Page 9 of Mistlefoes

I huffed a sigh. “Jack—”

“I’ll see you at noon with lunch,” he interrupted then disappeared back out the door, jauntily striding toward his store. I blinked back the stupid emotions burning my eyes at seeing him go. This building used to beourstore.

Honestly, we’d been outgrowing the space, and we’d been looking at either buying the store next door or looking elsewhere in town. Then right about the time we split, the unit on the end of the block had opened up, and we’d been talking about leasing it. We’d had so many ideas for it…

Shaking away the thoughts, I returned to my work and headed back to the section where I’d setup a gilded age theme with a couple chairs that appeared to be from that time period and a side table with a lacy tablecloth. I’d displayed a silver tea service on it, a great find from the thrift store. Honestly, I could sit right here and get lost in a book given the chance.

Once I finished stocking those books, I moved over to the sci-fi and paranormal section. Each part of the store had it’s only little world created for it, moving patrons from the past and to the stars, from cozy mysteries and suspense to big-city contemporary romances.

By the time I unlocked the front door again, everything was ready for the day and I’d set aside a few titles I’d find on the online bookstore for reading on my tablet. Deciding to continue my special from yesterday, I placed the signboard back on the sidewalk with high hopes of luring in lots of foot traffic.

The morning was slow, however, and I almost welcomed Jack’s arrival at lunchtime. Almost. Okay, my pulse raced with anticipation, but my head… My head wasn’t there yet.

“Ready for lunch? I brought the special fromNan’s Diner,” he said, holding up a white plastic bag holding a couple to-go containers. “Sadie said to tell you hi, by the way.”

“You told her you were coming here? Lunching with the enemy?” I asked in horror.

“Well, I was getting food for two. You know how rumors fly. If I didn’t tell her, there would soon be a story about my mystery woman.”

“So now there will be gossip about us, instead.”

He shrugged.

“Could be worse. Believe me, I know,” he grumbled.

So did I. No one knew why we’d broken up, and as was true, nature and small towns abhorred a vacuum, so something soon filled the available space. None of the wild rumors were true.

“Besides,” he started.

“Besides what?” My hackles lifted, and I held my breath for what he might say.

“Maybe, I should wait on that.” His dark eyes bored into me, and I knew what he wasn’t saying. It was the same thing I hadn’t let him say for a year, even though I knew what he wanted. Me. He wanted me back.

“The computer’s still in the same place. In the office—inmyoffice,” I blurted, sidetracking from the dangerous path we’d been treading.

“Okay, lead the way. Let’s see what we’re working with.”

“Nothing. We’re working with nothing,” I admitted.

“Fine. Let’s get a start on fixing that. I have all afternoon. There’s a storm coming over the lake, so I closed early. Weathergirl over atWoods Resortsays we’ll get close to a foot, so I doubt there will be any more customers today.”

“Great,” I said, dejection heavy in the word. I really had to get my website running for online ordersandwin the holiday display contest.

“Almost everyone in town is shutting down early. I’m surprised Deputy Blieler hasn’t been in to talk to you.”

“No, I haven’t seen Hans today.”

“Hans?You see him often?” Jack asked, less than nonchalant in his demanding inquiry. His lips pressed together after the question, the tension turning his shoulders to cement.

He was jealous?Hewas jealous? After I’d seen him with someone else?

“Occasionally,” I hedged. The cop happened to like reading alien romances.

Jack’s growl as he spun away toward the office wasn’t in my imagination, and I fought a triumphant smile as he marched toward the office we used to share. Interesting. Very interesting.

Five

Jack

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