Page 26 of The Hometown Dilemma
I gave Jerry a grateful smile. “Thank you for rescuing me.”
“I could hear her from the kitchen,” he said. “I thought you could do with a break. Oh, and Jaime? For the record, I think what you’re doing is brave.”
For all Sylvie’s faults, at least she’d managed to settle down with a man who seemed genuine.
Knowing they were going out, I wondered what to do with the rest of my afternoon. I picked up my phone and messaged Cami.
Jaime:Don’t suppose you’ve got time to do a mani for me this afternoon? X
I followed it up with a GIF of Puss in Boots with the pleading eyes.
Cami:Haha! You’re in luck. One of Miranda’s clients canceled, so I can swap with her. Come in around three? BTW, lunch today was just dreamy…I’m too old to be sharing soup and a sandwich with a teenager who doesn’t have a job
Cami had been out with her college student football player for lunch. I almost laughed out loud. She had high expectations for her boyfriends to wine and dine her, so a cheap date – most probably at Dempsey’s – definitely wasn’t her thing. I wondered how Wade had managed to convince her to go out with him. Owning a bar, which didn’t exactly cater to fine dining, wouldn’t have suited Cami at all. Perhaps he had other talents which raised his stock. I shook my head. Why was I thinking about him like that?
Jaime:Okay, cool. I’ll run a couple of errands and come over to Serenity later. Thanks, sis, you’re a life saver! xx
Not wanting to still be in the house when Sylvie and Jerry left for the restaurant, I went to my room and grabbed my purse and jacket. I had plenty of time to kill before I needed to be at Serenity. And given I needed a treat, I decided to stop in at Books ‘n’ Beans on the way. I could chat with Mila about the next Meet Cute meeting and pick up a new novel while I was at it. Usually I read on an e-reader, but sometimes I wanted to feel a paperback in my hands and smell the pages. Crazy, yes, but comforting all the same.
Shouting a goodbye up the stairs, I left the house. The short walk to the center of town almost made me forget the conversation I’d had with my mother. The easy, more laid-back lifestyle in Abbott Ridge certainly gave me less stress than the hustle and bustle of New York. In the short time I’d been home, I didn’t miss it although I wondered how I might feel in a month or so. Particularly if I was still job hunting.
I pushed open the door to Books ‘n’ Beans, inhaling the familiar smell of new books. God, if they could bottle that smell… Glancing around, I looked for Mila, the owner and another of the Meet Cute book club members. She chatted to a customer as she rang up their purchases – what looked like a good stack of college textbooks. Catching my eye, she grinned and waved.
“Jaime! I wondered when I’d see you. Welcome home!” She turned her attention back to her customer. “Sorry, an old friend I haven’t seen for a long time.”
“I’ll be browsing when you’re free,” I called, heading over to the new releases section.
Whenever I’d felt like my New York life was starting to stress me out, I’d head for the nearest bookshop and spend a good hour or so wandering around. Even if I didn’t buy anything, which was a rarity, looking at covers and reading blurbs on the back cover gave me a warm feeling. And right now, I needed that feeling more than ever.
“Jaime, it’s so good to see you!” Mila crept up behind me, almost making me jump out of my skin. “Are you thinking about the new Kandi Steiner? It’s a good one, if you’re prepared to have your heart ripped out and stomped on.” She let out a laugh. “Are you coming to the next meeting?”
Her barrage of questions reminded me of Sylvie, although these were questions I wanted to answer.
“I do need something to read – apart from our book club one, of course.”
Mila grabbed the book from the shelf and thrust it at me. “Here. Don’t tell the boss.”
Much as I appreciated her generosity, I couldn’t let her gift me the book. I fished in my purse for my wallet and dug out a couple of bills to cover it, pushing them into her hand before she could protest. “Here. And yes, I am coming to the next meeting. It’ll be lovely when we have the yearly catch up and can meet in person.”
Mila nodded. “I know. It’s been so long since I’ve seen Skye and Catherine.”
“Excuse me, would you be able to show me the children’s books on climate change, please?” A customer came up to us and looked expectantly at Mila.
I pulled a face, impressed that someone was looking to teach their kid about something so influential. “I’ll see you at the meeting. Good to catch up again, Mila.”
“You too, Jaime. See you soon.” She flashed a smile, then turned her attention to the woman who wanted to know about climate change and took her across the shop to the children’s section.
After another blissful quarter of an hour browsing and pulling out books, mentally oohing and aahing over their covers, it was time to head over to Serenity.
The moment I walked in, Cami pounced. “What’s up with your face?”
“A delightful morning with mother grilling me to within an inch of my life about all the wrong choices I’ve made.”
She pulled me over to her station and settled me down opposite her, grabbing one of my hands and sucking in a breath as she appraised the state of my nails. “No. There’s more to it than that. You’ve been in a strange mood since dinner the other night.”
If I told her aboutInterior Nirvana,it was like admitting defeat – the thing I’d tried to avoid. But if I didn’t tell someone else soon, it was going to eat away at my insides and not get any better. Now or never, I guessed.
“You remember that show I told you about?”
