Warped by Maurissa Guibord Read Free Book Online

was barely contained in a sloppy ponytail and she had on faded jeans, a Bowdoin College sweatshirt (the operative word being sweat ) and worn-out Avias.
    Alicia gave a smile and a brisk wave. “Hello, Tessa. Your father in?”
    “Hi, Alicia.” Self-conscious, Tessa felt herself straighten from her slouch as she returned a polite smile. “Dad!” she yelled to the loft.
    Her father hustled down the creaky stairs, ignoring the fact that a heavy man should not hustle, anywhere. He looked practically giddy. “Alicia! I didn’t expect you this early.” He took Alicia by the shoulders and they exchanged a brief kiss as Tessa found something intriguing to stare at under the counter. Dust bunny to the rescue.
    Girlfriend , thought Tessa, glancing up when their greeting smooch was done. It was not a word you thought of in the same sentence as my father. My father’s girlfriend . No. It just didn’t work.
    It was little consolation, but Alicia Highsmith didn’t seem the type of person who would appreciate the title either. For one thing, she was middle-aged, almost fifty, maybe. And the professional overachiever type, Tessa thought. She was CEO of a medical technology company in Portland that made prosthetics. She was attractive, with auburn hair cut into a sleek bob and big brown eyes that were currently fastened on her father’s face. Girlfriend . Tessa sighed. It was too weird.
    “Busy today?” Alicia asked.
    “So far, you mean?” Tessa’s father put his glasses back on and looked around. His chubby face looked hopeful, as if he expected a stampede of voracious book lovers to suddenly appear from behind the stacks. “Well. Not too,” he admitted.
    Alicia smiled. “You know, Jackson . . . ”
    “I know, I know.” He raised a hand with a good-natured shake of his head. “We could turn a profit if we closed the store, kept the books in a warehouse and sold exclusively online. You’re right.” He beamed at her, his face animated and his eyes dancing. “My practical Alicia. But this is my dream job. Besides,” he added, “we would lose the immense satisfaction of dealing face to face with the reading public. Not to mention all this charm. Right, Tessa?”
    “Right.” Tessa was still on autopilot. She looked around the store with a smile. Old books, check. Dust, drafty windows, creaky floors, all check. But charm? Maybe if it was dark, and you squinted, she mused. But the store was comfortable. And it was home.
    Anyway, it didn’t matter what “his” Alicia said, thought Tessa. Eww, by the way. The bookstore really was her father’s dream. It would take a tsunami to move him out. He’d sat in a corporate cubicle for years but had always dreamed of having a bookstore. After her mother had died, he’d decided to pursue that dream. And he made no secret about the fact that he hoped Tessa would help run it, after getting her business degree.
    Business. Such a weird-sounding major, when you thought about it. As in “I’m going to major in making money.” Valuable, no doubt, but somehow it wasn’t what Tessa thought her life would be about. Then again, she didn’t have a clue what would be better.
    Why was it so much easier to know what she didn’t want than what she did?
    “We’re going to try that new Thai place down the street,” said her father. “Would you like to come along?”
    “No thanks. You guys have fun,” Tessa said with a wave. “I want to hang out at home tonight anyway. Opal’s coming over. We’re doing our usual raid on the magazine rack.”
    Opal walked into Tessa’s room and immediately sprawled across the bed. She kicked off her shoes and threw half of the carefully arranged pillows to the floor to make room for her usual supply of snacks.
    Tessa surveyed the jumbled pile of cellophane-wrapped candy. “You are a nutritional disaster, Kandinsky.”
    “Not true,” Opal mumbled around a licorice whip. She picked up a bag and shook it at Tessa. “I have raisins.