At the clatter, he jerked. His head lifted.
“Sorry.” She smiled at him.
Without smiling back, he returned his focus to the screws.
Shay set two of the plungers back in place and carried the third away, acting like a customer looking for additional items. Actually, shewasa customer. Buying a plunger was the least she could do in the name of her cover story. One could never have too many plungers.
She texted Gabe as she walked.It’s absolutely Luke Dempsey. He entered Rocky’s Hardware. Come IMMEDIATELY.Gabe was as big a Miracle Five devotee as she was.
She took some deep breaths and shook out her legs. Luke’s hazel eyes had been like the ice covering a lake. Cold and dangerous.
Gabe caught up to her, a little out of breath, in the hammer aisle.
She motioned for him to bend down so she could whisper in his ear. “He’s super intimidating.”
“Really?” Gabe appeared enthusiastic.
“Take a look at your own risk.”
He ambled off and eventually met her at the cash register after she’d paid for her plunger. The door wheezed behind them as they exited. Together, they strode back toward Papery.
“That was so lucky,” Shay said.
“I can’t believe we just saw him in the flesh.”
“It was a Christmas miracle.”
“Luke Dempsey.” He shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
“Did you find him intimidating?”
“Very.”
“I think he might still be haunted by his brother’s death.”
“I wonder if he’ll ever come inside the shop? That grief journal we carry has really helped some people.”
“He didn’t look to me like the stationery type, Gabe.”
Two women stood outside Papery, sweetly waiting in response to theBe back in five minutes!message Gabe had taped to the locked door. It wasn’t until after the women left—one withHappy New Year!cards because she’d given up on getting cards in the mail ahead of Christmas—that Gabe circled back to what they’d been discussing when she’d spotted Luke.
“You said earlier that I’d forgotten one hugely important obstacle between you and Connor,” Gabe prompted.
“Connor asked me to be his dating consultant because he’s interested in someone else. You warned me that some other woman was going to take him off the market if I didn’t act. But the sad truth is, some other woman has already taken him off the market.”
“Tell Connor how you’re feeling. Maybe he’ll rethink the other woman.”
“Or maybe, if I tell him, that will only end up making him feel awkward around me.” She continued into her office and lowered to her desk.
Who is Molly?Is she someone I know?And what had she done to inspire Connor to try so hard to please her?
Shay had had several boyfriends. Getting them had never been the issue. It was transitioning to love and lifelong commitment that had been the tough nut to crack. Pondering Connor’s pursuit of Molly raised a depressing truth.
Connor was willing to spend the type of time and effort in pursuit of Molly that Shay’s boyfriends had never been willing to spend in pursuit of her.
And now, in a display of terrible timing, she was developing a crush on Connor right when he was about to confess his affection for someone else. Why hadn’t she noticed his appeal sooner?
Regret heavy on her shoulders, she pulled out her phone and texted him.I had a verified Luke Dempsey sighting just now.
