Page 17 of More Than Words
“But,” she broke off another piece of cookie, “I’m starting to think it might not be a total disaster.”
I picked up the last piece of my half and raised it to her.“I’ll cheers to that.”
She laughed as crumbs fell to the table after our cookie toast.She still had her guard up, but something had shifted.And I was happy to take whatever opening I could get.
Delaney
The shop was blissfully quiet.Two customers browsed in the back, their soft murmurs floating to my ears occasionally while they discussed new finds with each other.
Dust motes danced in the sunlight, but for the first time in days, the dust wasn’t coming from the construction mess from next door.
The meeting with Ethan had gone better than I’d expected.To be fair, I wasn’t expecting much.But I was definitely not expecting him to offer up an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie—my favorite—and his too, apparently.
I smiled with the memory of the way we’d bonded, even momentarily, about our mutual dislike of fruit in baked goods.I couldn’t remember the last time I’d met someone else who didn’t think that was sacrilegious.
That one tiny moment had cracked something in me.Not much.But just enough to let in the smallest sliver of something that felt a little too close to charm.
Ethan is not Ken.
I needed to keep reminding myself of that.They weren’t the same.
Ethan was a bit more rugged.Just a little rough around the edges.But there was something about him that was polished, too.Like maybe he was once a businessman instead of a brewmaster.
The reality was, I didn’t know much about my next-door neighbor at all.
Except that he had a very disarming smile and a way of getting me to drop my guard.
It was dangerous.
I blew out a sigh and wandered toward the counter where I’d begun pulling books for our pairing idea.The concept had come out of nowhere, but as soon as we’d started discussing it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.As soon as I’d returned, I’d started putting together my selections.
A romance.A cozy mystery…
The fantasy section drew me in.I reached for the familiar title—The Eye of the World—smiling to myself.
Ethan’s favorite.
I had to admit, it had surprised me that he was a reader.I hadn’t expected his eyes to light up the way they had when he told me thatWheel of Timewas his favorite series.
The bell over the door jingled.I turned to see Quinn.Her backpack was slung over her shoulder, her hair tousled, and her cheeks pinked from the crisp breeze outside.
“Hey, bookstore lady.”
I smiled at her nickname for me.“School out already?”
“Thankfully.”The girl dropped herself dramatically into the overstuffed chair in the reading nook.“I don’t think I could handle any more math today.Especially now that I know there’s a book two.”She produced the dog-eared paperback I’d lent her from the depths of her pack and tossed it on the low table.
“You’re done already?”
“I stayed up late,” she admitted.“I had to know what happened.”She looked up at me with such excitement in her eyes, I had to laugh.
I knew she’d be ready for book two.I already had it tucked away for her.
“I hope you’re still getting enough sleep.”I handed her the sequel.“I don’t want your parents coming in here giving me a hard time for contributing to your exhaustion.Sleep is important for school.”
She rolled her eyes and groaned, “Now, you’re starting to sound like my dad.”She lifted her hand, mimicking a talking motion.“Sleep is important, blah blah blah.Don’t stay up all night, blah blah blah.”
“It sounds like he knows what he’s talking about.”But I hid my face so she couldn’t see me smile.Quinn was so much like I was at that age.Sneaking a flashlight into my room so I could read under the covers long after I should have been asleep.
