looks to be quite the connection between our bookstore owner and his daughters.
Stay tuned!
Damnit, Tate. That girl is always sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. I really don’t need the entire damn town gossiping about me. About me and Laken. It’s bad enough that I don’t understand this pull I have toward her. Having them throwing in their two cents isn’t going to help.
Chapter 3
Laken
“What was that?” Justine asks as we exit Java Jitters.
“What was what?”
“That. Grayson’s daughters adore you.”
“They’re little girls who are excited to have the attention of an adult for a few hours. Grayson’s mom, Jackie, brings them by every Thursday afternoon. I read to them while she takes a break and reads on her own.”
“Do you read to everyone’s kids? Or is it just those two?” She raises her eyebrows, and I laugh.
“All the kids, if time allows. Thursdays are always a slow day for the shop, and I don’t know. It just kind of started, and now it’s our routine. Jackie wanted to get the girls into reading.”
“What’s this story they’re talking about?” she asks.
I go on to explain their visit to my bookstore, One More Chapter, on Thursday afternoon. I even tell her how the four of us sat in the reading nook and read two stories.
“That explains it,” Justine says, pulling out of the parking lot.
“Explains what? Why are you talking in riddles?” I ask, amused.
“The tension between the two of you.”
“Tension? What tension? Are you feeling okay?” I ask my best friend. I’m hoping like hell she believes my lack of understanding. I’m not ready to talk about what she describes as tension between Grayson and me. Surely, it’s just all in my head.
“Go on. Pretend like it’s not there. I know what I saw.”
“How long has it been since you’ve had an eye exam?”
“Laugh it up,” she tells me. “There is something there.”
“You’re projecting my crush. I’ve always had a thing for him. However, we’re adults now. He’s got two little girls who are his world to focus on.”
“Single parents can date,” she counters.
“I know they can, but Grayson, he’s still grieving. He’s not the same lively person he was before losing Holly. There is no timeline on mourning the love of your life.”
“I agree with you, and I’m not saying that he’s not still tore up about losing her. My heart breaks for him and those little girls. However, I know she would want him to move on. If it was me, I would want that for him and for those girls.”
“He’ll move on when he’s ready.”
“And what are you going to do when he moves on with you?”
“Have you been drinking?” I ask, partly just to mess with her and the other part to change the course of the conversation. Grayson has always been my crush, so to speak. I knew in high school that he and Holly were it for one another, and she was so nice it was impossible to hate her. I would never have done anything to jeopardize what they had, and still today, no matter how sexy he is with his toned body and a full sleeve of tattoos, I still won’t. Without question, his daughters are his number one.
“Stop.” Justine grins. “I’m just saying. I could feel the energy.”
“What you were feeling was the energy from those two little girls of his. I’m telling you, they are so sweet, and I’m sure such a handful. I’m kind of excited to hear the story they came up with. I have no doubt that their imaginations ran wild.”
Those little angels already own a piece of you.
“There is no energy. I’m just being a friendly neighbor.”
“You’re not his neighbor.”
“You know what I mean. That’s what we do in Mason Creek. We look out for the town and the people in it. If me reading to his daughters once a week brings them joy, then that’s what I’ll do.”
“Come on now, don’t pretend that it’s just those girls who love it.”
“You’re right. I love it. I love books. It doesn’t matter if it’s a children’s book, a romance, or a mystery and anything in between. Hence the reason I opened my own bookstore.”
“I just want to go on record that I called it.”
“You’re crazy.”
“You should go for it. Make it happen.”
“He’s not ready.”
“Is he not ready? Or are you afraid you might fall?”
“What’s with all this deep conversation?” I’m not afraid of falling in love. In fact, I want that. However, I’ve crushed on Grayson Davis since I was a teenager. I’ve watched him struggle losing his wife and now become a single father. It’s not as simple as us dating. There are two other little hearts involved.
Justine shrugs as she pulls into the parking lot of the mall. “I guess I just want you to be as happy as Tucker and me. I know you think that the odds are stacked against you. I know he lost the love of his life, but he’s young, and he can find love again. Give me one good reason why he can’t find that love with you?”