Girls, I have a signing tonight at the shop, can anybody meet? I need to talk something out.
Dakota was first to respond, as usual.I’m out in 15. I’ll be over.
Veronica’s dots started to bounce before Dakota was even done.On my way, babes.
With a relieved sigh, Jenna pushed to her feet, gave her boys one more kiss each, and locked up the house. She’d taken advantage of the lovely winter evening and walked home from the shop, so it took her almost fifteen minutes to walk back, but the fresh air did her good. By the time she arrived, her lungs were clear, even if her head wasn’t, and Shane and Delia had things well under control.
Shauna Cramer was a new author, only on her second romance novel, but she lived in Northwood and she was lovely—kind and funny and a damn good writer—and Jenna was thrilled to be hosting her very first book signing. Shauna arrived wearing black pants and a nice sweater, her reddish-brown hair pulled back in a clip, her wire-rimmed glasses magnifying her large eyes. She was clearly nervous as she shook hands with each of the three BookLove folks, but she was also excited. That much was evident by her enormous smile. Shane was showing her to the signing table when Dakota walked through the door carrying two recycled cardboard trays with a total of six cups. She left three on the front counter, telling Delia they were for her, Shane, and the author. She shot Jenna a head bob as she carried the remaining three to the back.
Veronica showed up five minutes later, gave Jenna a wave, and headed back to join Dakota.
“Can you guys handle things here if I’m in the back with the girls?” she asked her employees. “We need a meeting.”
Shane gave a snort as Delia nodded. “We got this.” He turned to Delia and held up a hand, which she slapped a high five onto with great enthusiasm.
“Just give a shout if something comes up.”
Delia held up the coffee Dakota had brought. “We have caffeine.” She indicated the small table off to the side where some refreshments had been set up. “We have Christmas cookies. We’re all good.”
“You guys are the best.” Jenna gave them a grateful smile, thenheaded back to her girls, who were all settled into the loveseats and talking quietly. She picked up her cup, took a sip, and hummed her approval. “Needed this,” she said to Dakota. “Thanks.”
“So?” Ronni asked. “Tell us your woes.”
Jenna grinned. “Well, not exactly woes.”
“Oh.” Dakota sat forward in curiosity. “Not woes. Better than woe?”
Jenna laughed through her nose. “Yeah. Definitely. I think so.” She took a deep breath and told them the story of what she’d overheard earlier, starting with Amanda’s unexpected arrival.
“She ambushed her on her own doorstep?” Dakota asked, and the annoyed look on her face said exactly what she thought about that. “Ballsy.”
“It’s not the first time,” Jenna said. “It’s like the second or third.”
“Pushy bitch,” Ronni muttered.
Jenna told them the exact conversation, right up to those two lines that had been rolling around in her head for the past hour.
“She said that?” Dakota asked, sitting forward on the loveseat, leaning closer. “She said she might be in love with you?”
Jenna blew out a breath, relieved to have shared what she heard with somebody. “She did.”
“Wow,” Dakota said, and when Jenna glanced at Ronni, she was grinning hugely.
“What?” Jenna asked.
Ronni shrugged but kept grinning. “I mean, she’s in love with you.”
“She said shemightbe,” Jenna clarified.
Ronni’s snort was so loud, it was comical. “Please. She totally is. You don’t say youmight bein love unless you’re trying to soften the blow for somebody else. She’s totally in love with you. And she knows it.”
“I gotta agree with that,” Dakota said with a nod, pointing at Ronni. “So, the only thing left to address is…” She gestured with an open palm to Ronni to finish the thought.
Ronni did. “Are you in love with her?”
Dakota pointed and nodded again.
Jenna had avoided this entire subject for no other reason than it terrified her. But sitting here, now, with her two best friends in the wholeworld, the fear was nowhere to be found. The only thing she felt was a certainty. A conviction that was new to her. Her brain called up an image of Sawyer—that gorgeous, perfect face, the clear blue eyes rimmed by black glasses, the wide smile framed by full lips that Jenna couldn’t look at without wanting to kiss them for days, her soft, dark hair, her beautiful, shapely body, those strong hands that took Jenna to heights she’d never experienced. And then there was her brain. Her intellect was such a turn-on. And there was her heart, big and tender. There was so much about Sawyer Hall that Jenna could go on and on about, and all of these things, every last one of them fit together seamlessly to form a clear picture for Jenna. A clear picture of the woman she loved.
