Page 45 of Sawyer

I open the door of the not-so-small library and step inside, grateful for the blast of warm air in the vestibule. The library was renovated about ten years ago to include soaring ceilings and exposed rafters, but it also boasts wonderful nooks and crannies where you can get lost in a book for hours. It’s my favorite building in town.

“Ivy Caswell!”

“Hi, Ms. Anderson.”

Melody Jane Anderson has been greeting folks at the library for as long as I can remember and knows every Skagway resident by name.

“Call me Melody Jane. I heard you were back in town to help your aunt. You’re a good niece, and that’s a fact.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Can I help you find anything?”

“I thought I’d come for the book group,” I say, holding up my copy ofLove in the Time of Cholera.

“Oh, yep. Sure. Glass conference room over that way. You’ll see the crowd.”

I say thanks to Melody Jane and make my way over to the meeting room. “Crowd” was not a lie…there must be twenty people seated in chairs and milling around a coffee urn in the back. And—oh, shit.Among those caffeinating? Harper, Tanner, McKenna, Parker, Reeve, and Sawyer Stewart.

The gang’s all here I think, wondering if I should turn around and head home. I promised myself that I wouldn’t seek out other opportunities to see Sawyer. It’s not a good idea. The more time I spend with him, the weaker I feel. I’m about to turn around and sneak home when—

“Ivy!” McKenna has seen me, and beelines for the meeting room door, grinning at me and waving me inside. “Come and join us! We’re getting coffee before the discussion starts!”

Doesn’t she know I’m persona non grata among the Stewarts?

She ushers me over to the group, where I stand there awkwardly, facing Sawyer’s family. Harper, Parker, and Reeve stand off to the side, while Tanner, no doubt taking his cue from his wife, musters a smile for me.

“Hey, Ivy,” he says. “Heard you were back in town. Want a coffee?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

Until now, I haven’t looked at Sawyer, but now I slide my eyes to his face to find him staring at me.

“Hi,” I say.

“Hey,” he says. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Tanner hands me a cup of coffee, and I take it gratefully.

“I like this book,” I say, feeling stupid.

“I just read it,” says Sawyer. “I don’t know if I liked it or not.”

Love in the Time of Cholerais a complicated book. Technically a love story, it’s sad and heart-breaking and asks difficult questions about lost love, wasted time and what it means to be faithful. I was looking forward to discussing it, but now? Surrounded by Stewarts? Ireallywish I could go home.

As though sensing my desire to bolt, Sawyer places his hand under my elbow, leading me to a seat at the end of the last row.

“Let’s get seats,” he says, stepping over me to take the second seat in. His siblings file in from the opposite side, filling the chairs from beside him to the end of the aisle. It’s not lost on me that he’s placed himself between me and them.

I place my coffee cup on the floor and unzip my jacket, grateful when he holds it for me so I can shrug out of it.

“Thanks,” I say.

“I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable at rehearsal last night.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

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