The English Rose

A Change to the Game

Henry Granger came to the English Rose bright and early the next morning. He insisted that the bookshelves needed reinforced so they wouldn't topple over from the large book displays he knew his granddaughter would inflict on the poor old wooden shelving units. Of course the bookstore didn't open up until ten as always, Henry found it most useful to arrive no later than seven am, insisting that the most important work took place prior to opening the doors. Emily always held this work philosophy as well. So when Hermione finally made her way down the stairs at 9:50am, Henry laughed and shook his head, "you won't catch the early worm sleeping all morning, sunshine. The work starts at seven." He made his way over to kiss Hermione on the forehead and hand her a fresh, hot cup of tea made to her liking, extra milk, no sugar.

"Oh papa. I'm always downstairs before I have to open the front door. Plus, you are here. It seems you've handled things quite well without me." Hermione smiled behind her rose covered tea cup.

"Well, I won't be around forever, Hermione." Henry belly laughed but was quieted rather quickly by the blanched expression on his granddaughter's face. He saw tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "Oh sunshine. I didn't mean it like that. This old boy has plenty of years left in him. You couldn't get rid of me if you tried." Hermione put down her cup while turning her head into her grandpa's chest. She unleashed a strangled sob that she had been holding onto since her grandmother passed away so long ago. "Oh sunshine. Just let it out. We all miss your grandmother very much. She was so special to so many people. I know Emily would be proud of you and what you've accomplished with the Rose so far." He kissed her on the top of the head as her tears slowed to a stop ending in one last small sniffle. "Now, now. Grandmother wouldn't want you wasting tears on her. What was it she always said, 'it does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live'? That was it, wasn't it? I know she'd say the same about tears wasted on her."

Hermione pulled back and wiped her eyes with her thumb. "You know papa. I think grandma got that quote from a book but every time I asked her she changed the subject. I will find the source of grandma's memorable quotes before I die." Hermione chuckled and excused herself to fix her face in the downstairs bathroom before they opened the doors for their patrons.

Just like every morning, the Johnsons were waiting outside of the shop at ten am. They came in with their usual pleasantries for Hermione and made their way to the window seats to have a sit down with Henry. This usual occurrence lasted a good portion of the morning. It was clear that they had been long time friends and the husband and wife liked to come by everyday to keep an eye on Henry to make sure he was fairing well. It warmed Hermione's heart to see all the love that the townspeople had for her grandfather. A few random patrons came by throughout the morning asking Hermione for assistance picking out the perfect reading material for various occasions. Hermione was truly in her happy place being surrounded by so many books.

After the Johnsons had left in the early afternoon, Henry came downstairs to find Hermione. "Hey sunshine, I'm about to head out for the day. Everything okay down here?"

"Yes!" A soft voice called out from behind one of the book stacks. "I've just been arranging some of the new books that were delivered today. Have you seen this one?" Hermione walked quickly over to her grandfather to shove a book into his hands. "A murder mystery period drama... It looks amazing." Hermione beamed up at her grandfather. "I have to buy one and read it immediately."

"You know that you can take whatever you want. No cost to the owner." Henry smiled already anticipating his granddaughter's response.

"Oh but I couldn't do that. I must pay." Hermione glanced at him with a stern look that Henry knew all too well.

"If you insist," Henry chuckled. "Oh I forgot to ask. Did you get the letter and books into the drop box for our friend last night?"

"Oh yes. No problem at all. That was all a rather peculiar experience, indeed. The letter requested that I put my three favorite books in the drop box." Hermione beamed and Henry knew exactly what that meant.