
He chuckled and put his keys up. “Anything happen?”
“We had a few customers; I dusted. That’s about it.”
He looked around. “Oh, wow.” Scrunching up his nose, he walked closer to the stacks. “There’s no dust on the books.” After disappearing through the stacks for a few moments, he poked his head back out. “You dusted them all?”
I