- 2 -
The bell was decades old and had an antique patina that showed its age. The clang it made when the door hit the lip let Victoria know a customer had entered the store. She peeked out from the doorway of the backroom and spied a girl in her late twenties moving cautiously into the store. The drab green jacket over a dingy white T-shirt and brown corduroys made her unruly hair look almost neat in comparison. The absence of cosmetics made her features practically disappear into her rosy complexion. Her shoulders were slightly raised in a shrug and her head was pulled down toward her chest. Over the years, she had tried less and less to make herself look presentable. It never mattered anyway. No one was interested in getting to know her, regardless of what she looked like. Victoria had
