“I love it!” Warmth spread through Brice’s chest. She was amazed that Keena was actually taking an interest in her. She bit back the silly grin that threatened to take over her face. She didn’t want to scare Keena away with her enthusiasm.
“Already?” Keena glanced down at her. “You’ve only been here a few months.”
“Six months,” she said, “but I knew almost immediately.” Brice looked around at the snowcovered street, the lights, and the cozy storefronts. “Every week I seem to find another reason to stay.”
“It’s not too quiet?” Keena asked.
“I needed the quiet. After living in a big city for so long, the noise was just too much,” she admitted. Which was true. She hadn’t been cut out for big city life and the hustle and bustle.
Evergreen Hollow was much more her speed. She could really enjoy life in a place like this. If she had opened her bookstore back in Boston, it wouldn’t have been the same and the start-up cost—would have been astronomical.
“Why a bookstore?” Keena asked. She guided the wagon over a snow covered bump on the sidewalk. She was careful to ensure nothing fell out of the wagon.
“I’ve always wanted one,” Brice admitted. She laughed softly. “When I was younger, books were…everything. They were an escape from reality, a comfort. They gave me an adventure and allowed me to travel to places I never knew about. Sometimes they were the only place where things made sense.”
Brice adjusted her hold on the cash box to keep it from slipping out of her hands. She shrugged and continued. “I used to dream about having a placewhere people could come in from the cold and find a story that made them feel less alone.”
Keena was quiet for a few moments.
“You’ve done that.”
Brice’s chest tightened. She looked over at Keena but the enforcer was watching the sidewalk ahead of them. Her current expression was unreadable.
“Thank you,” Brice said softly. “That might be the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me since I opened the shop.”
“It’s true.” Keena shrugged.
Brice looked away before she did something embarrassing again. She glanced up at the small snowflakes that were falling silently to the ground. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out and try to catch one of them.
“So what about you? Did you grow up here?” She asked.
“Yeah,” Keena replied.
“Your whole life?”
“Pretty much.”
“Hmmm…that explains it,” Brice said.
“Explain what?” Keena’s gaze whipped to her.
“You seem to know where to hide when you catch me looking at you.” Her eyes widened at the words that had slipped from her lips. She shook herhead and immediately wanted to take them back. “You know what. Ignore what I just said. I’m going to add that to the list of weird things I’ve said to you.”
“There’s a list?”
“Yeah, and apparently it’s growing,” Brice muttered. Her face was warmer than it should be in the cold. She glanced ahead and saw they were drawing closer to her shop. “What made you become an enforcer?”
There. Changing the subject should be fine. It was a perfectly safe question to ask. Brice glanced over at Keena who stared ahead of them.
“My father was one. I grew up watching him protect the pack. It felt natural to follow in his footsteps,” she said. Her gaze moved on to the white pines that rose beyond the buildings at the edge of town.
“Do you have siblings?” Brice was going to try to learn as much as she could while she had Keena’s attention. Who knew when they would be able to have a decent conversation again. She was fascinated by the woman and happy they were sharing details about each other.
“No. What about you?”
“A sister. Carmella. She’s two years older thanme and still convinced she’s in charge of my life,” Brice chuckled. Her sister was the bossiest of all sisters, but she loved her like crazy.
“Is she?”
