“Yes,” she finally said, very softly, and much to her surprise, her eyes welled up. “Yes. I am. I am in love with her.”
Dakota’s smile went soft and mushy. Ronni let go of a quiet squeal of delight and stomped her feet as quietly as she could, given her obvious excitement.
“Girl,” she said. “Thank God.”
Jenna squinted at her. “Thank God?”
Dakota laughed and used one finger to indicate herself and Ronni. “We’ve been talking about this for weeks now.”
Jenna feigned a gasp. “You two talk without me? How dare you.”
“We had to!” Ronni said. “It was killing us watching you go all melty soft and not saying anything. We were trying to give you space to figure it out, but it was pretty clear to us, despite our worry.”
“What was clear?” Jenna asked.
“That you were gonna end up together,” Dakota said. “Despite your differences, you fit really well.”
“And even though she didn’t become an instant fan of romance,” Ronni pointed out, “even if you didn’t change her mind about that, she tried.”
“She tried,” Dakota echoed. “She made the effort. She got big points from us for that.”
“She did make the effort, didn’t she?” Jenna took another sip of her coffee and looked from one friend to the other and back. “I feel kind of…gooey.”
“You look kind of gooey,” Dakota said, and Ronni nodded with enthusiasm.
“That’s it?” Ronni asked. “That’s what you wanted to talk about? Whether you were in love with her or not?”
Jenna nodded slowly at the realization that she simply needed her girls to help her navigate this path. “I just didn’t get that it was so clear to you both.”
“And to everybody else,” Shane said as he walked by, headed to the office.
Jenna blinked in surprise at his back while Dakota and Ronni burst into laughter.
In a moment, he was back, carrying a small stack of books. “Dee and I were ready to put your head through a wall,” he said as he passed again.
“True story,” came Delia’s voice from the front of the store.
Jenna felt the blush creeping up her neck and settling on her face as she said, “Well. I guess the signing hasn’t started yet and everybody’s eavesdropping.” She raised her voice on the last two words, but she was smiling.
“Pretty sure you’re in love,” came the less familiar voice that had to be Shauna.
The three women burst into laughter once again, and this time, Jenna’s heart was full. She felt light, like the proverbial weight had been lifted, and she was almost surprised when she didn’t float up off the loveseat and hover just above it.
“You look happy,” Ronni said softly, reaching across to squeeze Jenna’s forearm. “It’s nice.”
“There’s only one thing left to do now.” Dakota sipped her coffee and watched Jenna over the rim.
Jenna gave one nod in her agreement. Dakota was right. She had one more thing to do, and she realized she wanted to do it as soon as possible. “I have to tell her.”
Dakota reached her cup over the table to Ronni, who touched her own cup to it in a toast. “To love.”
There was no way Jenna was going to bail early on a new author doing a signing at her shop, no matter how competent her employeeswere. And for a new author, Shauna’s signing was quite successful. She didn’t have near the numbers that somebody like Lily Chambers pulled in, but she had a very steady turnout, and by the time they rang up the last customer, locked the front door, and turned on the Closed sign, BookLove only had half a dozen copies left in stock of Shauna’s new book.
With a clear expression of relief and a heartfelt thank you, Shauna headed out, followed by Shane. Delia, her coat buttoned up and her purse over her shoulder, turned to Jenna and wrapped her in a surprising, tight embrace. “You deserve somebody who adores you,” she whispered, her mouth close to Jenna’s ear.
Unexpected tears sprang into Jenna’s eyes as Delia turned quickly and headed out the door before Jenna could respond. She locked it behind her, turned, and leaned back against it, then let out a long, slow breath.
“What a fucking night,” she said quietly into the empty store, but she couldn’t keep the smile off her face.
