Page 81 of The Bookbinder's Guide to Love

Could he let himself just trust her?

“I don’t think Sera took it for money,” he said to his father.

“You fix books for a living,” his father said.

“But I was afraid to fix that one,” he said. Suddenly, he knew exactly why Sera had chosen the book and sent it out to get fixed.

“Why?”

“It’s the one thing that means something to you and Oz and me. It’s the one positive bond we share.”

Benjamin shook his head. “Is that what you think?”

“Yes,” he said to his father. “We barely speak. It was the same with Grandpa. You and Oz don’t even like books, but you do like that one.”

Benjamin shook his head. “Kari—that’s the woman I started dating—she pointed out that I don’t do a very good job of letting the people in my life that matter to me know that they do. I can see now, I’ve done that with you. I’m trying to get better.”

“Great, Dad. I’m glad to hear you’re dating and trying to change too,” Wes said. And he was. The conversations he’d had with his father since Grandpa’s death were good. It made his dad seem more human than he ever had before. Which Wes was grateful for, but what the hell was he going to do about Sera?

“Dammit. I wish I’d kept my mouth shut in Sera’s shop. I was trying to get to know her,” his dad said.

“Something else Kari suggested?” he asked. Wes was intrigued by his dad’s mystery woman, who seemed to be the first person in his memory to make his dad try to change.

“Yeah. She said if I wanted to be closer to you boys I had to get involved in your lives. Oz is easier because we work together. We’re having coffee together every morning and talking for fifteen minutes, not about work.”

Wes almost smiled, even though he was panicking inside about how he was going to fix things with Sera. He knew she’d expected every person in her life to leave and he’d just walked out the door. But hearing his dad allocating time to spend with Oz was nice, if typical. They’d always seemed to get along.

“So this trip to Birch Lake wasn’t just for the clients?”

“I’ve moved them to an online account so I don’t need to see them. But things have always been harder with you, Wes. You’re not like Oz, who sees the world like I do.”

“And I look like Mom.”

“You probably don’t remember her, but you look more like my mom,” his dad said. “She was the one who made your grandpa get out of the office and live. They met when he was working in London. She always used to get him to take her on adventures, and they weren’t always out of the house. We read a lot when I was growing up and I was happy to see you following in her footsteps.”

But he had never been able to say it. Wes had followed his father’s example down to a tee, even though he’d told himself he was nothing like the old man. Turned out he was actually the mirror image of his dad.

“Want me to go talk to Sera?” his dad asked.

“Not now. I’ll tell her you apologize for accusing her of having nefarious motives for taking the book. I’m the one who screwed this up—I have to fix it.”

His dad reached out for him and Wes hugged the old man back. It wasn’t as awkward as their last hug. Both of them were making strides to move forward.

But how was he going to fix things with Sera? He’d hurt her. And today, when he’d promised himself he’d do everything to build a future with her... He’d self-sabotaged that relationship right into the trash.

Sera was fuming, and when Greer came out of the back room, she asked them to watch the shop while she went out for air. She’d known Wes would leave. That was the first thought in her mind.

But this wasn’t just about leaving. His reaction to the book had been him not having a clue about who she was. He’d been the one man she’d let spend the night at her place, the one guy she’d finally thought might stay...but she had to admit, in the back of her mind, and in the heart of her soul, she’d been holding her breath.

Waiting for the other shoe to fall, waiting for him to decide she wasn’t enough.

She grabbed her coat and headed out the back of the shop, leaning against the wall, tipping her head up to look at the cold, gray February morning.

Liberty’s card pull had said Sera needed to make peace with the past. Something Sera had been giving herself kudos for doing when she’d let Wes spend the night. But even then she’d been thinking about the six weeks they’d agreed he’d stay. The stories she’d agreed to tell him about Ford.

He’d had a reason to be in her life. A reason to stay. And now it was over. The fact that he was leaving a few days early shouldn’t surprise her.

But it did.

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