Fox Tale Books in New Durham may be the cutest little bookstore in New Hampshire. It’s certainly a contender, with a cheerful staff of two and a feeling of spaciousness in a small space. Mary the proprietress invited me to tell a few stories on Saturday morning. It was standing room only, on account of more people than chairs. Always a good sign.
Elise and Thom Conlon stopped by. They run the Dudley House Bed & Breakfast just down the road and had slipped away from their guests for stories. Thom wore a classic New Hampshire Live Free or Die sweatshirt that he’d bought at the Deerfield Fair. It was a beauty! For a joke he said, “Can you change the die to pie?” A reference, of course, to my book. I said I could, and presented him with a Live Free and Eat Pie T-shirt. He was tickled! (See him being tickled in photograph below.)
The Conlon’s told a story that gave us all goosebumps. They had been searching small towns for a B&B to buy. When they walked into the Dudley House, Elise said, it felt like home. They knew immediately it was the one and snapped it up. The owners left them a history of the place. Going through it, Thom noticed something strange about the family tree. Back a few generations, the Dudley family tree had a lot in common with Elise’s family tree – that is, the same people. Unwittingly, Elise and Thom had indeed come home.
Cue ghost music.
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