“I’m glad you’re here.Talk some sense into her.”Whit waves and walks away.
Honor watches him go and then fans herself.“It’s official.I’m into dad bods.”
“Gross.I hate how you’re always crushing on my brother.”
Honor sits where Whit just was and crosses her legs.“It’s like mandatory to have a crush on your best friend’s older brother.”
I roll my eyes.She always wanted to go to his swim meets and stuff.
“Anyway, I see now is not the time to say, with some Rogaine, Whit hasn’t changed a bit.”She crosses her legs and looks me up and down.“How is it going?”
I blow out a breath and cross my legs, picking up part of my bagel and handing it over to Honor.“Whit wants me to give up on the bookstore.He thinks it’s failing and I should let it go.”
Her smile dims, and she puts the bagel on the desk.“And what do you want to do?”
“I want to keep it.”
“And that means you have to find someone to marry you?”
I nod.
“That’s completely feasible.Any guy would be lucky to marry you.”
I laugh.“Sure, should I just go down to Saffire with a sign around my neck sayingMarry me?”
“Well, in all truth, you’d have to sayMarry me and I’ll sleep with you.More enticing.They get something from it.”
I take a bite of my bagel, the only thing good in my life right now.“Whit says it’s failing, and I don’t think he believes I can bring it back.”
“I love the man, but let’s be honest, he has no va-va-voom.”
“Va-va-voom?”
“You know, not a lot of passion.He seems like a guy who would get all hot on doing your taxes.”
“Honor, you should know that your childhood crush is not an accountant.”
She shrugs.“Take Whit and his spreadsheets and numbers out of it.What does Hadley want to do?”
I continue to eat my bagel, and she eats my other half, moaning and saying how much she misses Hero’s Bagels since she’s stuck out in the burbs.
“I think I want it.”I dig out my grandma’s letter from my bag.“She left me a letter, and I haven’t been able to read it.Maybe that’s my answer.”
She stares at the letter, giving me a soft smile.“There you go.”She stands.“I need to go catch up with Vera, but I’m just out there if you need me.”She pats my leg and walks to the door.
The door shuts and I push my bagel away, digging my grandma’s letter out of my bag.
I’ve waited long enough to find out what she wrote me, hating the thought that they’re the last words I’ll ever hear from her.
I run my finger under the sealed flap and take a deep breath, ready to find out why the woman I’ve looked up to my entire life is tying me to Chicago whether I’m ready for it or not.
ChapterFive
Hadley
My hands shake, and the letter flutters to my lap.
My grandma’s loopy cursive handwriting was still impeccable when she wrote this letter.
