Read Kiss Me Hello for Free Online

salt in the air, she didn’t know. She just felt more alive. She loved watching the afternoon fog roll in as it did now.
    There were no chain stores in Pelican Chase, as far as she could tell. They passed The Oyster Shack, a hole-in-the-wall eatery that catered to the tourist crowd, then a dry cleaner. The medical marijuana dispensary had a sale rack out front loaded with t-shirts that said 420 Friendly , and It’s Normal to be Norml . Another rack displayed shirts and pants made from hemp. Grapes weren’t the major cash crop in northern California.
    The Book Beak was as wonderful as she’d imagined it. The cartoon pelican from the store’s wrapping paper was painted on the front window, the bird’s beak stuffed to overflowing with books from Sara’s childhood: Peter Pan, A Wrinkle in Time, The Wind in the Willows, Anne of Avonlea. On the bottom left was painted Peekie Byrne, Proprietor.
    Heat Wave, the first Nikki Heat book, lay at the pelican’s feet. Inside the window display, the latest book by Richard Castle was stacked high. A flyer leaned against the books, notice of an upcoming drawing for a copy signed by the author.
    Sara rolled her eyes. Bram would love that. He liked to insist that Castle was a real person, just to drive her crazy.
    A heavy, heavy sigh escaped her. She didn’t hate Bram. She didn’t like him very much right now, but he was her husband. Couples recovered from infidelity all the time. Maybe they could too.
    Bonnie opened the door to the cheerful tinkling of bells overhead. As Sara crossed the threshold, the smell of cool salt air gave way to rosemary and ylang-ylang, instantly overpowered by the strong aroma of fresh ground coffee. Scattered sofas and chairs took up the store’s front section. The bookshop shelves started halfway in and ran to the back.
    “Hey, there!” A happy voice bounced off the ceiling. At the top of a ladder on the north wall, a woman with wild copper-red curls shoved a book into a shelf and started down the rungs. Her long hair bounced with each step. Her skirt appeared likely to trip her up at any moment. When her boots hit the wooden floor she swung around in triumph, green eyes twinkling. She looked about ten years older than Sara.
    She crossed the shop to an oak bar that housed a beautiful hammered brass espresso machine. “The usual?”
    “Make it two.” Bonnie looked at Sara. “You drink lattes, right?”
    “Sounds wonderful,” Sara said.
    Bonnie threw her briefcase on the sofa by the front window and sat motioned Sara to the chair beside her. “A helpful hint,” she said. “Chasers come to The Book Beak for coffee and go to The Coffee Spot across the street for everything but.”
    “Yes, be careful at The Coffee Spot,” the redhead called out from the espresso bar. “Good food and too much of it; horrible coffee and too much of it.”
    “Chasers?” Sara said to Bonnie.
    “That’s what we locals call ourselves. Silly, I know. Pelican Chase. Chasers.” Bonnie was larger than life, and her take-charge style took some getting used to, but she seemed okay.
    “I like it,” Sara said. She sank into the overstuffed chair and closed her eyes. She could fall asleep right here. In The Book Beak. Heaven .
    This was where Aunt Amelia bought all the books she’d sent as presents while Sara was growing up. Books her parents would never have spent good money on. Illustrated hardbound editions of classics and stories about witches and fairies. Dad would order them thrown out the minute Sara opened the wrapping.
    The books always reappeared later in the secret book shelf in Sara’s closet, never to be spoken of but eagerly read and reread. Then, after Sara’s one visit to Turtledove Hill, the magical packages had stopped coming altogether. She hadn’t realized how much she missed them.
    “So what do you do, Sara?” Bonnie said.
    “Teacher. High school freshman English.”
    “Real estate,” Bonnie said. “You and I have a lot in common.”
    “Not