Now when she was more or less her own boss, Ivy had Sundays to be her me-days. She would spend the entire day cooped up in her apartment, wearing pajamas, or after a particularly long week she would go for a spa treatment. When on rare occasions the whether allowed it, she would go to the beach. But not this Sunday.

"Thanks again, Ivy." her stepsister repeated.

"Yeah." Ivy rolled her eyes, "So remind me again how I got goaded into doing this? Couldn't that neighbor of yours babysit?"

"I'm going with Hans and Anastasia to cake tasting. Sabine knows this guy who makes amazing wedding cakes."

"Perfect. You are going to eat cakes all day and I'm stuck with the little ghoul."

Lucy grinned.

Jacinda, knowing well not to take Ivy's words to heart, hugged her 6-year-old daughter, "I'll see you tonight, Lucy. Listen to your aunt Ivy, ok?"

Lucy put her small hand into Ivy's as she waved her mother goodbye.

"Ok Lucy, are you ready for the makeover?"

"No."

"What do you mean no? We always do our hair and nails."

"No."

"What happened to you?" she loved when she and Lucy would go and chose nail polishes, "What happened?"

What happened was that there was a sort of fair going on in Hyperion Heights, the one Ivy thought she would avoid since it was a weekend thing.

They took a selfie with Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Lucy rode the carousel and Ivy was perfectly content to just take pictures. They bought ice cream and toffee apples because why should the two of them miss on all the sweets (and diet be damned). They got animal shaped balloons. Being the most persuasive child on the planet, Lucy made them both get their faces painted. Maybe getting Lucy high on sugar early on was a bad idea.

Half of Lucy's face was done, a butterfly wing, when another man started moving a painting brush towards Ivy's cheek. She flinched. Who could know what was in that paint? "You see this face? You see this skin?" she growled at the man, "Ruin it and I will end you."

"Aunt ivy!"

"Fine… just the nose and whiskers." she forced her lips into a smile and added a 'please'.

Well, that was one of the more terrifying experiences of her life, Ivy thought as they rounded the corner, "Let's go see a movie? How about that?"

"No, there's nothing good playing."

Ivy was beginning to believe Jacinda bought Lucy word of the day calendar for kids and today's word just happened to be 'no'.

"Look – storybook time!"

She looked at the sign. They were just 5 minutes late. The bookstore was 'The Enchanted Forest'. She might as well check them out. She was planning to, anyway.

As the kids were listening to a young man read 'The secret diary of Adrian Mole', Ivy skimmed through their book collection. They really had some impressive copies and first additions Ivy would like to have in her possession. They were, however, impressively expensive as well.

That was because, as the blonde girl explained, the illustrations were hand-tipped, "That is why they are worth so much." she elaborated.

"Sure." Ivy overheard Lucy adding another book to the pile and made that her exit strategy, "I'll think about it."

The storybook guy was finishing explaining the complexities of Narnia. Lucy sneezed and he handed her the handkerchief (Ivy hoped it was allergies because she didn't have the luxury to catch the flu), "But that's a lot of books for your mom to buy at once."

"My mom loves to buy me books."

"Well…" he looked at Ivy and smiled, "That's very nice of her."

Lucy giggled, "Oh, that's not my mom. That's my aunt."

"Yes, this is my stepsister's kid. We are a bit atypical family."

"Oh, you don't have to tell me about atypical families." yhe storybook guy chucked, "Believe me. Anyway..." he looked over Ivy's shoulder, "Alice, pack these books Butterfly girl and Cat woman."

Ivy raised her eyebrow.

He gestured to her face paint, "I'm into comic books."

"I can tell." she couldn't stop staring at the guy, "May I ask who you are?"

"Um, yeah, sorry. I'm Henry Mills. I own this store. And you are?"

Of course he was the owner. And she was the Belfrey girl who would put him out of business by the end of January, by her estimate, "Ivy. Just call me Ivy."

"That will be 73 dollars." the girl, Alice, said. That was way too much. Now that she rethought, this bookstore would not last until Christmas, "You're gonna come back, aren't you?"

"Of course." she smiled and handed her a hundred dollar bill.

"See? That is why we're not gonna go under. Our customers are loyal."

"They are opening a Belfrey books down the street." Henry explained.

"Belfrey books?! My grandma-"

Ivy put a hand over Lucy's mouth. She really didn't want to have a confrontation or something, "Likes to buy discount. But don't talk about that, Lucy. That is not something to be proud of."

"But-"

She took her niece to the nearest pile of books, "Why don't you choose another book until I finish the chat with Henry over there, ok? And don't listen to anything I say."

Luckily, Lucy was already not listening, she was flipping through 'Anne of Green Gables'.

"Sorry about that. She's on a sugar rush."

"It's fine. You know, the world is not driven by discounts. I have been in this business forever. I would spend my holidays helping grandma and I used to watch her. She wasn't just selling books. She was helping people become whatever they were going to turn out to be. Because when you read a book as a kid, it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your life does- I've gotten carried away, haven't i?"

"Yeah." he was dreamy and passionate. Perfect, "Yeah, you have. You've made me feel… Is that your grandma?"

Henry looked the photograph behind him, "Oh, yeah. That's taken on my first day as her helper. Anyway, she left the store to me and I'm gonna leave it to my kid."

So, she was not just taking the source of income from him, but from his child as well. It was nothing personal, it was business. Sometimes, she really hated the business, "How… how old is your kid now?"

"I don't have a kid now. I'm not married but one day… I hope. But 'Belfrey books' can go to hell, you know."

"Sure." this conversation was on the verge of getting out of hand, "Lucy, let's go."

Lucy grabbed the cotton bag, that was a nice touch. She should get those for the store.

"Bye Lucy."

"Bye!"

"Bye Ivy."

As Ivy turned to toss one last look at Henry Mills, she nearly walked into the door frame. Way to go, Ivy.

Henry watched after them and smiled. That was a nice chat.

"If you won't say it I will." Alice chirped from behind the cash register, "She's hot."

I messed with ages a bit (as I will later on) so Lucy's a bit younger 'cause it fits better in my head. To the people who reviewed – thank you so much. Your support means a lot.