Page 68 of Love Me Reckless

“Is Zach working a lot over Christmas?” I ask to move the conversation along.

“Yes, but thankfully he has Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve off.”

She shares the series of events planned with her dad and siblings, the Huttons, and Zach, William, and Sawyer.

It makes me happy that she and Zach are including Sawyer. Willhe feel lonely at Christmas with no family here? My chest tightens with a hot ache.

“Henry and Barb invited us all on a sleigh ride a few days after Christmas,” Sofie says. “Can you make it?”

Us all?Little butterflies tickle my insides.

“Sawyer’s coming.”

“Oh.” Is my face on fire? “Great.”

I pull into the library parking lot and we crunch across the snowy ground to the entrance on the lower level, where I’ve been setting up for the giftaway over the past week.

Inside the events room, boxes of books are open on the floor next to a banquet table with wrapping supplies—spools of ribbon, tape, sticky cards, and two giant rolls of colorful wrapping paper.

“This is so exciting!” Sofie says, slipping out of her jacket.

I pull up a Christmas playlist on my phone and we get to work.

“Smart of you to use the library,” Sofie says, bringing a handful of books to the wrapping table. “Otherwise it would take you weeks to distribute all of these.”

That, and it would feel tacky doing so in my BMW.

Sofie grabs another book from her stack. “I know this one.” She sets it the center of a square of wrapping paper. “Linnie’s read them all.”

I peek at the cover. It’s book one in the Lumberjane series. “Ooh, that’s a good one.”

My next book makes my skin jump—The Princess in Black. After Sawyer told me the one he received as a gift disappeared the next day, I contacted the publisher. They sent me a hundred copies plus another hundred for the Giftaway.

I peel off a section of wrapping paper and set the book in the center, gratitude glowing hot inside me.

“How’s the property search going?” Sofie asks.

I finish taping down the ends then add the little card with plenty of tape so it won’t get torn off in transport. “I don’t know if I can get a loan.”

Sofie frowns. Iknow it’s confusing—I have money. It’s got me confused too.

“It’s not like I have a job.”

“Do you have some sort of stipend?” she asks, tearing off another section of wrapping paper.

“Yes, but it’s not enough for a down payment.”

“Can you ask your family?”

My dad would just tell me to ask Birch, and I’ve already tried that. “What if I want to do it myself?”

Her eyes seem to brighten. “Then you’ll need to raise some capitol. Maybe from your ceramics?” She gives the stack of books a quick glance. “Could you apply for a grant, like you did for Get Lit? I mean, the purpose is to start a community art center, which likely qualifies for all kinds of assistance.”

“But wouldn’t that be taking money away from people who really can’t afford to build something?”

“Did you feel bad about applying for grant money for these books?”

“No.” Mostly because the grants allowed me to work with publishers directly who were excited to partner with us.

---