01_The Best Gift by Irene Hannon Read Free Book Online

of the success of the new merchandise was due to the approaching holidays. It was just a gift-buying season. He suspected sales would taper off after Christmas. But even if they did, even if they only generated a modest return, it was all incremental. Because, thanks to A.J.’s creativity, the new offerings hadn’t taken one iota of space away from books. Exchanging their old checkout counter for the display case had been an ingenious solution. But Blake hadn’t told A.J. that. She didn’t need encouragement. And he didn’t need more disruptions.
    But he had a feeling they were coming, anyway.
     
     
    “Blake, could I speak with you when you have a minute?”
    He looked toward A.J. while he waited for a customer to sign a credit card slip. She stood in the door of the office, and there was something in her eyes that made his stomach clench.
    Here we go again, he thought, steeling himself for whatever brainstorm A.J. had just had.
    “Sure. I’ll be right with you.” He finished the sale, then glanced toward the young woman restocking the cookbook section. “Trish, can you watch the front desk for a few minutes?”
    “Sure, Mr. Sullivan.” The perky teen who helped out a few days a week after school made her way over to the counter. She smiled brightly. “Take your time.”
    She’d love that, Blake thought. Trish wasn’t the hardest worker they’d ever had. But front desk duty suited her to a T. She was sweet and friendly, which counted for something, he supposed.
    When he entered the office, A.J. was studying a recent order, a frown marring her usually smooth brow. She looked up when he walked in.
    “What’s up?” he asked, willing himself to remain cool.
    “I’d like to cancel a couple of the selections we’ve ordered.”
    Now it was his turn to frown. “Which ones?” When she named them, his frown deepened. “Those are sure to be bestsellers. Our customers will expect us to stock them.”
    “Have you read the ARCs?”
    “No.” He rarely had time to read the advance copies sent out by publishers.
    “I took them home over the weekend. I didn’t read them thoroughly, but skimmed through enough to know trash when I see it.”
    “Those authors are extremely popular. A lot of people must not agree with you.”
    “A lot of people read trash.”
    He folded his arms across his chest and struggled to keep his temper in check. “So you’re trying to impose your values on everyone else.”
    She’d wrestled with that very dilemma all weekend. How to reconcile personal values with bottom-line business decisions. It was the same conflict she’d grappled with in graduate school. And had worried about facing in the business world when she graduated. As it turned out, she’d never had to deal with it. Until now.
    Blake sensed her uncertainty and pressed his advantage. “It sounds a little like censorship to me.”
    A.J. sighed and distractedly brushed some wayward tendrils off her forehead. “I know. But I’ve given it a lot of thought. I don’t see how, in good conscience, we can carry books that are so blatantly sensational. I’m fine with books that deal with gritty themes or realistically portray bad situations, but in these novels all of the gore and sex and violence is just for effect. There’s absolutely no redeeming social value.”
    “In your opinion.”
    “And God’s. I talked with my pastor about this. I think this is the right thing to do, Blake. Our shop isn’t that big. We can’t carry every book. So I think we should focus on carrying good books.”
    Blake didn’t agree with her position. But he couldn’t help admiring her. She had principles. And she didn’t compromise them. That was a rare trait in today’s world. Jo had been like that, too. And so were his parents, he admitted grudgingly. Maybe he didn’t like their principles, either. But they’d stuck with them.
    “We’re going to have some unhappy customers,” he pointed out.
    “I realize that. We’ll just have to