Beauty shook her head at him and kept on smiling. Apologizing for being exactly what he was? More than anything, she thought it was endearing. There were tiny things she'd forgotten while he'd been away, and she was looking forward to learning them all over again.
Philip K. Dick? "I think I've seen that author's name before--"
-- The door chime sounded -- and that was odd. They typically didn't get early morning customers. They typically didn't get many customers at all, which was a little sad, because it was Beauty's opinion that everyone should read every single day... but at least the infrequent traffic meant she had time to read at work, which was wonderful. Beauty turned when Errol did. Over his polite question, she simultaneously exclaimed, "Dinah!"
Quickly spinning, she deposited their croissanted plates on the edge of the check-out stand, then bounded to the door. "Come in, come in -- it's so good to see you again! What's all this...?"