Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Rumbling a non-response, River ambled up the steps like the suitcase didn’t weigh anything, and I was cringing when he leaned down and snagged the key from beneath the mat.
So, he hadn’t missed that.
But I didn’t have time to contemplate it because a little hand was taking mine and giving it a tug. Warmth spread through my being. “Come on, Miss Charleigh. We gotta go get a table.”
Raven sent me a questioning smile over his head, and I was pretty sure she hadn’t bought the whole donation bit. Caution and curiosity blazed from her, and I tried to play it off like I didn’t notice it as we passed by Moonflower to Cup Café next door.
She opened the door and ushered us in.
The café had just opened, and there were only a couple customers inside. It was decorated similar to Moonflower. Rustic, whitewashed woods, and each small round table had a spray of fresh flowers in the middle.
The counter was straight ahead, and the wall behind it was a black chalkboard that showcased the menu, letters swirled and written in colored chalk. Tables ran down the side and toward the back, plus there were a few up front next to the window.
Nolan went bounding up to the display case, chattering about all the different flavors of doughnuts, while I tried to look busy staring at the menu.
Raven sidled up to me, her voice held low. “Do you want to tell me what that was about last night?”
I wasn’t surprised she was pushing it.
“I already told you what happened.” I injected as much innocence as I could muster.
“Um, you gave me some story about going hiking, which as your new BFF, it’s my duty to call bullshit. You took off like you were the silly blonde in a slasher flick, and don’t think I don’t know that my brother went after you.”
There was a hint of lightness to it, but more prominent was the worry in her eyes as she appraised me from the side.
My nerves were fried, ripped from one reality to another.
Leaving then staying.
The fear.
That kiss.
With all of it, I wasn’t sure I could keep the mask on right then.
So, I gave her the little bit of honesty I could. “I’m trying to start over. Start a new life. Build a new foundation. But there are a lot of times when it feels like my past won’t allow me to do that.”
Understanding passed through her features, and she gave a slight nod. “You don’t have to hide that from me, Charleigh. Believe me, I get it.”
Her expression dimmed, and I wondered if there was a reason I’d been drawn to her in the first place because I recognized something in her gaze that would always be in mine.
“I’m not used to trusting in anyone. I’ve been on my own for a lot of years.”
I couldn’t believe I was admitting this, standing there in a café whispering my secrets like offering them might not come with a risk.
Raven took my hand and squeezed it, and she leaned in close, her voice as quiet as mine. “Maybe you don’t have to be that anymore. Alone. You know I felt it the first day you walked by my store. Your spirit aching to find what it’s been missing.”
Emotion crested, and I struggled to breathe around it.
The softest smile pulled at the side of her mouth. “And maybe what it’s been missing is us.”
Air whispered from my nose, and I squeezed her hand tighter. I wanted to hold on. To believe what she was saying.
Before I could say anything, she leaned in closer, and the gentleness in her voice shifted to pure suggestion. “Besides, it looks to me like my brother wants to claim you. That is if he didn’t already.”
Speculation raised her brow.
I released a shattered scoff, and my mind spun through the bare moment when his mouth had been against mine.
The heat that had nearly razed me to the ground.
The terror that had come barreling in on its heels.
“That’s not going to happen.”
The door swept open behind us, and that energy came blistering back in, so strong it nearly swept me from my feet.
I attempted to guard myself against it, though there was no stopping the ragged exhalation, the way goosebumps lifted on my skin as I felt his approach.
Raven looked behind me before she was grinning back my way. “I’m not sure I would bet on that.”
NINETEEN
CHARLEIGH
“That was delicious,” Raven said as she pushed out the door into the wash of the sun that was steadily climbing the eastern sky, the pinks and blues and purples giving way to the fullness of blue.
“It hit the right spot, didn’t it, Auntie?” Nolan agreed in his adorable lisp, the child holding my hand as he led me out as if we’d always shared this connection.