February Night

Chapter 10

The first weeks in the bookstore were some of the best ones Lucy has had here in D.C. so far. Miss Willoughby was amazing. She showed Lucy everything – where she could find romances, where the science fiction books were and that the horror books and thrillers always were at the back of the bookstore. She explained where she ordered new books from and showed her how to do that. Lucy was quick in understanding and learning and started to work on her own after only five days in.

Lucy just loved being here. The bookstore looked so lovely and was so comfortable and she liked to get to talk to book lovers that asked her about a certain book or wanted to buy something. It was one of her favorite things to talk about books. It had always been and Lucy couldn't imagine that there was something better than that.

Miss Willoughby was pleased to have Lucy here and whenever there weren't any customers in and they didn't have much to do, then they would sit there behind the counter and have a chat.

Lucy learned that Miss Willoughby was a widow for seven years now and that this place had been hers and her husband's dream. They had opened the bookstore twenty years ago and had loved to be here and sell books to people of all ages. But then her husband had died and she has had a hard time running that bookshop on her own. Especially as she was getting older, it got harder with every day, she said. "You know, you're a blessing to me, Lucy", she said with a smile and put her hand on Lucy's arm.

"It's a pleasure to work here, Miss Willoughby", Lucy replied as she looked around the shop. "Ever since I was a child I loved reading and I loved the smell of books. I even studied linguistics because I love languages and words."

Miss Willougby's eyes widened. "Oh, and you decided to work at a small bookshop instead of some school or something more important with the degree you're having?" She sounded as if she couldn't believe that someone with a graduate degree would choose to work at a bookshop. But Lucy nodded and couldn't hold back a little laugh.

"Yeah, I did. It's hard to find something else at the moment and to be quite honest, I love it here way more than at a school or something like that." She squeezed Miss Willoughby's hand to show her that she didn't want to be anywhere else. This was what she wanted to do right now and she already felt a bit like home in here.

"That's good. You're a lovely girl, Lucy." Miss Willoughby got up from her chair and patted Lucy's cheek before she went to make some tea. "Would you like to have a cup too, dear?", she asked and Lucy nodded. Miss Willoughby was a master in making tea and coffee. Never had Lucy ever had such amazing tea or coffee, not even in a coffee shop. She drank way too much of both of those beverages whenever she was here, but she just couldn't resist.

It was Lucy's second month at the bookstore, when one day the little bell over the wooden door rang and Spencer stepped in. Lucy, who had been sitting at the counter, studying a list of the books she and Miss Willoughby would have to order soon, looked up. She couldn't hide her surprise when she recognized Spencer.

"Hey", she greeted him.

"Hey. You look surprised." He smirked as he came closer. Lucy put the list away.

"Oh, I...I just haven't seen you in quite some time", she said and that was true. The BAU have had a lot to do these weeks with cases that suddenly came up or paperwork that had to be done. She had missed not only her brother, but also Spencer. Of course, she wouldn't admit that, especially not to Luke or even Spencer.

Spencer now nodded. "That's true. But we're off work for at least two days and I thought I should come and take a look at that lovely place. Would you mind showing me everything?" The spark in his beautiful brown eyes made Lucy smile. He was excited to be here, she could feel it.