Dakhota and I met at Arts & Letters in 2024 when we both worked there as booksellers. I remember thinking he was adorable the day he started and embarrassingly have a picture of him (that I took on the sly when our coworker Amerson asked to see him) from the security monitor like a creep. But hey, she needed evidence, and I am resourceful.
I ended up landing an amazing position at Tarleton teaching Composititon and Literature, and so left my full-timeish gig at the store, but was in and out running social media and events. On my last day working as a bookseller, Khota shook my hand and told me it had been nice working with me. I still give him heck about this, and the fact he wouldn’t ask me out for nearly another five months.
But after just one date, we became inseparable. I guess that’s what happens when you find your other half. I haunted the bookstore even more, bringing him coffee and talking about our future together and how someday I wanted to own a bookstore with him. This had always been a private dream of mine, but it quickly became our dream as we went to every local bookstore we could, saved, and planned. It was our favorite past time: noting when we liked something or some book and saying “someday, when we have a bookstore…”
Well, someday is here.
Roxanne Laney, previous owner of Arts & Letters, offered us our dream come true: the store we met in with hopes that we would keep the shop she loved so dearly open for years to come.
I am honestly in shock as I write this, and I know that there is so much work and struggle ahead of us as we work to make the store our own and to create a hub for readers in Granbury. What the world desperately needs right now is stories, creativity, and poetry to help us through the darkness afoot. We will do everything in our power to create a light and a gathering place for our own community and are excited for the events, book clubs, new releases, holidays, festivals, and many other things to come.
We know that there has been a lot of change in the last few months as Roxanne steps into retirement, and we want to thank everyone for your support as we make this transition into ownership. We hope to see you soon at Arts & Letters in Granbury!