The Summer Girlfriend (Heart Beach, #1)(14)
A new goal began to take shape in Noelle’s mind. She was so grateful to Margaret for helping her, and she wanted to pass on that same joy to more people. She researched the steps required to become a librarian. She wasn’t surprised to find that she’d need to finish her bachelor’s degree, but she didn’t know that she’d need a master’s degree too. It didn’t matter, though. She knew that she wanted to be a librarian. And that meant she’d need to start saving to go back to college.
Once Portia’s health improved and she needed less of Noelle’s help, Noelle started looking for jobs. She applied to every bookstore in their area, and the first store to call her back was Hidden Gems Books. During her interview, Noelle talked about how reading Parable of the Sower had been a transformative experience, and her boss, Harold, hired her on the spot.
That was six years ago.
“Here, be my model,” Noelle said to Tati now.
She motioned for Tati to hold up the books in the Pirates of the Deep series. She also handed her book three, The Pirate Who Loved Me. Tati held the books in front of her and smiled.
“Gorgeous,” Noelle said. She opened their Instagram page and uploaded the photo, typing out the caption, Any Clara Crawford fans out there? We’ve got first editions of her beloved Pirates of the Deep series! Stop by the store before they’re gone!
“When are you gonna start paying me for being the star of Hidden Gems’ Instagram account?” Tati asked.
Noelle snorted. “Once Harold starts paying me more to run the account.”
Harold had opened the bookstore almost twenty years ago, and they sold only used books. Harold said more people needed to pay attention to the literature that had come before in order to appreciate what books were being published now. Noelle respected that Harold wanted to maintain the integrity of his store, but because they weren’t selling the newer, popular books, they were making less money. She was getting fewer hours. When she was first hired, she’d basically worked full-time. Then it lessened to thirty-five hours. Then to thirty. Now it was a good week if she got twenty-five hours. It was one of the reasons she’d turned to Bridal Bestie and food delivery for more money. She loved working at Hidden Gems Books, and it would probably look good on her résumé when she applied to librarian positions in the future. She hoped her social media efforts might help turn the store’s luck around.
“Noelle?”
Noelle sat up on her knees and turned around to see Harold poking his head out of the office.
“Can you come in here for a second?” he asked.
“Be right there!” Noelle stood, and Tati stood as well, stretching her arms above her head.
“I’d better get back across the street,” she said. She pointed at Noelle. “I’ll be home tonight. We still good for Married to Medicine?”
“You know it.”
Tati waggled her fingers, and the bell above the door chimed as she left the store.
Noelle did a quick sweep of the floor to check for customers—they didn’t have any. But Kevin, who was also Harold’s nephew, was standing at the register, staring at his phone. Harold had hired Kevin and his twin brother, George, as a favor to their mom last year. So far, they weren’t proving to be great employees. And because they were the only two booksellers besides Noelle, she ended up doing most of the work whenever they were on the same shift.
She walked to the back of the store and stood in the office doorway. Harold was sitting behind the desk, staring pensively at a sheet of paper. His glasses had slid to the edge of his nose. He ran a hand over his graying beard.
“Hey, you wanted to see me?” Noelle said, stepping into the office.
Harold glanced up. “Yes, Noelle. Please have a seat. How’s everything going out there?”
“Fine,” she said, sitting down across from him. “Slow, but fine.”
“I wanted to thank you again for driving all the way out to Clayton for that estate sale.”
“No problem.” She shrugged easily and smiled. “All part of the job.”
Harold smiled too, and that was the first sign to Noelle that something was off. Harold was a fair boss, but he wasn’t a particularly happy person, and he most definitely was not someone who smiled during small talk. The best word to describe Harold would be curmudgeonly. Also, his eyes looked sad. Noelle tensed in her chair.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“No. Noelle, I have some not-so-great news.” His shoulders deflated. “You know we’ve been having issues with our sales for a while now, and the landlord let me know last night that he’s increasing our rent again. I’ve been sitting here running the numbers all morning.” He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Noelle, but I’m going to have to let you go.”
For a second, Noelle simply blinked at him. She repeated his words, once, twice. Even then, it took another full minute for what he’d said to sink in.
“Wait…you’re firing me?”
“I don’t see it like that,” Harold hastened to say. “It’s more like I’m downsizing on employees.”
“Wow,” she said quietly. She thought of Kevin and George, who basically twiddled their thumbs for the entirety of their shifts. But, of course, if it came down to firing Noelle or Kevin or George to save money, Harold wasn’t going to fire his family.