Chapter 20
T he Word Well Bookstore bustled with quiet charm, the scent of paper and coffee beans mingling in the air like a love letter to book lovers everywhere. Sunlight filtered through the front windows, casting golden streaks across the hardwood floors and rows of carefully curated displays.
Alex crouched beside a table of new releases, helping Tori arrange a whimsical tower of books tied with ribbons and anticipation. Tori hugged one of the hardcovers to her chest with a dreamy sigh.
“I love this series—rereading the whole thing,” Tori said with a blissful expression. “I want a love story like this someday.”
“I don’t think that kind of love exists. I... give up,” Alex replied with a laugh, though the undertone in her voice suggested she meant it more than she let on.
Tori continued stacking books, organizing them with practiced ease. She arched an eyebrow.
“What about the new guy?” she asked casually.
Alex looked up. “New guy?”
“Fetch’s dad,” Tori said, the grin in her voice unmistakable.
“Oh. Will? He’s... a nice guy,” Alex replied, too quickly.
“Must be. He’s all you’ve been talking about the past few days,” Tori teased.
“I talk about the texts and pictures of Lady,” Alex countered, adjusting a crooked book on the shelf like it was the real subject of her focus.
“You obviously like him enough to trust him with your dog this long,” Tori said, folding her arms.
“One, I can’t get away because I have too many obligations here in town that I can’t cancel without inconveniencing a lot of people,” Alex said firmly.
“Uh-huh,” Tori replied, with a dramatic eye roll that said she wasn’t buying it for a second.
Alex held up a finger. “Two, I trust him with my dog because I have his dog.”
“You like him,” Tori said, grinning.
“Of course, I like him. He’s nice,” Alex admitted with a shrug.
“Uh-huh,” Tori repeated, thoroughly enjoying herself.
“I don’t know him well enough to like him like that,” Alex added quickly. “My luck, he chews his toenails and smells like cat food.”
“Dreamy. You said he smelled dreamy the night of the gala,” Tori reminded her.
“So he showers here and there. Point is, love isn’t in the cards for me,” Alex declared, lifting the last book into place. “At least not the knight in shining armor galloping into town — with my dog kind. That only happens in the fairytales you sell here.”
Tori picked up a ribbon-tied bundle of books from a nearby cart and handed it to Alex with purpose.
“Read this. It's the complete set, including the latest book that's not on sale until next week,” she said.
“I don’t have time to read,” Alex replied, setting the stack down.
Without missing a beat, Tori picked them right back up and planted them firmly in Alex’s hands again.
“Make time before it’s too late, and you start to smell like cat food because you have twenty-seven cats and start knitting with the yarn you spun from all the cat hair,” Tori warned with a perfectly straight face.
Alex laughed and accepted her fate. “Fine. I’ll take them, but no promises, and only because twenty-seven cats sounds exhausting, and I don’t know how to spin yarn.”
Tori placed one last book on the display and stepped back, admiring their handiwork.
“I think we’re done. Now I need to rope it off like a total tease and wait for release day,” she said with mock seriousness.
Alex glanced at her watch. “Good timing. Gotta go. I’m watching the flower shop for Meg today.”
She gathered her things, leashed Fetch, and slung her bag over her shoulder.
“You’re really taking this Mayor thing seriously. You know you govern the place, you don’t have to work for the whole town, right?” Tori said as she walked them to the door.
“I’m not working. They’re having a baby shower for an employee and I’m covering so they can all go,” Alex explained.
“You’re a giver, Alex,” Tori said warmly, handing her the stack of books again before she could escape.
“Don’t forget these.”
Alex took them and glanced at the cover.
The Heart’s Desire , Secrets of the Heart Series , by Wylder Hart . She wrinkled her nose.
“A man wrote these? Name sounds made up. I can’t believe people buy into this,” she said, shaking her head.
She didn’t notice the photo of Will on the back cover as she dropped the bundle into her bag and stepped out the door, Fetch trotting faithfully by her side.