Hooked on You, Kathleen Fuller [book club suggestions TXT] 📗

with his baseball career,Hayden had made sure to come home regularly to see his family and friends. Maple Falls had always been his keystone, and noone was surprised he decided to stay permanently. He figured he’d just been away when Riley visited over the years, not thatshe hadn’t visited at all. It was obvious from their embrace last night that she and Erma were close, and he was confoundedRiley hadn’t wanted to return to her hometown even once.

“Mornin’, Hayden.”

He turned to see Jasper Mathis, a retired carpenter in his eighties and a fixture at Price’s Hardware, standing behind him.The older man arrived every morning soon after the store opened, and he was such a staple that visitors who weren’t familiarwith the store often thought he was an employee. He could be since he knew where every single nail and screw were located,probably better than Hayden did. “Mornin’, Jasper. How’s it going?”

“Countin’ my blessin’s and not my problems.” He peered at Hayden over his glasses as he took a sip of coffee. “You’re lookin’kinda tired, young man.”

“I am, a little.”

“Long night?”

“You could say that.” He opened the front door for Jasper. “Dad’s in the back. We got a shipment of paint yesterday and theSKUs are all mixed up.”

“I’m sure that’s put him in a fine mood.”

“Yes, sir.” His father had talked to the supplier, who promised them a box of free paint in exchange for keeping his business.Few things ruffled Harrison Julius Price III’s feathers, but dealing with shipment problems was one of them.

“I’ll see if I can give him a hand.” Jasper sighed, but Hayden didn’t miss the slight grin on the man’s craggy face. Jasperwas always happy to help fix a problem.

After emptying the dustpan into the trash bin in front of the store, Hayden went inside and put the broom and dustpan away.They’d opened an hour ago and business was slow, not so unusual for any of the businesses on Maple Falls’ short Main Street.He spent the morning straightening up the gardening section, a part of the store that had stayed in constant chaos the pastmonth and a half. It was planting time, and all the gardeners and a few farmers had replenished their supplies. One day Haydenwould have his own garden, but that project was on the back burner until he fixed up his house.

Near lunchtime his father and Jasper came from the back of the stock room, arguing about something that had happened twentyyears ago, as they typically did. Although nearly three decades separated the men, the Price family was one of the foundingfamilies in Maple Falls, as was Jasper’s family. The two of them went way back.

“Why don’t you take your lunch break?” Dad said, coming up beside Hayden as he wiped off the glass countertop at the frontof the store. He sprayed more glass cleaner on a light-blue microfiber cloth and cleaned around the computerized cash register.“It doesn’t look like we’re going to get an onslaught of customers anytime soon.”

Hayden watched for a sign of his father being upset with the slow business, but as usual his dad was upbeat. Family and friendshad pointed out that Hayden took after him, in temperament anyway. Definitely not physically. His father was balding, short,and had worn a spare tire around his middle for as long as Hayden could remember. “You sure you don’t want to go first? Idon’t mind waiting an hour or so.”

“I guess that’ll be all right.” Dad adjusted his black suspenders. “I won’t be gone long. You up for some lunch at the diner,Jasper? I’m buying.”

“Then I’m in.”

Hayden smiled as he watched the two men leave, then he looked around the store. It was full of merchandise all carefully organizedand tracked. Vastly different from Knots and Tangles, a store he hadn’t been inside until yesterday when he asked Erma tojoin him for lunch. He’d been stunned to see the place filled from top to bottom with yarn and yarn accessories. Was Ermaselling yarn or collecting it? He couldn’t tell.

The two stores did have one thing in common—they were original Maple Falls businesses, two of the three legacy businesseson the street that were still open. Like those stores, Price’s Hardware and Knots and Tangles had struggled with decliningbusiness over the last fifteen years. Up until his shoulder healed and he retired from baseball, Hayden hadn’t paid much attentionto the family business, other than the times he’d visited and worked a few days out of nostalgia. His older brothers, Harrisonand Henry, had spent many more hours working for their father than Hayden had. The two of them were part-time employees untilthey left for college.

Now that Hayden was back in Maple Falls for good, he’d started noticing things. Like how the Sunshine Diner was only openfor breakfast and lunch, instead of all day. How Petals and Posies, the floral shop, only operated from Tuesday to Saturday,instead of six days a week like it used to. Erma’s operating hours were sporadic at best, and he wondered if she would haveto close the shop until her leg healed.

He was most concerned about the hardware store. His father had run it the same way his father had, and other than having updatedsupplies and a computer instead of a cash register, not much had changed in sixty years. Neither his father nor mother seemedto be concerned, but Hayden was.

The bell over the door jingled, and he turned to see who their first customer of the day was. He lifted a surprised brow.Riley McAllister.

*  *  *

When Riley walked inside the hardware store, she felt like she’d been transported to the past. She usually hadn’t needed tobuy anything hardware related unless Mimi sent her for something, so she’d only been in the store a few times in her life.Usually her grandmother visited Price’s herself and made the purchases, while passing the time talking with Mr. Price, who,like Mimi, never met a stranger and loved to gab. Occasionally Mimi had sent Riley to fetch a part or garden supply, but shenever saw Hayden working back then. He’d always