Page 105 of Booked for Summer

‘Daydreaming again, Sis?’

She shook herself and turned to face Lauren, who’d surprised them all by accepting the mid-week dinner invite. ‘Maybe, a bit.’

Lauren handed her a glass of wine. ‘Mum said she’s got the kitchen covered. We’ve been instructed to sit and relax.’

‘Better do as she says, then.’ Jade accepted the glass and went to sit on the squishy cream sofa. ‘How’s Ned?’

Lauren smiled. ‘Still younger than me.’

‘Don’t you mean still junior to you?’

‘Ouch. Why don’t you say what you really mean?’

‘I just think, be honest with yourself. He doesn’t fit the mould of the man you had in mind. It doesn’t mean he’s wrong for you,’ Jade added. ‘You can’t choose who you fall for.’ If you could, then Jade would’ve chosen someone way easier to love than a certain grouchy resort owner.

Lauren gave her a quiet appraisal. ‘You’re missing Liam, aren’t you?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do you think you did the right thing, coming home rather than staying and trying to make a go of it?’

It was the question that kept her awake at night. She’d done exactly what Liam had predicted, and left him. Rejected him. Yet could she really jack in her job and fly back out there when she didn’t know where she stood? He liked her, liked the sex, but was she content to bumble along, waiting for the day he realised she wasn’t his type? That, actually, elegant brunettes with rich pedigrees were what he wanted all along. ‘I think so, yes. I’m done with guys who want to get away with only giving part of themselves. I want a man prepared to go all in.’ She gave her sister a sad smile. ‘Only that way will I know if he meant everything he said up to that point, or if it was all just to keep me having sex with him.’

‘Good for you.’

Except… why did she feel she’d let him down, like everyone else in his life had done, except his beloved grandma? ‘Oh God.’ She pressed a hand to her chest, the ache almost unbearable.

‘It was obvious what you saw in him,’ Lauren continued, oblivious to her meltdown. ‘He was definitely drool-worthy, but too grumpy for you. I know a lot of women go for that taciturn, broody thing, but someone as warm and sunny as you really needs a man?—’

‘I need him,’ Jade cut in, feeling panicked. ‘Shit, I shouldn’t have come home. I should have stayed and told him how much I loved him. Maybe that was all he needed, some reassurance from me. To feel loved when he’s spent so much of life feeling the opposite.’

‘Oh.’ Lauren peered at her. ‘So just to be clear, you like grumpy now? Because none of your previous boyfriends have been like that.’

‘He isn’t grumpy, he’s reserved.’

‘Sorry, but I definitely saw grumpy when I FaceTimed you the other week.’

‘He was protecting me.’ She levelled Lauren a look. ‘You talked down to me, implied managing a bookstore wasn’t a proper job.’

Lauren reared back. ‘No, I didn’t. Did I?’ When Jade nodded, her sister’s face fell. ‘Shit, that’s awful. I didn’t mean it like that. You’d only been doing it a short while, and I just thought it was like a paid vacation.’

‘And I was going to come home when it finished and get a proper job,’ she finished for her.

Lauren winced. ‘I suppose, yes.’ Her face crumpled. ‘God, I’m sorry. I guess I don’t understand jobs that aren’t involved with healthcare or science, but that’s no excuse.’ She leant forward. ‘Tell me what you did managing the bookstore. What did it involve? Educate me so I can be a better sister from now on.’

Touched, Jade began to describe what she’d done on the island, not just getting to grips with the store, but the events she’d run to increase business and bring the shop into the centre of the community. The more she talked, the more she felt an acute sense of pride. And an even more acute yearning to be back there.

‘Wow, Sis. That’s incredible. No way could I have done what you did. I’m awful at making friends, at networking. And as for thinking creatively, like your speed dating for book lovers idea, forget it.’ As Jade’s phone buzzed, Lauren rose to her feet. ‘You check on that. I’ll check on Mum. Make sure she’s not in danger of burning the dinner. Or the house, for that matter.’

Before she walked off, Jade reached out to stop her. ‘Thank you, for what you just said. It means a great deal, coming from you.’

Lauren shook her head. ‘Don’t thank me. I should have said it ages ago. You’ve always been so supportive of me, yet looking back I never gave you the same respect. Too focused on me. From now on, I’m going to do better.’

Lauren’s words, coming on top of her already sky-high emotions about Liam, brought a lump to her throat and Jade was glad of the distraction of the message from Jenny, one of the girls at work.

Have you seen this??

Frowning, Jade clicked on the link and her eyes filled with tears as she read it. It was a job advert for Little Bay Book Shack. He was replacing her already, yet he’d told her the job was hers. Had he assumed she didn’t want it. Or had he changed his mind?

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