Page 76 of More Than Words
It was too late to turn around.There was nowhere to go.
“Bookstore lady!”
Too late.
I did my best to paste a smile on my face as Quinn released her dad’s hand and sprinted toward me.“Hey, kiddo.”She wrapped her arms around me in a spontaneous hug that almost cracked me.I swallowed hard to keep from crying.“Shouldn’t you be at school?”
Quinn pulled back.“Dentist appointment.”She shrugged.“Not enough time to go back before the end of the day.”
“Makes sense.”I nodded before reluctantly looking up at Ethan, who’d joined us.
“Hey,” he said as if it were any other day and he hadn’t just completely shattered my heart.
“Hi.”My voice was thinner than I meant it to be.
The silence stretched out between us way longer than it should have.
Quinn looked between us, her brows knitting together in question.
“Did you get your inventory shipment okay?”Ethan asked.
“Yup.”I nodded.“It’s kept me pretty busy the last few days, stocking all the new products.”
“I bet.”He looked like he was going to say something more, but pressed his lips together tightly instead.
“The labels work out okay?”
I couldn’t meet his gaze for more than a few seconds at a time.Not without remembering the way he’d looked in the community hall, celebrating his victory that had completely blindsided me.
“They did,” he said.“Thanks again for picking them up.”
We stood silently in the middle of the plaza.The cold air did nothing to chill the anger, confusion, and stupid ache in my chest that pulsed with heat.
Quinn’s gaze flicked from me to her dad.“Okay…weird energy here.”She waved a mittened hand between us.“What’s?—”
“I should get back inside,” I said quickly.“Thanks for saying hi, Quinn.”
“Can I come by later and check out your new books?”
I hesitated, but only for a second.“Of course.”I aimed a small smile in her direction.
“Maybe we can?—”
“Right.”I cut Ethan off before he could finish his thought.“I should get back.”
I turned and walked back to the store, forgetting entirely that I’d planned to grab some food.I blinked hard and did my best to ignore the burning at the corner of my eyes while I pretended that every step I took didn’t feel like I was leaving everything important behind me.
Ethan
Quinn was quiet for maybe ten steps after Delaney walked away.
Truthfully, that was about nine more than I’d expected.
“What was that?”
I glanced over at her.“What was what?”
Her eyes widened.“That.”She pointed toward Plot Twist, where Delaney had just slipped inside.“You and Delaney,” Quinn continued, skipping the use of her nickname.“You guys are being all weird.And you didn’t even try the gross stuff.”
