Chapter Five
Seth
I STROLLED INTO THE store with a grin on my face, already sure of what I wanted to say to her.
I had been running it through my mind all afternoon, what I would tell her when I laid eyes on her again. Because I had been thinking about it from the moment I left the store, after I’d grabbed my book. I didn’t know what it was about this Jorja girl, but I liked her. I wanted to get to know her. And, hey, I should make some new friends in this town if I was going to be staying a while, right?
Though, the way she looked, I figured it would be hard to keep it at just friends.
But, as soon as I laid eyes on her again, her face paled, and she grabbed something from the counter and then vanished into the back. Oh, that wasn’t exactly the welcome I had been expecting. She had seemed a little shy before, but professional, and anyone who worked at a place like this had to share my love of my books.
Another woman was standing at the desk, and she offered me a smile as I made my way toward it.
“Hi, how can I help you?” she asked, tucking a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear. She couldn’t have been much older than twenty, maybe a local student.
“Is Jorja okay?” I replied.
She paused for a moment, clearly caught a little off-guard by the fact I knew the other woman’s name, but then, she pasted on a smile and nodded.
“She’s fine, she just lost a contact,” she replied smoothly.
I cocked an eyebrow. “A contact? I thought she was wearing glasses today.”
“Oh, right,” she replied, vaguely, shooting a look over her shoulder, like she was hoping Jorja would come out to relieve her. “I guess she was.”
She gave up on trying to offer me an excuse as to what was going on here, and, instead, raised her eyebrows.
“Was there a book you were looking for today?” she asked.
I glanced around. I had already grabbed one, and I didn’t feel like I needed a cover to be back here, not when I had returned for a very specific reason.
“No, not really,” I replied. “I just wanted to ask Jorja out to lunch.”
The woman widened her eyes in surprise. It couldn’t be that much of a shock, could it? Jorja was gorgeous—that long, dark hair, grazing her neck, green eyes woven through with threads of amber behind her glasses. Even the cream knit sweater she’d been wearing had been cute to me, falling off her shoulders a little to show a few inches of skin. She didn’t seem entirely aware of how beautiful she was, but I intended to make sure she knew.
“Oh, uh, wow,” The other woman blurted out. “Like on a date?”
I nodded. I had been thinking about it all day. After I had dropped my book off at my new abode, I had found my mind drifting back to the woman who had helped me find it. Usually, I tried to give myself a little time before I made a move, not wanting to jump the gun too quickly, but there was something about her that made me want to take the risk. It could have been just moving to this town, that feeling like something new was waiting for me, and it might have been standing just past that door, hiding out from me for reasons I couldn’t quite put together.
“I think she’s busy right now,” the woman replied, glancing over her shoulder. “But you could try later, if you want?”
“I will,” I remarked, and I leaned on the counter and looked around. “Actually, there was a book I was reading about earlier this week. Do you have The Clockwork Bank ?”
The woman, who introduced herself as Haley, told me she was pretty sure they had it in stock, and led me to a bookcase at the far end of the store where they put their new releases. She seemed a little more outgoing than Jorja, and she peppered me with questions about where I was from and what I was doing here.
“I just moved from the West Coast,” I explained, as she pulled the book from the shelf for me.
“Yeah, but how did you end up in Mastin Falls?” she queried, tipping her head to the side with interest. “It’s not the usual place people make a big move to.”
I shrugged. “I just pointed to a spot on the map and decided I’d move there.”
She laughed, but, when she saw the look on my face, her jaw dropped. “Wait, are you serious?” she replied.
I nodded. “I needed something new,” I explained. “I figured that was the best way to find something out of my comfort zone.”
“Well, you can say that again.” She laughed, shaking her head. “What did you do on the West Coast?”
“I was an event planner,” I replied. It was the truth—maybe not all of it, but the truth.
“Don’t think you’re going to find many events to plan up here,” she remarked.
“That’s the idea,” I replied. “I’ve been looking for a job here. Something new. Something I’ve never done before.”
“Well, I sincerely hope you find it,” she replied, smiling at me. As we chatted, I had been keeping an eye on the door beyond, waiting for Jorja to emerge, but she still seemed just as intent on hiding out as she had been when I had gotten here. I couldn’t help but wonder why. Had I spooked her before? Annoyed her? I had saved her from a nasty fall, but I guessed that might not be enough to get on her good side.
We headed over to the register so I could pay for my book, and she eyed me for a moment before she rang me up.
“Do all the guys on the West Coast look like you?” she asked, mostly joking.
I chuckled. “Not that I know of,” I replied. “Why?”
“You just look familiar for some reason,” she replied, squinting at me, as though she could place me if she just looked hard enough.
“No clue why that might be,” I replied, and I looked past her to the back room again. Was that woman ever going to show her face? Maybe I had put her off somehow. I wasn’t sure what I might have done to keep her hiding out back there so long, but she must have had good reason.
“She’s probably just busy,” Haley assured me, seeming to notice the way I was staring. “She’ll be out eventually. Here, let me get you a bag for this.”
She grabbed a bag for my book, and took her time tucking it in, along with my receipt. I was going to send myself into bankruptcy buying books if I wasn’t careful. Glancing at my watch, I let out a sigh. I knew I would have to get going soon, what with the interview coming up, but I just wanted to try a little longer before I walked out.
“You got somewhere to be?” she asked, and I nodded.
“I have an interview at a hardware store,” I replied. “Hoping that’s going to be my job while I’m here.”
“Oh, you don’t want to be late for that,” she replied seriously. “The owner’s a real stickler for time.”
I sighed. “I guess I’ll try again later,” I replied. “Maybe go for dinner instead of lunch?”
“I think she’d love that,” Haley told me brightly. She seemed to really like the idea of me taking Jorja out, which indicated to me, at least, that Jorja wasn’t seeing anyone. I didn’t know how a woman like that had gone un-snapped-up in a town as small as this, but I wasn’t going to go complaining about it
“What time does your interview finish?” she asked.
“About five.”
“I’ll tell her you’re coming back around then, you can try and talk to her when you’re done,” she offered.
“Thanks, Haley.”
“That’s okay,” she replied. “You’re new here, you need all the help you can get, right?”
I chuckled. “I heard small towns were friendly, but I didn’t expect this.”
“You’ll get used to it,” she replied.
“I really have to get going,” I remarked, taking another look at the door as though I could summon Jorja with the sheer force of my want to talk to her. “But I’ll be back later.”
“See you then!” Haley replied, waving me off.
I pushed my hands into my pockets and headed outside, where it had just started to snow. I tipped my head back, letting the light drops land on my face. I was still getting used to the weather out here, and I hadn’t exactly picked the most hospitable time to travel to a small town like Mastin Falls, but this was supposed to be a new experience for me, right? I wasn’t going to get that if I sat around in my comfort zone.
Anyway. The hardware store. I didn’t know why Jorja had been so intent on avoiding me, but I knew better than to push my luck. She would talk to me when she was ready, and I intended to do everything I could to convince her to give me just one evening before she went to hide out in that back office again.
I grinned at the thought. I had a good feeling about her. I had a good feeling about this town in general, actually. And hey, if nothing else, at least I had a few more books to read, right?