Chapter 34
A lex stepped out of her ensuite bathroom, steam curling around her like a foggy halo as she ran a towel through her damp hair.
Just as she reached for her cozy socks, a soft rustling sound caught her attention.
A folded piece of paper slid under her door—slow and deliberate, like a scene from a romcom mystery.
She froze.
Eyes narrowing with curiosity, she padded barefoot across the warm hardwood floor, the hem of her pajama pants brushing her ankles.
With a quick glance both ways—as if someone might be hiding in her hallway with more clues—she crouched and scooped up the note, her heart doing a little fluttery skip of anticipation.
Whatever this was, it already felt like the start of something.
“Something came up. Stepping out for a bit. Catch up later? XOXO, Will,” she read aloud with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
“XOXO, huh?” she mused, grinning.
With a light bounce in her step and Will’s note still warm in her hand, Alex swung open the door to her room and spotted something just outside—a pen, navy blue with a gold clip, lying slightly askew on the hallway rug like it had been casually discarded by someone in a hurry.
Will’s pen. She recognized it instantly.
“Oh, a clue,” she whispered to herself with a grin, scooping it up like it was part of some irresistible romantic scavenger hunt.
Gripping it like a detective on the verge of a breakthrough, she hurried down the hallway, the pen clicking rhythmically between her fingers as her fuzzy slippers shuffled along the polished floor.
She peeked into the cozy lobby, but it was oddly quiet—no Will, no guests sipping coffee, no clink of breakfast dishes. Just stillness.
Undeterred, she pressed through the front door and into the fresh morning air. The porch gave a cheerful creak beneath her feet as she stepped into the golden glow of sunlight. The scent of pine and early blooms lingered in the air, and birds chirped like they were narrating her quest.
Then, as if on cue, Jack ambled up the walkway, hat in hand, wearing that familiar lopsided grin.
Timing, as always, was everything in McKenzie Ridge.
“Hey, kid. Still serving breakfast?” he greeted, flashing a familiar smile.
“For you, of course,” Alex replied cheerfully, then leaned in a bit. “Did you happen to see Will on your way here?”
“Sure did,” Jack said. “He’s on his way to Baker’s Bakery to meet the passenger I just picked up at the train station.”
“Oh, okay, thank you,” she said, but her pace quickened.
Alex made it just a few feet down the sidewalk toward Baker’s when she slowed to a halt. Her breath caught. Will was outside the bakery... hugging a woman.
“Hey, Jack?” she called over her shoulder.
Jack paused on the porch and turned around. “Yes?”
“Is that woman your passenger?”
“Sure is,” he said with a nod. “Nice lady in for the day from the city. Margaret... no, no, Margot is her name.”
“Margot?” Alex repeated to herself, the word barely leaving her lips.
“Pardon?” Jack asked, quirking a brow.
“Oh, I said... thank you,” she replied quickly, mustering a tight smile.
Jack disappeared inside, the door swinging shut behind him with a quiet thud that echoed louder than it should have.
Alex stayed rooted to the sidewalk, her feet unwilling to move, her breath caught somewhere between confusion and disappointment.
Across the street, the door to Baker’s Bakery closed behind Will and Margot, the soft jingle of the bell above it ringing like a punctuation mark to something she didn’t quite understand yet.
She blinked, watching through the glass as the pair vanished into the warmly lit interior. The way Margot had leaned into that hug, the familiarity of it—it tugged at something Alex hadn’t prepared for. The sight gnawed at her thoughts, each second stretching longer than the last.
A breeze lifted the edge of her shirt and teased her hair, but she didn’t budge. She stood there, note still clutched in one hand, Will’s pen in the other, like pieces of a puzzle that suddenly didn’t fit the way they had just moments before.
She drifted down the sidewalk like a ghost of herself, each step aimless, as if her feet were moving while her mind spun in place.
There was a question aching in her chest—one she couldn’t quite name—and a mess of emotions tangling together so tightly she couldn’t begin to unravel them.
Confusion, hurt, doubt… hope? They all jostled for space, leaving her feeling weightless and heavy all at once.
Maybe it was muscle memory, or perhaps it was the invisible pull of comfort, but Alex eventually looked up and realized where her wandering had taken her.
The Word Well stood just ahead, its familiar painted sign swaying gently in the breeze like a quiet welcome.
She didn’t hesitate. She couldn’t. Her heart needed answers—or at the very least, a safe place to question everything—and Tori’s bookstore had always offered that in spades.
Without thinking, she pushed open the door and stepped inside, hoping the scent of old pages and Tori’s easy wisdom could help her make sense of what she couldn’t quite say out loud.
Inside The Word Well Bookstore, Alex stood behind the counter, the phone cradled between her shoulder and ear, while her fingers absentmindedly turned Will’s pen over and over.
The familiar click of the cap was the only sound filling the silence between words, a nervous rhythm that betrayed the storm swirling quietly beneath her calm exterior.
“Oh, honey,” Tori said gently. “What’s wrong?”
“I should have known it was too good to be true,” she said quietly, her voice lined with disappointment. “Maybe… maybe I misinterpreted the whole thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… Will. It isn’t… He isn’t…” Alex paused, fighting back tears. “It isn’t real after all.”