Entrelacen (15 page)

I miss my white mustang on days like this.
When I adopted the boys, I went from a car that
screamed "single" to one that said "sophisticated
mommy". I put on my mixed CD and sing along to
Breaking Benjamin’s song “Show me a Sign”. I
totally get lost in the music. I ended up passing the
bookstore. After making my way back, I park a little
further away from the door because I don’t know how
busy it gets and don't want the customers to have to
walk far. Plus, the extra walking would be good for
me. Maybe it would help me lose a little bit of weight.

The lot is pretty empty, but there are a few
cars already here so, it looks promising. I walk into
the shop and feel so at home that I don’t try to hide
my smile. I pass a few people and say hello as I make
my way to find Gran. I love the smell here. This place
smells even better than other book stores because of
what lies behind the curtain. I can smell jasmine,
vanilla, and, of course, paperbacks. The incense
burning reminds me of the perfume I wear. I always
get told I smell like a mixture of jasmine, vanilla, and
lilies. Lilies are my favorite flower so I like most
perfume that reminds me of their smell. I also like
wearing jasmine and vanilla perfumes because they
provide a lingering scent, which comes in handy on
hot days in the desert.

Gran is sitting at the table laying some cards
out in a pattern. I decide not to disturb her, so I start to
look around the store, and I’m drawn to this table that
has a few various types of stones on it. I walk over to
see what they’re. There are so many different shapes,
sizes and colors. I run my hand through each basket,
manipulating a stone from each, until I come to the
last one. When I reached for the stone in the last
basket, my fingers feel warmth radiating out from the
stone. I looked back at Gran to see that she is
watching me to see which stone I would choose. She
gets up to come stand by me.

“Morning child. I see you discovered the
stones?”
“Morning gran. I have, but why is this one
warm?”
“Most people like to think they can choose the
stone that fits their needs, but what they don’t
understand is that for the stone to help them, it needs
to choose them.”
“I wasn’t looking for help though. I was just
admiring their simplistic beauty. I’ve always been
drawn to these.”
“Well it looks like the Onyx stone chose you.”
“What purpose does the Onyx stone serve?” I
ask curiously.
“The Onyx represents grounding and aligning
the soul with a higher power.”
“How does that pertain to me though Gran?
You forget that I haven’t had a teacher.”
“Well child, your energy is all over the place.
The Onyx chose you because it senses your lack of
focus. By carrying the Onyx around with you, you
will notice your stress level will decrease, and you’ll
be able to focus more.”
“Oh okay,” I say skeptically, “so all I have to
do is carry it around with me?”
“Easy as pie, right?” She laughs.
“Yes. I wonder if I could make this into a
necklace or bracelet or something.”
“Go ahead and get back out to the front. I’ll
take care of the Onyx for you.”
“Thank you Gran!”
I place the Onyx stone in her hand as I walk
out the back room. The bookstore has picked up quite
a bit. I see a few kids chasing each other in the
children’s section. That's when I notice the rocking
chair and the alphabet rug spread out underneath it. I
wonder if Gran put that there this morning because I
don't remember seeing it yesterday. I walk around the
parents, who are all scattered around trying to box in
the kids in, right over to the rocking chair and sit
down. One of the little girls notices and runs to grab a
book. She walks up to me shyly. Her voice is so sweet
and innocent. I can’t wait to have a little girl.
“Hi.”
“Hey, whatcha got there?” I ask.
“I was wondering if maybe you could read me
this book.”
“Sure sweetie. What book did you choose?”
“My favorite! It’s the story of Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs.”
“That’s one of my favorite books too. Did you
know Snow White was a princess?”
“Oh yes! I love princess books. Mommy buys
me princess movies and princess dolls.”
“Sounds like you have a very nice mommy.”
“Oh I do, she calls me her little princess.”
I smile at the little girl and look up to see that
we’ve drawn an audience. The little girl’s mother is
standing behind her with pride emanating from her in
waves. Her eyes shine like this little girl is the most
precious thing in the world.
“Go ahead and take a seat princess. Maybe the
rest of the kids will join us so all of your moms and
dads can look around. How does that sound?”
“Yay! That sounds good to me.”
All the kids sit down around the little girl who
I’ll always remember as Snow White. The parents
look at me gratefully as I begin to read the tale of
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I get caught up in
the story, changing my voice for each character. My
voice gets deep for the males, sweet for Snow, bitter
for the evil witch, and different for each of the
dwarves. Time is going by so fast that before I know
it, the tale is over, and all the parents are buying a
copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for their
demanding kids. Parents are thanking me as they
leave.
All of a sudden, I’m assaulted with goose
bumps running down my neck and stirrings of
butterflies in my abdomen. Trying to appear normal, I
walk around the book store picking up all the books
that the kids knocked over. As I get closer to the
coffee nook, where the register is located, the
sensation in my body becomes almost unbearable, so I
finally take the risk and look up to see that face I have
been daydreaming about staring right at me.
Our eyes connect. It seems like he’s been
waiting for me to look up. My feet stop moving, and
my breathing increases. Why am I so attracted to him?
This is too much. I need to break the connection that’s
pulling me under. I need to turn around and walk
away. Should I do that? No. I start to walk toward
him. His lips start to turn up, and then little Snow
White comes rushing up to me. She breaks the
connection that I’m sure made me flush. I look down
at her and smile. She gives me this huge hug and
thanks me for reading to her. I tell her I’ll be here
every day, and she can keep me company any time
she wants. I look up, and he’s gone. Taking a deep
breath, I continue straightening the books and trying
to get the lust I feel burning inside me to calm down.
It’s going to be so much harder than I realized to get
through each day with him here.

After leaving the store last night,
Gran told me I didn’t have to come in
until lunch tomorrow. I go to Wall-art to
make a spare key like she asked and spend
the rest of the morning trying to get my
mind off the girl with blonde hair and
eyes so deep. I pick up some Subway on
the way to the store, so Gran could have
something to eat. As I walk through the
door, I notice It’s more crowded than
usual. Maybe the kids got out of school
early. I make my way to the back of the
store, where Gran always seems to be
hiding, to see her bent over her table
working on something.

“Hey Gran. I brought you a
sandwich. What is it that has your
attention so captured that you don’t see
how the store is practically packed?”

“Oh boy, don’t be so dramatic. It’s
not that packed. It’s just all the little
people running around.”

I laugh. I laugh hard. Gran doesn’t
care too much for children, especially
when they’re in her bookstore. They
always seem to mess up the way she has
things organized, and it irritates her.

I sit across the table from her,
waiting for her to look up at me and let
me in on this secret.

“I’m making this Onyx into a
necklace. Care to help me?”
“Ugh Gran, I’m a guy. No thanks.”
Before I’m able to make it out of the

room, she asks me to grab a few things
for her. I’m walking to the table that
holds all the stones, when the humming
starts. I close my eyes and focus on where
the energy is coming from. Gran taught
me that when I start to feel it or hear it,
to trust it. So that’s what I do. I ignore
what Gran told me to get and let my
hands have their way with the stones. I
grab a rose quartz, which symbolizes love,
a moonstone, also dealing with love, and a
cat’s eye, protection.

Interesting choice of stones. I make
my way back to Gran to let her know
these are the ones that called out to me.

“Gran, who are you making this
necklace for?”
“Boy that is none of your business. If
the shop is as busy as you say It’s, why
don’t you go stand behind the counter.
Check people out and make coffee.”
I’m stunned. Gran has never kept
something from me. It peaks my curiosity
that much more, but not wanting to
argue, I turn around and head out the
door. As soon as I pass the frame, my
body comes alive at the sweetest sound.
There she is, the girl I thought I
would never see again. She’s surrounded
by five or six kids, whose attentions were
fixated on her, as she sits in the rocking
chair reading them a story. Her voice
alters for a moment, getting deeper to
create a masculine sound.
"If you allow me to take her to the
Castle, I'll call in famous doctors to waken
her from this peculiar sleep. She's so lovely
. . . I'd love to kiss her!"
Then her voice reverts back to her
own. I make my way to the counter so I
can have a better place to view her. The
sun is streaming through the windows
casting a spotlight on her. She’s so focused
on reading the story and pleasing the
children, that my staring isn’t drawing
her attention.
I notice a few of the parents are just
as taken with her and the way she’s
telling the story. I wonder why we have
never had someone do story time before
now. Maybe one of the kids is hers. That
would explain why she was here, doing the
reading no less. I’ll have to ask Gran when
I get a chance. Parents start lining up
after the story is over. She gets up and
starts picking up books that got knocked
over and re-shelves them. That’s odd. I
wonder why she’s doing that. Her body
becomes rigid when she nears me. I see
her chest rising faster. Then she lifts her
face.
Our eyes lock instantly. I can feel the
hairs on my arms standing to attention as
the humming buzzes over my skin,
shocking its way through me. I hold her
stare, not wanting to be the one to break
it first. I continue checking out all the
customers at the counter. I notice they’re
all buying the Snow White book. No doubt
each kid had to have it after hearing a
reading like that. I see the little girl that
sat right in front of this beautiful
creature, run up to the woman to give her
a hug. She breaks the connection when she
looks down to smile at the little girl. She
has the best smile. After I finish checking
out the last person, I bolt to the door
leading to the storage area before she can
look up again.
My dreams didn’t do her justice. She
looks even better than I remember.
Wearing some faded black jeans, a pink
tank with a black shirt over, and tennis
shoes on her tiny feet, she looks absolutely
breath-taking. She is driving me crazy
right now, and she doesn’t even realize it.
I’ve never seen a girl so sexy in such a
casual outfit.
I pass through the door that
connects the storage room to the new age
room in search for some answers. I should
at least know her name, right? My heart
is tapping out a rhythm of its own,
speeding up at certain times and slowing
down to normal in others. It seems to
really pick up when I'm near the stones. I
wonder if the necklace Gran was working
on is for that girl. If It’s, then why are the
stones calling to me? This is getting
surreal. I spot Gran in the back digging
through a box that looks like it could fall
apart at any moment.
“So Gran, when were you going to
tell me you hired someone else?”
“Oh, are you talking about April?
So that’s her name. I smile. She
looks like an April. She could be anything
really, but April fits her perfectly.
“Sure I guess. You know I could have
worked more if you needed me too.”
“I know. But that girl is in love with
this store almost as much as I’m. She is
sweet and innocent in a way that I didn’t
know was possible. She’s had a hard life
Logan. It’s only starting to get better. She
told me this place felt like home the
moment she walked in.”
“Gran, can we afford to pay her?”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that
Logan. Did you not see that each parent
bought at least one book? They all bought
Snow White because the kids loved the
way April told the story.”
She’s right. April does have talent
for keeping the kids occupied so the
parents can shop without distraction.
Hearing that April has had a hard life cuts
me deep. I have the overwhelming urge to
sooth her pain. I shake my head. I don't
understand why I keep having thoughts
like that. If she’s going to work here, I’m
going to have to find a way to be around
her.
“They all did. You are right. Some of
them bought a few other books as well.
The parents looked relieved to have
someone else entertain their kids for a
while.”
“We used to have story time when I
first open this store. I knew when I met
April that she has the voice to draw
attention to her and keep anyone
captivated.”
“She sure does gran. It’s a great
idea. Maybe we can all get together to
rearrange the children’s section and
schedule story times every day.”
“That sounds good Logan. We will
have to talk to April to see if she has time
in the afternoons.”
“Why Gran? Does she have another
job in the afternoon?”
“Well Logan that is something you
are going to have to talk to her about. All
I know is she can come in from 9:30 am
to about 1:00 pm and then come back
from 4:00 pm till we close.”
“Well that doesn’t sound like she has
another job. Maybe she has an ill family
member or something.”
“Like I said Logan, if you really
want to know, you’re going to have to ask
her. Also, give her the keys to the store.”
“Yes ma’am.”
I chuckle as she frowns at me for
calling her ma’am. I take a few deep
breaths before I walk out to face April. I
see her walking around the store making
sure everything is in its place. She stops in
front of the children’s area, stands there
and stares. Then she starts moving a few
things around.
I know the minute she senses me.
She drops what she was doing and stands
straight up. Her hair is flowing down her
back, straight with a little curl on the
ends. It looks soft and silky. I want to run
my hands through it, secure my hands at
the base of her neck, and kiss those lips.