Page 47 of Tattered Edges

I made my way out from behind the register and went to sit on one of the couches. She answered on the third ring.

“Sawyer, hi!” she greeted cheerily.

“Hi. Sorry to call on your day off.”

“Nonsense. You can call me anytime, you know that. What’s up?”

I sighed and then told her the news.

“My god! Are you alright? I’ll come over, straight away.”

“No, no. There’s no need for that. I’m not alone. Rory and Oscar are here with me, and the police are coming. You don’t need to make the trip. I just wanted to let you know.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” I insisted with a nod she couldn’t see.

“And you’re okay?”

I looked around at the scattered books and the broken door, which remained ajar. I was still a little panicked, but I realized it wasn’t because I was frightened. Not anymore. Not with Rory and Oscar with me. What bothered me was knowing this had never happened before. Now, on my watch, it had—but I still couldn’t explain why.

“I’m afraid this is my fault, but I can’t figure out how,” I admitted.

“Put that out of your mind, right now. You have done nothing but breathe new life into the store. You’re not to blame for someone else’s actions. Anyway, it sounds like little damage has been done. Nothing that can’t be cleaned up in short order. You’re sure you don’t want me to come in this evening?”

“No, don’t,” I said on a sigh. “Really, I’ll be okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Alright,” she conceded. “Call me if you need, or if you find out any answers as to who did this.”

“I will. Speak soon.”

We said our goodbyes before we both disconnected. Not long after, Rory was lowering himself onto the arm of the wingback chair kitty corner to the couch on which I sat. It was then I noticed it was only the two of us.

“Where did Oscar go?”

“I told him to go finish his beer. There’s not much any of us can do until the police get here. No sense in all three of us twiddling our thumbs.”

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, it struck me how relieved I was that Rory had stayed. Even though I was sure it didn’t mean quite what I hoped, it was still a show of support and protectiveness I appreciated wholeheartedly.

“Do you have any idea who might have done this?”

I shook my head, wishing I had a better answer.

“I’m drawing a blank. I’ve been here a month. I hardly know anyone. All my friends are your friends, too.”

He was scowling again, only not at me. As he looked around the store, he observed, “It doesn’t look like anything was taken or damaged, aside from a few books. If I had to wager a guess, whoever it was seemed to be looking for something.”

It was my turn to knit my eyebrows together as I frowned. “Looking forwhat?Victoria is a master at finding old collectible books, and we get some donations that have diamonds in the rough, but at the end of the day—nothing in here isthatvaluable.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” he muttered distractedly. “But there must be an explanation.”

I admired him for a moment, thoughts of him—his presence, his desire for answers—making their way to the forefront of my mind. Amidst my waning panic and nagging bewilderment, I found myself unable to shake off my feelings for the man. I’d given up trying to figure out if I was still so into him because I couldn’t have him or because I didn’t yet know enough about him to have lost interest. I honestly couldn’t say. But while I considered him a friend and a neighbor I could rely on first and foremost, my attraction hadn’t diminished in the slightest.

He so obviously was content with our relationship being strictly platonic, and I respected that. Though, I would have been lying if I said there wasn’t a part of me that wished he’d wrap his arms around me just then and assure me everything was going to be fine. Not because I needed some knight in shining armor to save me, but because it simply would have felt nice to hear it—to have his masculine reassurance wrapped around me, reminding me I wasn’t alone.

I was perfectly capable of standing on my own two feet, but since I’d arrived in London I’d faced one set back after another. I was putting on the bravest face I could, but content as I was with my decision to relocate, I couldn’t pretend bad things weren’t happening. Over and over.

While I had managed to find a community of people to whom I was starting to belong, it didn’t make me any less alone under the weight of the responsibilities I’d chosen to carry.

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