Page 79 of Northern Stars

Kate gave me a concerned look. “You’re lying, aren’t you?”

Through my clenched teeth.

I held my hand out to her. “Can I go home now and read romance books?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Let’s get you home.”

26

Hailee

“I can’t believeyou threw up on Superman’s shoes,” Henry said the next morning at the front desk of the inn. I slouched in my chair, hungover and dumbfounded about how my night turned out. I didn’t even want to go to the stupid festival.

“I didn’t throw up on Superman’s shoes. I threw up on Aiden Walters’s shoes.”

Henry frowned as he walked over to the coffee table we’d set up for guests. “I hate to break it to you, Hailee, but they’re the same person.” He grabbed a cup of coffee, added sugar and cream, then brought it over to me. “I’d be so embarrassed if I were you.”

“Don’t remind me,” I groaned, taking a sip of the coffee. “Thank you for this, Henry.”

A noise was heard at the top of the stairs, and I sat up, alert.

Henry reached across to me and patted my hand. “Don’t worry. Superman already left. He headed out to the gym for a workout. You don’t have to face your humiliation until later.”

Goody.

“I’m not humiliated,” I urged.

“Hailee, I think you’re great. Really, I do. One of the best people I know, but if there’s one thing you’re bad at, it’s lying.”

“Shouldn’t you be getting to work?” I asked.

He glanced around the inn and shrugged. “Nobody needs anything.”

“Maybe you should vacuum the floors for something to do.” The pounding headache I was nursing wasn’t leaving much space for me to socialize with anyone at all. Not even sweet Henry.

“You got it, boss lady.”

He hurried off to do the task as two women walked into the inn with their suitcases. They looked about my age, maybe a little bit younger. They were giggling and whispering to one another as they approached me. Then the blond turned my way with a big smile on her face.

“Hey, there. How are you doing?” she asked with a little Southern twang to her voice. She was not from around these parts, that was for sure. Our town didn’t have many passersby. Most people just kept on their way for another forty-five minutes and headed straight to Chicago.

I pushed out a smile and tried to ignore my flipping stomach. “I’m doing good. How are you? How can I help you?”

“Well, yes. My name is Marna, and this is my best friend, Violet. We have a room booked for the next few weeks. I know we are a bit early to check-in, but we were hoping we could maybe get in early.”

“For sure. Let me get your ID and a credit card so I can pull up your reservation.”

She handed me her goods, and I noticed her charm bracelet. It had little charms of books, cats, and hearts. “Oh, I really like that.”

“Thanks, my mom gave it to my when I was a kid. I never take it off,” she explained.

I touched the piece of jewelry dangling around my neck. My Tom necklace. I hadn’t taken it off, even though Aiden took his off all those years ago. It oddly gave me comfort during my hardest days.

After I shook off my emotions, I found their reservation. As I typed in their information, they whispered to one another as if I couldn’t overhear them.

“Stop, I’m not going to ask her that,” Violet said to her friend.

I smiled at them both. “You can ask me anything.”

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