“And now?”
“Now, I’m not so sure.” I’d struggled in the short time since my arrival, and I wanted to go home more than I let myself believe. “Sometimes I wish I could revamp the bookstore. Get a dog. Emily Dickinson loved dogs. Mine could be a Rini Reads mascot. Or maybe all pets would be welcome on leashes while their humans browsed or read from a favorite book.” I waved the thoughts away with one dismissive hand. “I don’t know. It’d be a complete overhaul, like this house.” And I hadn’t come all this way to think about the place I’d left.
“Sounds like an excellent project,” Davis said.
“And a lot of work and money.”
“If anyone can do it, you can. So, what’s the problem?”
I bristled at the challenge in his tone. “Of course I can do it. I’m just not sure how.” At the moment, I was in the midst of a complete overhaul on myself. My eyes narrowed. “How do you know I can do it?”
“What?” he asked, smile faltering.
“You said if anyone could do it, I could. How do you know?”
Davis’s expression sobered. “You said you run the store already. You’re obviously unflappable and tenacious, coming here alone for six weeks, determined to live in a home that really isn’t worthy of a long-term occupant.”
“Six weeks is hardly long term.”
“It is when the house is two hundred years old,” he countered. “Which is why I need to get in here and start the overhaul.”
I considered his words. I was long suffering and exhausted, but was I unflappable and tenacious? I used to be. Could I be again?
More importantly, was it awful of me to want to finish my time here? Grace didn’t seem to think so, but she wasn’t the one burdened with managing the property while I bumbled around, fighting the buggy furnace, stove, and water heater. And I wasn’t standing in the way of her career’s full potential.
Davis rose and carried his cup to the sink. “I should get going,” he called from the kitchen.
The sudden announcement rattled my thoughts. Why was he leaving?
“You have things to do,” he said, as if reading my mind. “Baking. Writing. Embracing your inner Emily.” He turned for the foyer and held me in his gaze a moment longer than polite or necessary.
I frowned briefly at the reminder he’d read my list, but the wave of heat rising through me pressed the breath from my lungs. Did he feel that too?
“Thanks for the nightcap.” He offered a sad smile. “Emma—I want you to get everything you came here for.”
The words felt pointed and hard as they entered my heart. “Thank you. I appreciate your help today, and the company. I’m trying to be happy on my own, but it gets lonely.”
“I hope you won’t become a recluse like Dickinson.” He looked me over. “I don’t think her life is one to aspire to, but maybe that’s me. There’s a big world out there to explore, and you strike me as someone who’d thrive on adventure.”
I followed him into the night, stopping when we reached his truck. His words circled my heart, tightening like a vise. “I think I’d like adventuring.”
His cool gray eyes met mine, and the air charged between us. “Do it. Be fearless,” he dared. “You’ve come this far in search of happiness. Don’t be afraid to find it.”
I thought of my list. I wasn’t becoming a very successful Emily Dickinson for more reasons than one. For starters, I hadn’t yet given up on love.
Davis raised a gentle hand to my cheek, brushing away a strand of hair caught on the night breeze. His fingers slid onto my neck, curling beneath my hair, and tilting my face to his. The invitation open. I only needed to respond.
We stood frozen and on the verge of a kiss until my heart thundered in my ears, and I couldn’t think of a single reason to walk away from this man. I stepped forward, closing the space between us, and rose onto tiptoes.
His lips were soft and yielding when I pressed my mouth to his. His protective arms, a refuge against all that pained me.
My body melted against him.
Maybe it was the historic manor at our side, the starry sky above, or magic in the air, but our kiss felt otherworldly. As if we’d done exactly this a thousand times.
I stepped back a moment later, before I was fully ready, when my breaths came short, my nerves undone.
Davis blinked, eyes belatedly finding focus. He scraped a hand through his dark hair, looking both stunned and miserable. “I’m so sorry, I—”
