Page 20 of Booked on a Feeling

“Here, have some jeon.” Mrs. Park reached across the table to put some pan-fried fish fillets with egg batter on Lizzy’s plate.

“Thank you, Ajumma.” She had to swallow the bite-size jeon along with a lump of emotion. She’d been on her own for so long, she’d forgotten what it felt like to be taken care of. Suddenly, her life in Los Angeles seemed so empty. But she had a successful career. Shouldn’t that be enough?Apparently not.She backed away from the thought as though it burned her. She quickly took another bite of the jeon and let the rich, savory goodness bring her out of her musings. “This is so good.”

“You got the idea,” Alex said, reaching for some japchae with his chopsticks. He was clearly better skilled at the proper usage of chopsticks than she was, because he managed to get aload of the glass noodles between them without it all slipping out in a tangled mess. “Next time, add a little more oomph in the compliment using words likebestandever.”

“Quiet, you.” Mrs. Park shot Alex an unconvincing glare.

“Never a dull moment with a comedian in the house.” Jack caught Lizzy’s eyes, and they shared a grin. “You should take your act on the road.”

“I most certainly will not.” Alex sat up straight, looking credibly affronted. “I’m a serious brewer, I am.”

Still smiling, Lizzy bit into the galbi jjim and almost moaned embarrassingly in front of Jack and his entire family. The tender, juicy meat melted off the bones, filling her mouth with the salty, slightly sweet flavors of soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, and the essence of all the vegetables in the slow-cooked dish. Mrs. Park went all out with the onions, dried jujubes, shiitake mushrooms, chestnuts, and the decorative pieces of carrots and radish. The layers of flavors were complex and so damn good.

“This literally is the best galbi jjim I’ve ever had,” Lizzy said with hushed reverence.

“Attagirl.” Alex gave her two thumbs up.

Mrs. Park ignored her eldest son and smiled warmly at her. “I’m glad you like it.”

The happy silence of a good meal settled around them as everyone dug into the delicious food. Lizzy didn’t think she could eat another bite, but managed to stuff another chopstick full of japchae in her face. She couldn’t get enough of the glass noodles sprinkled through with julienned vegetables and tender beef. It was such a mouthful of umami. Someone needed to stop her from eating herself sick.

“Did I mention that Lizzy won her first trial?” Jack announced, beaming at her from across the table with pride written all over his face.

Having him look at her that way made her feel like she was… enough. Something unfurled inside her—a need to have the man who made her feel that way. Suddenly flustered, she lowered her eyes to the table, then glanced at him from under her lashes a moment later.Jack?

“Wow. That’s fantastic. Your parents must be so proud of you,” Mr. Park boomed, drawing Lizzy out of her unsettling thoughts. “I bet your dad is going to talk my ear off about how wonderful you are the next time we chat. Not that he doesn’t already.”

“Thank you, Ajussi.” She forced herself to smile. Avoiding telling her parents about her leave from work only exacerbated her anxiety. She wasn’t looking forward to her mom’s disappointment, but it would be better to get it over with. She wanted to settle into her time in Weldon without it hanging over her head.

Once everyone was fed to Mrs. Park’s satisfaction, the twins cleared and wiped the table while Tara peeled and sliced some apples. She served the “dessert,” fanned out on the plate like the top of a beautiful apple tart. If it had come with sugar and a buttery crust, Lizzy would’ve found room to eat more than a single slice. Thankfully for her stomach, she was able to say no to the natural goodness. But the sweet-and-tart citron tea was so good, she couldn’t stop sipping at it. She was going to unbutton her jeans the minute she was alone.

“Thank you so much for the delicious meal,” Lizzy said, feeling a food coma coming on. “Let me help with the dishes.”

Mrs. Park literally laughed in her face. “You’ll do no such thing. That’s Mr. Park’s job.”

“That’s right,” Mr. Park said, pulling on a pair of red rubber gloves that went up to his elbows—a Korean household staple. “You just go and enjoy your vacation.”

After the thank-yous and goodbyes were said with hugs all around, Jack walked her out to her car.

“It was so nice seeing everyone.” Lizzy glanced across the car at Jack with her hand on the door handle. He stood on the sidewalk, his arms crossed over his chest. From a strictly objective standpoint, it did amazing things to his manly, veiny forearms. The skip in her heart was a perfectly natural reaction to her observation. “So I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”

“Um… actually. I won’t be able to join you tomorrow. I have… an errand to run.” He looked with great interest at something above her head. “But you should still go for a job… I mean, a jog.”

“Maybe.” By which she meant,probably not.She wasn’t at a point in her exercise regimen where she would voluntarily torture herself. Instead, she should sleep in, then try out that clawfoot tub. There was a peach Bellini bath bomb with her name on it in her luggage, which she should see about unpacking. She would get around to it when she got around to it. She was on vacation. “We should hang out later, then. Have lunch or something?”

“Maybe.” He said it in the same way she had. She made a conscious effort not to chew on her bottom lip. She’d told him he didn’t need to babysit her while she was in Weldon, so she had no right to feel disappointed.

“Well, okay. Bye.” She opened her car door and quickly slipped inside.

He waved to her and stood, watching her drive away. As soon as he was out of view, she popped the button on her jeans and groaned with relief. But a moment later, a forlorn sigh slipped past her lips. The prospect of a day without Jack seemed to stretch out before her, dull and aimless. It was probably because she didn’t know what to do with her free time. It was a pretty foreign concept, this free-time business. When she was in school,she was busy studying. When she became an attorney, she was busy working. She hadn’t had a stretch of time to herself like this since her high school summer vacations.

There was only so much shopping, strolling, and idling away the time she could do. In all honesty, doing nothing made her anxious. When she stayed still and quiet, her thoughts got louder and louder. She needed to keep moving to stay out of her head. Everyone had different ways of recharging. For her, working on a hobby or a project was the best way to let go and relax. She needed to find something she could throw herself into. In the meantime, she was grateful to have Sparrow to lose herself in.

She parked in her designated spot in the back of the building and headed for the bookstore. Again, when she stepped inside, she had to adjust to the sensation that the interior of the store was inexplicably smaller than the exterior. Could the dark, towering bookcases lined up in the middle of the store be the cause of the shrinking effect?

It was the middle of the day, and the sign on the door definitely readOPEN, but the bookstore was as quiet as it had been when she’d dropped by yesterday morning. Maybe the customers were hidden behind the bookcases, being very, very quiet because of the library-esque atmosphere.

Lizzy walked along the aisles but didn’t discover any customers silently browsing through the books. As a matter of fact, the store was empty. Was Shannon in the back again? She really should get a bell for the door.

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