Page 67 of The Bookbinder's Guide to Love

He wasn’t going to pretend there was anything else drawing him to Birch Lake. Prior to Sera, he had bittersweet memories of the boy-man he’d been. And that was it.

He had to figure out if he could live this close to Sera if they broke up. Because the other thing he’d come to understand about her was Sera expected everything to end and everyone to leave.

There were times when she struggled to believe Poppy and Liberty would be there. She told him she knew it was silly, but the future just always seemed very much a single-rider line to a roller coaster. And suddenly she had friends next to her.

He’d always had Oz, but that was it. Now he was seeing double and enjoying the ride. Like today, inviting her to this estate sale.

He knew she’d love going through boxes and stacks of books. Finding some things for herself and her store. And he wanted to do that by her side.

Books, which were usually a solitary thing. A lone read was suddenly becoming a communal activity when it came to Sera.

“Okay. The girls will help if you hit any snags, Greer. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“You know it. Have fun, you two!”

They got their coats and Wes led the way to his Range Rover. He was glad he’d retrieved it from Portland because they’d need the space today if the sale was as good as Hazel thought it would be.

“I haven’t been to an estate sale ever,” Sera said.

“Glad your first will be with me,” he said.

Wes told himself he sounded chill. He wanted this to be the first of many new experiences they had together.

The music blasting from the speakers as Wes turned on the car wasn’t familiar to Sera. It definitely wasn’t Amber Rapp’s latest “Rhapsody for a Cheater.” It sounded like some kind of grunge style but she couldn’t identify it. Wes apologized as he turned the volume down.

“That’s fine. What song was that?”

“I don’t know. I was listening to ‘Take Me Back to London,’ by Ed Sheeran and Stormzy, on my streaming service.”

“I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anything by Stormzy.”

“He’s good. Mostly rap. After I left Birch Lake and told Grandpa I was doing things my way, I ended up in London for six months. Heard him when I was over there.”

“What happened with you and Ford anyway?” she asked. “He never mentioned it exactly, just that he had some regrets about you and your dad and brother.”

She’d been dying to ask him and better understand the relationship between the Sitwell men, but the timing had never been right. Today it felt—shefelt—like there wasn’t anything she couldn’t ask or say.

Wes put the car in gear and headed out of town. “Yeah? I have them too.”

“So?”

“You’re not going to drop this?” he asked.

“If you want me to. But I think, let’s face it, you stayed here for something other than the books.”

“Maybe I stayed for you,” he said.

“I think partially, after we got to know each other, but at first... Listen, I don’t know much about relationships, but I think couples should share things. Poppy said that’s one of the reasons her marriage broke down.”

“She did?”

“Yeah, and she’s better at making things last than I am, so I asked her for some advice.”

She wasn’t going to say up front that she was out of her depth in this relationship with Wes. She wanted it to last, and she was going to have to use her friends to figure things out. Poppy had been pretty honest with her, and one of the things her friend had said that really resonated was Poppy wished she hadn’t pretended to be someone she wasn’t.

Sera didn’t push to find out more. Probably because Sera herself didn’t want to talk about her own shortcomings. She had messed up things in the past and didn’t want to repeat her mistakes.

“That was a good idea,” he said. “About Grandpa... I don’t know how to tell this story without sounding like an ass.”

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