Page 88 of I Heart Mason Cartwright
“Really?”
“Yes.” He’s acting weird.
Why is he acting weird?
“Why are you acting weird?”
“Me? I’m not acting weird. You’re acting weird.”
I look at him, eyes narrowed.
He looks at me, eyes wide.
“What?” I ask.
“Well,” he says cagily. “It just occurred to me that we know someone who owns a used bookstore.”
Is he on to me? Does he know that I think it might be Mason’s mom’s store?
“Oh?” Now my eyes are wide. On purpose. “Who might that be?”
“Missus Cartwright.”
“I’m sorry, who?” I ask, trying to appear as innocent as possible.
“You remember, like maybe six months ago or so, AshLynn was engaged for a hot minute?”
“Of course I remember.”
“The guy she was engaged to, Mason? Well, his mom is Missus Cartwright.”
“Oh, of course, how silly of me to have forgotten that.” I’m almost believable when I say it. We haven’t talked about Mason in almost a month. The fact that I know how long it’s been speaks volumes. He looks at me as though he doesn’t believe me, though. I don’t blame him.
“Fine.” I sigh. “That was the first thing I thought too, that maybe it was his mom’s.”
“Did you go inside?”
“God, no.”
“Why not?”
“Zach!”
“Willicent!”
“What if his mom was there?”
“Why? Because you’ve met her? Because you think she knows about you?”
“No. And no. But what if Mason had been there?”
“You would have said hi. And that you hated to run, but you were late for a luncheon.”
“Guys have it so easy.”
“You think we don’t get nervous?”
“Clearly.”
