This whole day had been amazing. So far, anyway. I couldn’t have asked for a better opening day.
More customers came in, even though it slowed down a little by mid-afternoon. There was a steady stream ofbrowsers and buyers, and between Ro and me, we were either serving customers or restocking, or tidying shelves and displays.
Non-stop.
Busy enough that I didn’t always get a chance to greet customers every time the bell chimed over the front door. So while I noticed that three people came into the store, I was busy serving a customer and didn’t really pay them much attention.
Until a familiar face came up to the counter. “Hello,” Wayne Clark said. He was with a woman who was clearly Deacon’s mother because of how much they looked alike. And I’d thought he looked like his dad...
“Oh, hello,” I said.
“Winter, this is my wife, Vicky,” Wayne said.
She smiled fondly at me. “So nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. This is my aunt, Ro,” I said, introducing her because she’d magically appeared like a genie.
“So nice to meet you,” Ro said.
But I looked around the store for Deacon and found him at the shelves, searching for something. He was shaking his head, and I knew he couldn’t find what he was looking for. “Deacon,” I called out.
He turned to face me, his expression a mix of sad and disbelieving. “Never Let Me Go. You sold them.”
“I sold one,” I said. Then I held up the copy I’d put aside for him. “I kept one just for you. See?” I pointed to the little slip of paper. “It has your name on it.”
His smile... his smile was everything. Like it lit him up from the inside.
Hell, like it litmeup from the inside.
He came over to the counter, his gaze going from the book to my eyes and not leaving. Full eye contact, unwavering, unbroken. “You kept it for me,” he said quietly.
I wasn’t really prepared for how intense an effect his gaze would have on me. It made my heart stutter, butterflies tickled my belly, and I was lost to it in that moment. Like the world fell away. Until Ro’s hand on my back broke the spell and I realized they were all waiting for me to speak. “Of course I kept one for you,” I managed.
Great.
Just great.
Deacon and I just had a moment. In front of his parents, in front of Ro.
Embarrassed, cheeks burning red, and ignoring the way Ro and Vicky were smiling at each other, and most definitely ignoring how Wayne was smiling at me, I patted my hair down and cleared my throat.
“Deacon,” I said. “Would you like me to ring this up for you now, or are you happy to browse a little longer?”
Vicky took Wayne’s arm. “Oh, we’re happy to browse. Take your time.”
“And I was going to go check on Merry and Bright,” Ro said, pulling on her coat. “See how they managed with lunch. Be right back.” She grinned at Vicky and Wayne as she raced out the door.
And that left me with Deacon. He was still staring at me, smiling at me, still making my heart thump absurdly out of rhythm. “I like you,” he said quietly.
Oh.
Did he mean to say that out loud?
Pretty sure he hadn’t meant to. But he had. He had said that. To my face. And those butterflies that were fluttering in my belly were now a flood, and my heart...
Well, my heart went and said the quiet part out loud. “I like you too.”
CHAPTER NINE
