Charlotte's Story: Paige's Pages, #2

By Jo Carey

When Paige's Pages, Newlyn's Main Street bookstore, sponsors a geology event, it's a rocky endeavor.

 

Can Charlotte, the colorful jewelry artist, chip away at the defenses of the painfully shy geology expert or will their happily-ever-after cave-in under the weight of expectations?
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jo Carey
• Release date: Apr 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393180401

Jo Carey

Jo Carey grew up in the Midwest but her curiosity and gypsy-spirit has kept her on the move. She's lived in eight US states and spent three years living in Ireland. She has always loved creature movies, so creatures and bugs often show up in her books. Jo, a former information security compliance guru, writes fast-paced, character-driven stories in a variety of genres from medical thrillers to space operas and cozy mysteries. Her novels are filled with humor, romance, and sometimes creatures or aliens, or maybe even all of the above. She often builds her stories around a strong female lead character surrounded by plenty of hunky male heroes. Jo's been under fire on a golf course and climbed out the roof of an elevator in the Netherlands. Life hasn't been boring. Now residing in Texas, setting often plays a huge role in her stories. Jo was intrigued by the League of Planetary Systems, a world her husband, Frank, created for his science fiction books, and she now writes mysteries and other types of tales sets in that world. Jo was bitten by a cat, a fire ant, and a snake, before succumbing to the bite of the writing bug.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Why does this seem weird? Paige asked as she and her friend, Mark, sat down to dinner in her apartment above the bookstore she owned—Paige's Pages. The two of us have had dinner countless times over the years.

True, but Saturday nights have been the three of us—you, me, and Lizzy, for almost a year. Lizzy only missed the night she was in Seattle with her brother's family.

Before that, the last time someone missed a Saturday night dinner would have been when you were dating that woman from Bellville. Her name was uhm...

Megan, Mark said. That's been a while.

We could have just gone to The Chef's Table for dinner. That way Lizzy could have joined us, Paige said.

I don't think she trusts Frank alone in the kitchen. We can't relax at a restaurant like we do here.

While they enjoyed their dinner, Paige tried explaining to Mark how it was that Lizzy was now crazy in love with the guy she spent the past decade hating. You know what they say—there's a fine line between hate and love.

After catching up on their businesses and all the local Newlyn gossip, they settled in on the sofa to watch a movie. This was their Saturday night tradition. It wasn't exciting, but it was often the high point of the weekend.

Tonight's feature is... Paige paused to drum her index fingers on the coffee table. Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes.

It's been a while since we watched a good creature movie.

This is one of my favorites of the 'found footage' ones.

Since they had both seen the movie before, they watched some parts intently before lapsing into discussion—much of it about Lizzy's new relationship with Chef Frank Martin who had been her mortal enemy since culinary school.

I get that it was really nice of Frank to step up and help Lizzy out by baking for the Sip and Dip while she was out of commission with her injured hands, but I'm still shocked they're actually dating.

I was surprised at first, Paige said, but now that I'm getting used to seeing them together I actually think she might go from girlfriend to fiancé to wife pretty quickly.

The look on Mark's face was priceless. If he was having trouble accepting Lizzy's new relationship with Frank, he definitely couldn't imagine the chef being her happily-ever-after. They talked about the fine line between hate and love and wondered if things were moving too fast for Lizzy. When they both got caught up in the movie again, Paige looked over at Mark. He had his arm casually around her shoulders, and her head was resting on his chest. To anyone who didn't know them, they looked like the perfect couple. It wasn't the first time she'd wondered if there might be a romantic spark between them.

She stood up suddenly and shook her head. Time for more snacks, she said. Want anything?

No. I'm good.

When she returned from the kitchen with a container of cookies and a glass of milk, she sat down in the chair. She needed to put some space between her and Mark. Lizzy's situation was making her think crazy thoughts.

Have you decided whether or not to do another immersive?

I'm thinking about what the next one might be. It was successful financially and brought more people into the bookstore. A lot of her customers had asked what she was planning next. She was still trying to figure that out. She moved back over to her spot on the sofa, determined not to let too much thinking ruin the rest of her night.

CHAPTER TWO

What are those two laughing about? Lizzy asked with a nod to Charlotte and a customer who were standing by the endcap in the local interest section of Paige's Pages.

Let's go find out, Paige said, walking out from behind the counter.

Charlotte, who was Paige's assistant manager, was holding up a new paperback guidebook, Gems from the Tailings Pile. Paige recognized the woman beside Charlotte—Molly Graham, a local artist and regular bookstore customer.

You two seem awfully excited over here, Paige said, picking up another copy of the book from the display. When she turned it over to read the back matter, a smile crossed her face. I think I see what you're so excited about. It was one of the most striking author photos Paige had ever seen, and she'd seen a lot of books. In the photo, the author—Perry Fielding, was standing on a mountain top surrounded by snow-capped peaks. He was wearing khaki cargo shorts, hiking boots, and a t-shirt that stretched tautly over a well-muscled chest and bulging biceps. In the photo he was holding a sledgehammer in one hand and a chisel in the other, as he bent over for a closer look at the rock face in front of him. The lighting was perfect, though Paige laughed at the thought. No woman looking at this photo would be thinking about the lighting—well except her apparently. 

I have his other book about the abandoned mines of the Southwest, Molly said. The rock club has visited a couple of the mines he wrote about.

He's a good writer, huh? Paige asked with a chuckle.

Yeah. He's an expert on old mines in this area, Charlotte said.

The conversation turned to local gossip and talk about the next Newlyn Downtown Business Council meeting, before Lizzy headed off to check in on her coffee shop, the Sip and Dip. She was planning to keep that business while working as the sous chef at The Chef's Table with Frank. Despite still having one hand in a cast from her food truck disaster, Paige had never seen Lizzy busier or happier.

Later when Paige was making her rounds of the store and straightening shelves, she picked up a copy of Gems from the Tailings Pile and turned it over to gaze at Perry Fielding again.

You know, this should be your next immersive, Charlotte said, walking up beside Paige.

You think I should invite Mr. Fielding to Newlyn?

Sure. He could give talks or maybe lead a trip to some mines in the surrounding area or teach us how to find those Gems from the Tailings Pile."

Paige tucked the book under her arm and headed for her office. By the time, she headed to her apartment upstairs at the end of the workday, Charlotte's idea was firmly rooted in her brain. She spent the night making notes and reading Mr. Fielding's book. It was well written and engaging even though Paige wasn't particularly interested in the subject matter. She decided to let the idea sit for a while before making any actual plans. She felt like the first immersive took on a life of its own, and she needed to have less drama and more control if she hosted another. The culinary immersive had been profitable, but this time she was hoping for something that didn't require so much crisis management from her.

CHAPTER THREE

Do you need me to cover some days for you? Charlotte asked as she sat down in the chair in Paige's small office in the back of the bookstore.

No. I asked you to come in a little early so I could run an idea past you, Paige said. I've been thinking about the next immersive. I want to get another one scheduled before I talk myself out of it.

OK. What do you have in mind?

Paige held up the copy of Gems from the Tailings Pile.

Seriously? I was only joking.

"I know you were, but I think this could work. You're always talking about all the abandoned mines around here,