Page 28 of One Touch

Ida was the older sister of the McCoy triplets. She was in her late thirties and had a bright and cheery disposition in spite of being through some pretty horrible stuff. She got ovarian cancer a few years ago and thankfully recovered, but was told she’d never be able to have kids. Her fiancé couldn’t handle that and left her, and she had never seemed willing to take a chance on anyone else. She did enjoy reading my romance novels from time to time, though, and I always enjoyed picking out something spicy for her. She had a thing for bad boys.

Today, she wore a duck-egg blue dress and had her chestnut hair scraped back in a loose ponytail. Ava, meanwhile, wore a bright purple backpack and a thoughtful expression.

“Morning.” Ida spied what I was working on. “Unforgettable first kisses, eh?”

“R-right,” I said, eyes darting to Ava. “The kind of kiss that locks you into the book, so you know you have to read it all the way to the end.”

“Sounds right up my alley. Any with bikers?”

“One or two,” I said, guiding her to the novels in question.

“How are you doing today, Ava?” I asked.

“Okay, thank you,” Ava replied quietly. “My auntie’s looking after me while Dad works on a fancy car.”

More guilt.

“That sounds good.”

“So anyway,” said Ida, “I’m here to buy ten romance novels. I just need to decide if I want ten first kisses, or five first kisses and five extremely rough and ready mafia bad boys.”

“What’s a mafia?” asked Ava.

“Nothing,” blurted Ida. “Just a very bad group of people who Auntie Ida is not at all supportive of.” She winced at me, blushing a little.

“So,” I said. “Ten books, you say? That’s a coincidence. Connie came in here for ten books the other day, too. A certain pregnant baker wouldn’t have anything to do with this sudden desire for ten books, I take it?”

God damn it, Elara, you lovely idiot.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ida’s eyes danced with poorly concealed amusement.

“You know you don’t have to buy a bunch of books just to help m—”

“It’s not to help you! I’ve been meaning to stock up for a while now. I have a voracious appetite in the summer.”

“As long as you actually want to buy them. Do you want some recommendations?”

“No. I’ll browse. It’s been a while since I’ve spent time in a bookstore.” Ida rubbed her palms together. “I’m going to enjoy myself.”

“Ava,” I said, bending down a little, “would you like to have a look at our kid’s section?”

“You have a kid’s section?” Ida was surprised.

“Yup. We have books for kids that include romantic elements. Come on, I’ll show you.”

As I led the quiet eight-year-old through the store, I couldn’t help but notice how much she resembled Ethan. Those same thoughtful blue eyes, that same dark hair—though hers wasn’t threaded with silver like her dad’s, of course.

“So, what kind of books do you like to read?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Me too! I like all kinds.”

Ava stayed quiet for a moment. “I just don’t like to read, I guess.”

“Really? How come?”

“I don’t know. Everyone else finds it so easy. I’m dumb at it, I guess.”

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