Emotion stung my eyes and nose once more. “What are you doing?”
“Checking on you.”
“Well, I’m heading out,” I said. “I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”
He levered himself away from the wall before I could pass. “I’ll drive you.”
“What about your meeting?”
Davis waited for me to meet his eyes. “My dad and his cohorts are determined to trade every ounce of history in this town for the almighty dollar. I’ve said everything I can possibly say to stop them, but they weren’t swayed. The whole meeting was a ridiculous waste of time.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I never should’ve left you. I told them goodbye the minute I saw your face when you walked past. I should’ve told them goodbye the moment they showed up.”
Emotions returned in full force, and I nodded so he wouldn’t hear my voice crack.
Then I left the café on his arm.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
We rode in silence for several long moments as Davis drove us back through town. I felt his heated gaze on my cheek when he stole frequent looks in my direction, but I trained my attention outside the windows, willing my heart rate to settle. My thoughts were tangled and overwhelming. I didn’t even know why it mattered that I was stood up.
Or why I was still aggravated that Annie couldn’t take ten seconds to give me input on my outfit? I thought we’d made progress.
All the little irritations seemed to pile up and compound. I suspected the fact my time in Amherst was coming to a close had something to do with it. Specifically, my unprecedented feelings of dread and general upset. That, and the tension of preparing to meet my admirer, coupled with him not showing, had thrown me into some kind of spiral.
Whatever it was, I didn’t like it. I wanted my pajamas, a muffin, and a fire. Maybe also my journal and some wine.
“I’m sorry about tonight,” Davis said, breaking the awful silence.
“Not your fault.” I forced an easy-breezy expression. “Blind dates probably have a high no-show rate. If I dated more often, I’d likely be used to it.”
“That’s not something you should ever get used to,” he said gently. “This wasn’t the way I wanted this to go—”
My phone buzzed, and Davis’s device did as well. He paused midsentence, focus sliding to the cup holder, where his phone held the same notification as mine. A message from IBOOM.
He pressed the power button to darken the screen, but it was too late.
My avalanche of emotions clutched onto something new. “Are you Historically_Bookish?” I asked flatly, unsure why I hadn’t asked days before. Asking Michael had felt awkward, because I didn’t know him well. But I knew Davis, and I was too wound up to let it go. I deserved an answer to something tonight. If not the identity of my admirer, then this would have to do.
Davis clenched his jaw and fixed his gaze on the road.
“You have season tickets to UMass football,” I said, ticking off the facts as they came to mind. “You love hot wings. Your best friend owns a bar. We have a similar sense of humor. You knew I lovedJane Eyre!” I thought about the book he brought me. I’d never mentioned it was my favorite. Not in person.
And he’d been so confused the day we’d met at the manor. That could only mean—
“You were so confused by my appearance on the night I arrived, because you were expecting my dad. You thought he was ED_Fan.”
Davis grimaced. The truck slowed, and he turned onto the gravel lane. “Emma.” He inhaled deeply, slowly, as tears of frustration pricked my eyes.
“Are you Historically_Bookish?” I asked again, voice cracking from too many emotions in too short a time. Of course he was. No one else made any sense. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” I asked. “You knew how much I wanted to meet the person behind the handle. I confided in you.”
Why was he lying to me again?
“I wasn’t sure at first,” he said. “I put it together in a few days, but by then we’d fallen into something I really liked and didn’t want to ruin. Things were going well. Then we kissed, and I knew I had to come clean about the manor. Telling you I used the bookstore account on IBOOM seemed insignificant in the face of our bigger problems. I wanted to fix those, then go back and fix the rest. I had a plan. It just—”
The truck’s headlights landed on a familiar white SUV, and all thoughts of disappointment disappeared.
“You have company?” Davis asked, disappointment thick in his tone.
“That’s Annie!” I unfastened my safety belt and reached for the door handle as he slowed.
