His Whitman reference made Nora smile. She smiled when the first customers entered the bookstore and returned her greeting. She smiled when a woman said that she wanted to buy several books from the window display, but not until after she had a cup of coffee.
However, when four women strode into the shop with the assessing gazes of county health inspectors, Nora stopped smiling. The women huddled together near the window, pointing, frowning, and exchanging heated whispers.
Nora put up with this for several minutes, but when it was clear that they weren’t going to move, she decided to find out what they wanted.
“May I help you, ladies?” she asked in her silkiest saleswoman voice.
A brunette in a burgundy twin set and gray slacks pressed her hands together as if in prayer and said, “I sure hope so. I’m Connie Knapp, and these are my friends, Olga Gradiva, Bethann Beale, and Dominique Soto. We represent a group called the Women of Lasting Values. Have you heard of us?”
Nora hadn’t, but she’d encountered similar groups before. Groups like theirs were always the catalysts behind banned book discussions. The only surprise was that Nora hadn’t met these women sooner. For years, she’d run a bookstore free of complaints regarding her inventory or displays.
Guess it couldn’t last forever, she thought wryly.
“I can’t say that I have,” Nora replied.
Olga, a stern-faced woman with short gray hair, fished a pamphlet from her purse and gave it to Nora.
After glancing at the golden-haired family of four on the cover, Nora lowered the brochure and fixed her gaze on Connie. “I’ll look at that during my break. In the meantime, how can I assist you?”
“We’re concerned about your window display,” Connie said, smoothing her cardigan. “Using pagan symbolism and demonic rituals to trick impressionable young girls into buying books is manipulative and immoral. We’ve come to ask you—in the name of all the good women in this town who are raising their girls to follow traditional values—to take this ungodly display down. Will you do that? Will you do the right thing, Ms. Pennington?”
Nora saw two customers line up at the checkout counter. The first customer was holding four paperbacks. The second customer had three hardbacks.
“The purpose of this display isn’t to offend, and there’s definitely nothing demonic about it,” Nora said, struggling to keep her voice even. “It’s meant to show that women are powerful, magical, beautiful, smart, and strong. I hope that you’ll look at it again and see its positive message for women of all ages and backgrounds. I need to help other customers now, so enjoy your day.”
As Nora took up her position behind the checkout counter and gratefully attended to a very pleasant customer, Connie and her friends moved toward the exit.
Before leaving, each woman made a point to pause and look at Nora.
The coldness in their eyes and the hard set of their jaws spoke with the same force as words.
They’d come to Miracle Books to test Nora, and she’d failed the test.
Now, there would be consequences.
Chapter 4
There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.
—Winston Churchill
Jed had to work Friday and Saturday night, so he and Nora made plans to spend Sunday together.
Sunday was the only day of the week Nora slept in. She’d turn off her alarm and let her body decide when it was time to get up. She’d spend a solid hour at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and perusing yard sale ads in the paper, before starting a load of laundry or a grocery list.
Today, she was still in bed, not quite fully awake, when she heard someone moving around in her kitchen. She’d left a key under the mat for Jed in case he wanted to come over in time for breakfast. He didn’t own a coffeemaker, and after pulling a double, he clearly wanted a higher quality brew than what the BP station had to offer.
Nora closed her eyes and enjoyed the sound of Jed making himself at home. This level of intimacy was fairly new territory for them. For over a year, their relationship had been strictly physical. But as time passed, they began to share their feelings with each other, and their relationship had deepened into something more mature and meaningful.
At the moment, however, Nora’s mind was focused on the physical part. She tiptoed into her bathroom to brush her teeth and hair, and then padded into the kitchen to give Jed a good-morning kiss.
“I was hoping the coffee would be done before you got up,” he said, brushing a piece of hair off Nora’s cheek.