“So great,” I ground out through clenched teeth, ignoring the sting of tears welling in my eyes.“So,sogreat.It’s the best newsever.”I turned to Greg, desperate to change the subject before I lost control and said something I’d regret.“What about you, Greg?What will you do now?”
Greg left Mr.Fluffy in Nana’s capable hands and stepped closer.From the blissful expression on her face, she was in snuggle heaven, and the well-dressed ferret looked like he was loving every minute, too.
Maybe Ishouldhave adopted a ferret instead of whatever species of hell beast Haroldhas turned out to be.Some pet cuddles would be nice.
“I’m not sure yet,” Greg said.“The company gave me a decent severance package, so I have some time to figure it out.One thing I know for sure is I’m not being this guy’s assistant anymore.”He jerked a thumb at Liam and laughed.“It was supposed to be temporary until another position became available at Chambers, but I couldn’t compete with nepotism.Besides, trying to keep this guy fed while he’s working is a full-time job all on its own.”
“And I sure appreciate your efforts, Greg,” Nana said without stopping the kissy faces she was making at Mr.Fluffy.“I know you’re the only reason my Liam has eaten anything resembling proper food these last few years.If left to his own devices, he’d survive on coffee, soda, and crappy vending machine food while never leaving his office.”
Greg barked a laugh.“You’re not wrong.How a man his size can forget to eat is beyond me.I get hangry if I eat half an hour later than usual.”He turned to me.“I take my meals very seriously.”
“Same here,” I said, forcing another smile as I made my way to the kitchen.“I consider breakfast, lunch, and dinner to be themostimportant meals of the day.Next to coffee breaks and any time I get to eat Nana’s shortbread, of course.”
Since they were there, the polite thing to do would be for me to make enough dinner for Liam and Greg to join us.Our routine had been suffering during Liam’s visit, but if he planned to stick around, he’d have to adjust to the way we do things so Nana could get back to normal.Hopefully, she’d adapt quickly because I wasn’t sure my body could handle a repeat of the other night.Three hours of sleep was not enough to live on.
Liam chuckled from his new spot next to Nana on the sofa.“Is that why you put that shiny robot in the shop?You needed all-hours access to coffee?”He grinned at me, and—despite it making him look cute as heck—I kind of wanted to punch him in his stupidly handsome face.“Is there something wrong with a regular coffee maker?”
“If you must know,Liam,” I snarled, annoyed that he was questioning my decision-making skills, “I installed the espresso machine—a machine I bought at asteepdiscount andrefurbished myselfto save money, in case you were wondering—because Carlisle Creek didn’t have its own proper coffee shop.It’s an underserved market, and I figured it was something that Bishop’s could provide while keeping the traditional bookstore experience.”
The revenue from coffee sales had made the amount of work I’d put into restoring and maintaining the vintage espresso machine worth it.He was temperamental, but boy, did he make a delicious cup of coffee.And I wasn’t the only resident of Carlisle Creek who needed caffeine to start the day.My loyal customer base proved that.
Liam widened his eyes at me, opening his mouth to speak, but Nana beat him to it.
“Maya has done remarkable work at the store in the two years since she rolled into town.Well, since she rolledmostof the way into town anyway.”She shot me an exaggerated wink.“Isn’t that right, dear?”
I rolled my eyes at her, but grinned at the memory.“Yes, Nana.We’reallaware that you were my knight in shining armour that day.No need to fish for compliments.”
“Hey now, you weremyknight, sweetie.You wouldn’t believe the weirdos who’d answered my ad before you did.We both lucked out when I found you by the side of the road that day.”
Liam raised a questioning eyebrow, so I reluctantly explained how I came to be in Carlisle Creek.“I found Nana’s ad in the newspaper while I was working at a crappy diner in a town not far from here.It wasn’t a career I was interested in continuing, for …myriadreasons”—I shuddered as I recalled my last boss’s unwanted advances—“so I loaded my stuff into my car and drove straight here.”
“Just like that?Without calling ahead about the job?”Liam’s expression was incredulous, and I didn’t blame him.It was brazen of me.
“I worked at a bookstore in high school,” I explained, “so I was confident enough in my general knowledge of how bookstores operate to come and talk to Nana about the position in person.I figured if I didn’t get the job, I’d drive back in time for my next shift at the diner.My car, of course, had a different idea.”I smiled at Nana and continued, “It started sputtering about five kilometres outside of town, and died a terrifying, smoking death on the side of the road a couple of minutes later.Thankfully, I managed to get my stuff out before the damn thing burst into flames.”
“Burst into flames?”Liam choked, his eyes widening.“As in actual fire?”
I grinned at the memory of flames shooting into the sky from the hood of the car.It was hilarious to think back on, despite how terrifying it was at the time.“Luckily for me, there’s only one road into this town.It wasn’t long before Nana came squealing to a stop right next to me.”
“When I learned her reason for being on the road that day,” Nana said with a smile, “I hired her on the spot.”
“She drove us here, gave me a key to the apartment, and I’ve been here ever since.”
Nana grinned.“Best hiring decision I ever made.”
“I’m glad Nana found you when she did.It must’ve been scary when your car caught fire.”Heappearedsincere enough, but appearances can be deceiving.Liam was charming, I’d give him that, but being charming wasn’t enough reason to forgive him.
Soon, the conversation shifted, and she was telling Greg stories about Liam’s childhood while I sat there inspecting the pattern on the couch, taking in the repeated floral motif as I tried not to think about my life from before Liam had arrived.
Now, with Liam soaking up all of Nana’s time, I marinated in my loneliness—the loneliness I thought I’d finally escaped the day Nana found me.
The familiar sting of tears touched my eyes as I busied myself with dinner prep.I couldn’t let Nana see me upset, though.She deserved to have this time with her grandson, so I stifled my tears long enough to finish cooking before returning to the living room to make my excuses.
“I think I’m going to head out.”I leaned in to give Nana a kiss on the cheek but turned away before she noticed the wetness gathering in my eyes.“I have some chores to do at home.I’ve been putting them off for far too long.”I grabbed a handful of cookies from the coffee table.“Dinner is ready in the kitchen.There’s enough for the three of you.I’ll see you tomorrow, Nana.”
I hurried into the hallway, my eyes and emotions both threatening to spill over.Once I was safe in my apartment and away from prying eyes, I wrapped myself in a blanket and opened my current read.Hopefully, I could lose myself in a world of alien romance and fend off the lead weight that continued to build in my stomach.
After twenty minutes of reading the same passage over and over, I closed the book and set it aside.No matter what I did, I couldn’t escape the sorrow weighing me down.
