Chapter 2: The New Neighbor
1320 Words
“You should say hello,” Lily said.
“I say hello to people all day. It’s called customer service.”
“No, I mean neighbor hello. Like, ‘Welcome to the neighborhood, here are cookies, please fall in love with me.’”
Ava stared at her. “That is not a normal neighbor hello.”
“It could be.”
“It absolutely could not.”
Lily sighed dramatically. “This is why your love life is a haunted attic.”
“My love life is not a haunted attic.”
“It has dust, strange noises, and no one has entered in years.”
Ava pointed toward the door. “Leave my bookstore.”
“You don’t own it.”
“Emotionally, I do.”
Before Lily could respond, June appeared from the back room carrying a box of bookmarks. June was in her fifties, with short silver hair and reading glasses that always seemed to sit on top of her head instead of her face.
“Lily,” June said warmly. “Are you harassing my employee again?”
“Encouraging,” Lily corrected.
“She wants me to seduce my new neighbor with baked goods,” Ava said.
June considered this. “Cookies are a respectable strategy.”
Ava gasped. “Betrayal.”
June set the box on the counter. “As long as you don’t burn them.”
“I burned one batch.”
“You set off the smoke alarm.”
“The cookies were dramatic.”
Lily laughed so hard she had to hold onto the counter.
Then the front door opened.
The bell gave one soft chime.
And everything inside Ava went still.
A man stepped into the bookstore, bringing the scent of rain, pine, and cold air with him.
He was tall- much taller than Ava- and broad in a way that made the doorway seem smaller behind him. His dark hair was slightly damp from the rain, pushed back from his face as if he had run a hand through it. His skin was tan, his jaw sharp, and his eyes were a striking gray that made Ava think of storm clouds over the mountains.
He wore a black jacket, dark jeans, and boots with a little mud on them, like he had come from somewhere wilder than Rosewood Street.
Ava forgot how to breathe.
The man’s gaze moved around the store once before landing on her.
The second their eyes met, something pulled tight between them.
Ava felt it deep in her chest, like an invisible thread had wrapped around her ribs and tugged.
Her fingers curled around the edge of the counter.
The man froze.
Not obviously. Anyone else might not have noticed.
But Ava did.
His shoulders stiffened. His nostrils flared slightly, like he had caught a scent he hadn’t expected. His gray eyes sharpened, focused completely on her.
For one impossible second, the bookstore vanished again.
A forest.
Moonlight.
A heartbeat that wasn’t hers.
Then Lily whispered, “Oh, that is definitely the neighbor.”
Ava forced herself to take a slow breath and tucked a loose curl behind her ear, hoping the awkward silence would pass.
"So," she said, gesturing toward the shelves with a small smile, "is there anything else you're looking for? Mystery? Fantasy? We have a pretty good selection of thrillers too."
For a split second, Ethan seemed distracted, as though he were trying to shake off a thought only he could hear. Then the tension in his expression softened, and he offered her a polite smile.
"No, thank you," he said. "I think this is enough for today."
He lifted the local history book slightly.
"I still have a lot of unpacking to do."
"You just moved in?" Ava asked.
He nodded. "This morning. The house next door to yours."
Something in Ava's chest fluttered at the confirmation.
"Well," she replied, trying to sound casual, "welcome to the neighborhood."
"Thank you."
For another brief moment, neither of them moved.
Then Ethan glanced toward the front windows where the afternoon sun had finally broken through the clouds.
"I should probably get back before I lose track of which box has my kitchen in it."
Ava laughed.
"I know that feeling. Hopefully you labeled them."
A hint of amusement crossed his face
.
"I thought I did."
"That's dangerous."
"So I've been told."
He stepped backward toward the door, offering one last courteous nod.
"It was nice meeting you, Ava."
"You too, Ethan."
The bell above the door chimed softly as he left.
Ava watched him cross the sidewalk toward the black pickup parked outside before catching herself and quickly looking away.
From behind the counter, Lily slowly leaned over with a knowing grin.
"So… he has manners, he's handsome, and he reads books."
Ava sighed dramatically.
"Don't start.""
"Oh, I'm absolutely starting.
Ava watched him cross the sidewalk toward the black pickup parked in front of the neighboring house before catching herself and quickly looking away. She busied herself by straightening a stack of bookmarks that didn't actually need straightening.
From behind the counter, Lily slowly leaned over with a knowing grin.
"So…" she teased. "He's handsome, polite, and he reads books. I think the universe is trying to tell you something."
Ava groaned. "Please don't."
"Oh, I'm definitely doing this. Did you see the way he looked at you?"
"I saw a customer buying a book."
Lily crossed her arms. "No, you saw a man who couldn't take his eyes off you."
Ava shook her head, refusing to let herself overthink it.
"He just moved in. That's all. He even said he needs to get home and unpack."
"And he specifically told you that."
"It came up naturally."
"Mhm."
Ava laughed despite herself before pointing toward a cart overflowing with returned books.
"As much as I'd love to stand here and analyze my new neighbor with you, I actually have work to do."
Lily glanced at the cart and wrinkled her nose.
"You're choosing shelving over gossip?"
"Every single time."
"You really are a bookstore gremlin."
Ava grabbed the first stack of books from the cart and hugged them against her chest.
"I prefer the term professional librarian in training."
"You don't even work at a library."
"Details."
With a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, Ava headed toward the fiction section and began sliding books back into their proper places. Her fingers moved automatically over familiar titles, but her thoughts drifted elsewhere.
To storm-gray eyes.
To the quiet smile Ethan had given her.
And to the strange feeling that meeting him wasn't an accident at all.
With one final mischievous smile, Lily waved goodbye and headed out the front door. The bell above it jingled softly as she disappeared onto the sidewalk.
Ava watched her go before letting out a quiet sigh and turning her attention back to the cart. She carefully slid a mystery novel onto its shelf, followed by a romance paperback and a thick historical biography.
The repetitive task helped settle her thoughts. One book after another. Alphabetical order. Spine out. Straighten the row.
She had almost convinced herself that the strange encounter with Ethan meant nothing when the front door chimed again.
A middle-aged woman stepped inside, carrying an umbrella dotted with bright yellow sunflowers.
Ava immediately slipped back into work mode and greeted her with a warm smile.
"Good afternoon! Welcome to Moonlit Pages. Let me know if there's anything I can help you find."
The customer returned the smile before wandering toward the fiction section.
Ava resumed shelving books, but every so often, her eyes drifted toward the front windows.
She told herself she was just making sure more customers hadn't arrived.
Deep down, though, she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd see a tall, dark-haired man standing outside again.
And that unsettled her far more than she wanted to admit.
- Writer
