I’ve always assumed Nora and Julian would leave the bookstore to Ronin, but maybe his involvement in Double Shot has changed things. Maybe that’s what Ronin was alluding to last night, but didn’t want to say.
“More sure than anything else in a long while, Amelia.” Nora places her own teacup down and reaches for my hands, steadying me. “I know I made it seem like you’d just be running the store, but I wanted you to have a chance to think hard about the decision to move back before placing more responsibility on those shoulders.” She smiles, her eyes crinkling. “You’re family, Mellie. You’re the granddaughter I never knew I needed. You spent half of your life between these walls.” She beams at me. “Its legacy is just as much yours as it is mine.”
My eyes fill and tears spill over, Nora’s hands gripping mine tight, her papery skin brushing gently.
“Nora, I don’t know what to say.” I try to swallow against the lump in my throat, more unshed tears threatening to overwhelm. “Of course I feel the same. You’re my family, too.” She releases her grip and I swipe at my face with my sleeves. “I’m honored that you would leave this to me.”
Nora leans back in her chair, giving me a moment to think.
And I let it all sink in. The gravity of what she and Julian are offering to me. Not just a job, but a business. Somethingthat will bemine.
A home.
Never once did I think I would willingly choose this town. I spent so much of my youth being bitter and hating the world that I didn’t let it win me over. Not even as an adult—it was just this small place where I’d felt stuck in time.
But now, it’s my choice. And I want to choose Blue Fields formyself.
Not for my parents or for Ronin, but for me.
I smile at Nora, fresh tears escaping, this time ones of happiness. “Nora…I accept.”
Chapter Fifteen
MELLIE
It’s Christmas morning.
The savory, smoky aroma of bacon drifts up the stairs through my open door, and I immediately perk up. Who doesn’t love the smell of bacon in the morning?
Evan and Catalina spent the night here last night in his old bedroom across the hall from mine. I knock on their door on my way down, alerting them to the bacon, and pad down the stairs in my fluffy socks and cozy robe.
We spend the morning opening gifts and lazing around the house,A Christmas Storyplaying on repeat on the living room TV. My mom has invited Nora and Julian over for dinner this evening, and Ronin texted me to say he and his mother will be joining us as well. My stomach flutters at the thought of seeing him. We’ve only communicated through the occasional text message since the cookie party, and with my decision to stay in Blue Fields, everything suddenly feels different.
It feels so good, sonormal, to have him back in my life.
At dinner, we discuss my impending move. Evan will pick up a moving truck and drive it down to LA with Dad, and I’ll follow them back with my car on the trip home. I’ve already called mylandlord to cancel my lease, and I quit my job. That had feltreallygood.
I’m looking forward to starting this next chapter of my life.
“So, do you kids have plans for New Year’s Eve?” My mom directs the question to the table, scooping more mashed potatoes onto her plate. We’ve all finished eating, but my mom has always loved my mashed potatoes, and she can never resist having seconds. It’s one of the few things I can actually cook.
“Bree’s having a party,” I answer her. “That’s where I’ll be, at least.”
Evan agrees. “Yeah, us too. Cat and Brooklyn have really hit it off, right babe?” He rests his arm on the back of Cat’s chair as he leans back.
“Yes, I adore her!” Cat gushes. “She has an art studio nearby so we bonded right away. I’m going there before school starts back up to check out what they have, maybe grab some new supplies for my classroom.”
I sit back in my seat, taking in the room filled with so many of my loved ones as they continue chattering around me. Ronin catches my eye across the table and gives me one of his signature small smiles, the one that pulls up on one corner of his mouth, and recently has been making my insides feel all funny and weird every time he does it. These new, involuntary physical reactions my body keeps having to him are an adjustment, and I return his smile as I squirm in my chair.
After dinner, Nora, Julian, and Ronin’s mother Georgia head home. Ronin, Evan, Cat and I sit in the living room, Evan and Cat on the couch facing the TV and Ronin and I on the loveseat by the window. Ronin is sitting so close to me, his thigh pressed up against mine, and all of my focus has zeroed in on where our bodies touch. His soap is intoxicating, something deep and musky. Whatever it is, it’s working for me.
Evan sips his beer as he flips through the channels on TV, searching for something to put on. “Anyone have any movie suggestions? There’s nothing good on right now.”
“Um,Die Hard, obviously,” I suggest, waving my beer in the air. “It’s the best Christmas movie, ever.”
Ronin chuckles next to me. “You’re the only one who ever says that, Mel.”
“And that is a damn shame, because it’s the truth!” I cry, the familiar debate rearing its head. “Who says Christmas movies can’t also be amazing action flicks? The entire thing takes place on Christmas Eve,hello!”
