“You can’t get rid of family,” Charlie said, taking the orange juice out of the fridge. “Besides, being by myself is no fun. With you two here, always bickering in the background, I feel right at home.”
“What a lovely sentiment, Charlie. Insane, but very kind of you to say.” Caroline pulled out her phone. “I have to show you all the pictures from my trip. There’s this one single friend of mine I’m dying to set you up with.”
“You know I’m dating someone.” Charlie handed her a glass of orange juice and poured one for himself.
“Oh, right. I’d forgotten about that. What about Will? Is he dating anyone?” She turned overly innocent eyes on Will and he suppressed an eye roll. Now that she’d overheard Gianna talking about ‘that girl in Meryton’ she wouldn’t be satisfied until she sniffed her out. That was the way Caroline worked. If she ever decided to have a career outside of spending her parents’ money, detective work would be an ideal field for her.
“I’m not dating anyone, Caroline.”
“He’s not,” Charlie chimed in. “I think his last girlfriend was … Melanie? Was that her name? That had to have been at least three years ago.”
“Two years. She decided to marry her high school sweetheart after he came back from Afghanistan. That’s a little hard to compete with.”
“Oh, Will.” Caroline came over and stood behind his chair, putting her hands on each of his shoulders. “But that was two years ago. It’s time to move on.”
“I have. I just haven’t found someone to move on with. And no, I’m not interested in anyone in your sorority.”
Caroline unleashed her hands from his shoulders, much to his relief. “Oh, I wouldn’t set you up with Alexandria anyway. She’s more Charlie’s type. Bubbly and likes to socialize, throw parties. If I ever find a beautiful shut-in who enjoys dry humor and long silences, I’ll throw her your way.”
“Sounds perfect.”
Despite Charlie’s reminder that he was already dating someone, Caroline started showing him photo after photo of her old roommates, along with a stream of stories to go with them. Will took that as his cue to leave, preferably to somewhere Caroline would never follow. He’d noticed the town library the other day and decided commandeering a back table to get some work done sounded just right. He wolfed down the last few bites of his toast and excused himself to go shower.
***
Elsie hadn’t seen her dad in a while, so she stood and stretched before wandering down the mystery aisle and around to the non-fiction section. Hmm. Nowhere in sight. Maybe he was with Mrs. Lucas. She headed to the front desk and froze as she saw Will Darcy sitting at a small table by the window with her dad, having what looked like a nice chat.
They hadn’t spotted her yet, and she ducked behind a bookshelf as she drew closer.
“Oh, my Elsie’s always loved books. She used to check outThe Babysitter’s Clubseries one by one. She was a slow reader at first, but she stuck with it until she could devour a book in a few hours. She and Charlotte even started their own babysitter’s club. Then they extended into dog walking, and car washes, and catching crickets for Mr. Garcia’s pet lizards. She’s always wanted her own business. Some people have that drive, you know?”
Elsie pressed a hand to her forehead. Her dad was going on about her cricket catching business? She wasn’t sure whether to interrupt or wait for a less embarrassing moment.
“I know exactly what you’re talking about, sir. It’s a rare thing these days.”
Sir? Why was Will calling him sir?
Will sighed. “I’ve seen many intelligent people waste their lives, while people less capable go on to do amazing things because they want it badly enough. They aren’t afraid of a little failure.”
Elsie wondered if she’d just been relegated to less capable and less intelligent in his story and decided it was time to interrupt, before her dad brought up more fun anecdotes. After all, he hadn’t mentioned her success in overcoming bedwetting at age six or the time she’d almost drowned because someone dared her to jump off the high dive.
She stepped out, pretending to be surprised to see them sitting there. “Oh, hello, Will. I didn’t know you were here.”
A shiver went through her as his eyes took her in, as if seeing her in a new light. She wasn’t sure if his gaze was smug or appreciative. Maybe there was a little of both. Why had they been talking about her anyway?
“Come sit down, Elsie.” Her dad patted the chair next to him, and she took the seat, wondering when Will would stop looking at her. His handsome face irritated her. She didn’t want to admire anything about someone like him.
“Did you find anything good to check out?” she asked.
Her dad showed her his stack of books. “I’m still looking for the second book in the series. I need to go ask Mrs. Lucas if someone else has checked it out. Oh, there she is.”
He groaned as he stood and slowly shuffled over to the front desk. Elsie watched him go, wondering if it would be rude to abruptly get up and follow.
“I’m sure you want your table back.” She started gathering up the books her dad had left behind.
Will put a hand out and covered hers. “Leave them. I don’t mind sharing.”
His touch stirred feelings in her that led to even stronger ones, like panic. She dropped the books and sat back, crossing her arms in front of her. “What are you working on?”
