There was a pang in my chest that felt a lot like guilt. If I’d really been such a terrible friend everyone but me had noticed, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of a father I’d been to Ella all this time. I had to fix it. I had to do something. Mom was right. I needed to spend time with her before she grew up and resented me for being absent—not out of need but out of choice.
“It’s nice to be out and about for a change,” I admitted, only for Lilian to squeeze my cheek and slap me gently.
“Wonderful. Here. Have a little palate cleanser.” She pulled three wrapped candy canes from her apron and passed them around, but while Enzo and Ella dug right in, I just stared at the treat.
“Is this another spell? Because I’m all spelled out today.”
“No,” Lilian said, blowing raspberries. I raised an eyebrow. “Just some candy cane clarity, honey. Nothing fancy. The peppermint does half the job for me.”
I groaned and accepted defeat, only because I knew anything this woman made tasted delicious, and Ididwant something cool after all the rich Black Forest we’d had. What harm could it do, after all? Today was all about clarity anyway. Clarity I hadn’t had in years.
“Okay. Where to next?” Enzo asked after Lilian went back inside her busy café, and I looked around.
“The toy store, maybe?” I said, pointing a little down the road.
Enzo grimaced.
“You see the line, right? Those people are waiting to go inside because it’s packed inside.”
I bit my lip and kept looking around for the best place to get something for Ella.
“How about a bookstore? Maybe they’ll have some picture books.”
Enzo smiled.
“Now you’re talking. Books and Claws, it is.”
I’d heard of the place, not that I ever had been. It had been around for a year—or was it two?—but naturally, I’d barely set foot in there or any of the other cozy places that had sprung up lately.
We headed down the road, and before I’d even noticed them, Ella sat up in her stroller to point at the cats in the store window. One was curled up in a perfect circle on a fantasy book about dragons, and another was sprawled all over the YA display. A third one sat on the highest spot, next to a Hudson Bell romance, and watched that characteristic look of feline indignation, but it only made it look cuter.
“Kitty,” Ella said and looked at me.
I turned the stroller so she was fully facing the window display and crouched down next to her.
“That’s right, Ella. That’s a kitty. And that’s a kitty too.”
“They so cute!” she said, squinting her entire face, looking even more adorable.
“They are, sweetie. Come on. Let’s go meet them.”
Enzo led the way and held the door open for us as we escaped into the warm, cozy bookstore. I was at once inundated by the smell of vanilla, cinnamon, and… book pages.
“W-welcome,” someone stammered from behind the check-out counter, and I turned to look at a stunning specimen of a man.
He was tall, dark, and handsome, with shiny, curly hair and a glorious salt and pepper beard that begged to be caressed, to be nuzzled against. But even though he was unbelievably sexy, it was his smile that was his best feature. Big, wide, and kind. A smile that made me feel right at home.
“H-hi,” I stammered too.
“How…” The man started to speak and stopped as if he ran out of breath. He turned to Enzo, and that alone felt like a crime against me. “How can I help today?”
“Hi, Samir,” Enzo greeted him, and I swallowed a frog in my throat as I tried to breathe but found it nearly impossible. “I’m still working on that book I got last time.”
“Still? Hasn’t it been two months?” Samir put his hands to his hips and raised an eyebrow at Enzo.
“I know. I know. I’m a slow reader. I’m really enjoying it though.”
So was I. Enjoying the view, that was.
