Because there he was, his broad shoulders damp from the drizzle outside, jaw clenched, eyes scanning the shop like he expected a fight to break out between the cinnamon buns and the scones.
I froze behind the counter at the computer where I’d been inputting new stock.
He looked different here in the daylight. Less shadows and IPA, more rain and sawdust. Still gorgeous, still the last person I needed barging into my carefully balanced world. Every time he was around me,the walls just weakened, and I wasn’t sure how to keep them up.
Mia’s elbow found my ribs before I could recover. “Well, look who it is,” she whispered. “Your favorite customer.”
“Shut up,” I hissed, setting aside the book I was working on.
East approached the counter, his gaze locking on me with unnerving precision. “Maggie wants muffins. Cinnamon Sugar. Thought I’d stop in and pick them up. I wouldn’t say no to a roll.”
“Of course,” I managed, reaching for a pastry box, trying not to seethe that there wasn’t more of a personal reason behind it before I asked myself what the heck I was thinking. “How’s she doing?”
His jaw softened just a little. “Better. Still stubborn. Healing. She wants to stop using her crutches, but that’s not going to happen. Keeps telling Chloe she doesn’t need half the therapy sessions, but she’s made a lot of progress.”
“That sounds like Lo Lo,” I said, smiling before I could stop. “Always trying to direct things, but I believe in Maggie. She has all of you here to help her. She’s lucky.”
Something flickered in his eyes at that, quick and sharp, like maybe he wasn’t sure about the lucky part. But before I could dig into it or wonder about it, he cleared his throat.
I slid the box of muffins and his roll toward him, my fingers brushing the edge just as his hand closed around it. A jolt shot through me, sharp and stupid, and I snatched my hand back like I’d been burned.
“Cinnamon Sugar,” I said too brightly. “Still warm.”
He grunted, tucking the box under his arm. For a moment, he didn’t move, just stood there, his eyes fixed on me like he was trying to figure something out.
And then he tipped his chin. “Thanks.”
“Mhm. See you.” I busied myself with sticking a pen back in the jar that was still on the countertop. Anything to avoid the weight of his stare.
The bell over the door jingled again, drawing him toward it. He nodded slightly and left, the scent of rain and cedar lingering behind him.
I exhaled, my heart pounding so hard I was surprised Mia couldn’t hear it over the espresso machine.
She leaned across the counter, grinning like a cat with cream. “So. Totally not into him, huh?”
I dropped my head into my hands. “I hate you.”
“You love me,” she sing-songed. “Now tell me you didn’t just imagine him carrying you off like some grumpy lumberjack hero.”
I groaned. However, the problem was that I had totally imagined it. Derek was the last man I had been with, and that was pretty sad for so many disappointing reasons.
Focusing on work, I got busy with that, and sent Mia to the bank and the post office so we could get set for the evening.
By six-thirty, Chapter & Crumb had transformed. The shop lights glowed warmer, and the smell of popcorn mixed with the familiar remnants of pastry and sugar.Jurassic Parktrivia cards waited at each chair, along with little folded programs that Mia had insisted on printing.She’d also talked me into a playlist of “jungle ambiance,” complete with chirping crickets and distant thunder.
The regulars settled in quickly, old friends taking their usual spots, new faces mingling in. There was a low hum of anticipation, that wonderful thrum that meant people were ready to escape into a story together.
This was one of my favorite parts of the job. Not the baking or the bookkeeping or even the browsing customers who wandered in for paperbacks, but this: people gathered around books, laughing, sharing, arguing about whether they’d survive a dinosaur chase.
I stood near the front, clutching my stack of icebreaker questions, when the bell over the door chimed again.
And the air shifted.
Because in walked Maggie, and right behind her, tall enough to block half the light from the doorway, was East. That was how I thought of him now in myprivatethoughts.
The whole world seemed to stutter, the jungle soundtrack looping in the background like a joke.
Maggie wore a pale cardigan and a bright smile, her hand steady on the crutches even as East hovered nearby, his arm half-extended as if he was ready to catch her at the slightest wobble. She appeared stronger than at our last meeting, both of her hands firm on the handles.
