Page 55 of Stars Shine In Your Eyes

Turned out he wasn’t as indispensable as he’d thought, which was quite a revelation. Still, he was glad he hadn’t left the country. They were having a tricky time with House in a Box, the New Zealand company that Malcolm knew in his gut was going to be big. If only the founder could just do what Malcolm was learning to do and let go of control. Until he did, he could never expand globally.

While he worked on that, Josie talked to a man who was coming to the retreat suffering from burnout. Malcolm had a pretty strong feeling that Walden would be on the exhausted exec’s reading list. For a moment, he imagined what it would be like to take a holiday from work, not to go to an exotic location or throw himself down a mountain on skis or over water on a speedboat, but simply to sit in a beautiful, historic cottage garden and read. He already knew that Josie didn’t allow phones or laptops at the retreats. He’d struggle to be disconnected from business even for a few hours a day, and that made him understand how much he needed to change.

They managed a quick breakfast, fast and satisfying sex, and then showers, and still made it to the cottages by nine.

Malcolm was fitting bookshelves, and Josie was cataloging all the books that had been delivered. He could see her eyeing the bookshelves and knew that the second he finished, she’d be filling them with books. In truth, he was excited, too, to see the reading retreat taking shape.

There was a knock on the door, and Mari came in. She walked around and then gave first Josie, then Malcolm a hug. “I can’t believe how good this looks already. You two are an amazing team.”

Even though it was just the two of them working this morning, Josie hastened to remind Mari that a team of people, including Sullivan family members, had helped get the cottages turned around quickly.

Then Mari cried, “You’ll never believe what’s happened!”

She seemed happy and not upset, so Malcolm was fairly sure it was good news.

“Tell us,” Josie said.

Mari was grinning from ear to ear as she said, “We’re sold out for the whole year.” She laughed. “I know neither of you have any idea what I’m talking about. Sorry, I just logged in this morning and couldn’t believe my eyes.” She laughed again. “The reading retreats. For the rest of the year. They’re already booked.”

Josie’s mouth fell open. “Really? How can that be? We’re not even ready for the first one.”

“I know,” Mari said. “I honestly wasn’t expecting anyone to sign up yet. I mean, we haven’t even done any promotion. But I mentioned them in a couple of interviews I’ve done recently, and I decided I might as well put up the website that you got going just in case there were any inquiries. An internet influencer picked up the news and ran with it. But I didn’t think the entire calendar would fill up so fast.”

Josie had pulled out her phone. “I have to see. Maybe there’s a mistake.” She quickly logged into the backend of the website. And then stared at what she saw, stunned. “I just never thought—I mean, I hoped the retreats would be a huge success here, but selling out this quickly? That’s amazing.”

She and Mari looked at each other as the reality of it all sank in. “We really need to finish setting up the bedrooms,” Josie said as Mari nodded.

Was Malcolm the only one who saw this as not unqualified good news? One of the things he admired about Mari was how much of a go-getter she was, but he’d seen so many small-business owners take on more than they could handle, and he was worried Mari had done just that.

Gently, he said, “How are you going to manage the bookshop, the publishing schedule for your father’s books, and a full year of reading retreats?”

“I—Well, of course I—” Mari blinked and looked as if lightning had struck. “I can’t.”

This might be the first time she’d admitted it.

She shook her head. “I can’t do it alone.”

Then, to both his surprise and Josie’s, she grabbed Josie’s hands. “Don’t leave. Stay, Josie. Stay here on Elderflower Island. I know you have other retreats that you work with, and we could find a way to make sure that you can work with everyone, but… what if these became your primary ones? What if these were your home base?”

Josie looked even more shocked now. “But they’re not mine. They’re yours. These are the retreats for your store.”

“Yes, a store that is booming so quickly now that I can barely keep up with it. Plus, I’m publishing my father’s books. It’s all so much more work than I anticipated, even though I love every minute of what I do. The truth is that if you don’t stay to take over the reading retreats, I’m going to have to hire someone else to do it. That just doesn’t seem right. It should be you. And you’re uniquely qualified to do this, so hopefully we wouldn’t have an issue with getting you a work permit in the UK.”

“But I—” Josie barely got two words out when Mari looked at Malcolm.

“This is a great idea, isn’t it, Malcolm?” Before he could reply, she said, “Convince her!”

And now the two of them were looking at him. How had this become his decision? The truth was that the idea of Josie staying, about Elderflower Island being her new home, did feel right. It meant he wouldn’t have to say good-bye. And that was all he could think, after the time they’d spent together—he wasn’t ready to say good-bye.

He smiled down at the woman who’d become such a vital part of his life in such a short time. “Stay, Josie.” It wasn’t eloquent, but it was exactly what he was feeling. He turned and took her hand in his. “How does the idea sound to you?”

She seemed speechless for a moment, looking deeply into his eyes as if she were trying to read his mind. Trying to see if he truly meant she should stay.

“Well, since my mother’s moved away from Coeur d’Alene, it’s not the same without her, even though I have great friends. And I do absolutely love it here. It has felt like home from the first moment I arrived. Mari, you and your bookshop are amazing. And Malcolm, your family has been so friendly and welcoming.” She paused as though she was trying to corral her thoughts. “Can I think about it? Can I have a little time to digest all of this?”

“Of course,” Mari said. “I didn’t mean to just spring this request on you, for you to uproot your entire life and change everything. It’s just—it would be so amazing if you were here full time. Elderflower Island just doesn’t feel like it would be the same without you now. I know you’ve only been here a week, but I really feel like you belong here. Like you’re a local already. Doesn’t she, Malcolm?”

He nodded, smiling. “It’s true. You really do fit in here.”

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