Page 137 of One Touch

“I’ll email you some information about Irlen Syndrome and suggest a few times for our meeting,” said Ms. Brown. “In the meantime—”

“I’ll try not to fuck everything up,” I cut in. “Crap. Sorry. Didn’t mean to curse. Damn.”

After hanging up, I stared at the unfinished Ferrari. “Shit,” I muttered to the car. “I need a break.”

***

I was a masochist.

Why did I keep coming back here?

I pushed open the door to Happy Ever Affogato, and as soon as I walked in, I knew that this was not the break I needed.

When Lily had left town, I had kind of assumed that her bookstore would close down. But it didn’t happen. A couple of weeks after she left, to my surprise, I saw that the place reopening.

Lily had employed Yolande as Manager. Yolande had worked here in the past, as Lily’s assistant, but it was strange to see her running the place alone.

“Hey, Ethan,” she greeted me without smiling, her black-lined eyes peering at me from under a fringe of jet-black bangs. “The usual?”

Yolande was the epitome of goth chic. Her pale skin practically glowed against her all-black ensemble–a Victorian-inspired corset top over a flowing skirt that brushed the tops of her combat boots. A choker with a silver bat charm adorned her neck.

I nodded, settling onto a stool. “Thanks.”

The store had undergone a vampire-inspired makeover since Yolande had taken over. Gone were the porcelain dogs andcomfy cushions, replaced by flickering LED candles, deep red velvet drapes, and bookshelves with fake cobwebs sprayed on them so that they looked like they’d been salvaged from an ancient castle. Posters of brooding, pale-skinned heroes and heroines gazed down from the walls.

As ridiculous as the new decor was, I had to admit there was something comforting about being surrounded by stories of love, even if they involved more fangs than I was used to.

Yolande handed me a steaming macchiato, and I took a sip. It wasn’t bad, but . . . it wasn’t the same. I didn’t even love macchiatos that much. I just wanted a taste of the past.

Still, I was also here for a taste of the future. “Say, Yolande,” I asked, “any news on when book three of Lavender Farms is gonna hit the shelves?”

“Next week,” Yolande said. “You finished Millie’s story?”

“I did.”

“What did you think of the candle scene?”

“A little . . . impractical. Let’s leave it at that.”

Yolande’s lips quirked into a half-smile, but she quickly corrected herself and went back to her serious expression. “And wasn’t Archie, that rock star character, the worst?”

“The absolute fucking worst. I knew that he’d try to do something to stop Blake building a new community center, but breeding and releasing termites to reduce the value of the land? Diabolical.”

“Lily always stood up for Archie back when she was with Vlad. Says he was misunderstood.” She paused. “That was only after she read book one, mind you, where Archie gets amnesia and becomes a good person for a while.”

I nodded. “I couldn’t believe it when his evil twin brother, Donny, stole his girlfriend at the start. And then converted the ranch house into an impromptu adult film studio, completewith cheesy Western-themed sets. I can’t wait to see how Marge Statten makes Donny the hero of the next book.”

“You got your ticket for her event yet, by the way? It’s not for another month but it’s selling up fast.”

“Not sure it’s for me,” I replied. “But I’ll definitely read the novel.”

Lily had left behind a copy of the first Lavender Farms book in her room when she’d left. I’d never read a romance novel before, but when I saw that book, I couldn’t help myself. As I read it, I felt for a moment like Lily was there with me, reading over my shoulder. And when I finished the first one, as hyperbolic as it was, it left me feeling so emotionally raw that I’d been desperate to start the next.

As I read, watching the love developed between the characters, and how they overcame their insanely unbelievable problems, I felt a hole being filled in me that I didn’t even know existed.

“Want me to send a text when book three is out?”

“Please.” I took another sip.

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