Chapter 3 #2
“Good. Alaska just finished setting up her tent. It’s nice, don’t you think?
” Bella starts the conversation with Jared while I try my best to think of something smart to say.
But I can’t focus. I really can’t, because the stranger I saw last week is staring at me silently, his gaze burning holes into my face.
He’s tall and wide, filling his shirt to the max with what I assume are carved and thick muscles.
His face is straight out of my romance books: short, blond, ashy hair with a light stubble, a square jaw, and a straight nose.
He reminds me of those Greek god statues I saw in a history book at school.
There’s a coldness to him and at the same time, a certainty.
As if he could pierce you and know all your deepest secrets.
“Real nice, Alaska. You should go and see what the others did too. There’s a chocolate fountain over there.
” Jared points to the left side, outside the tent.
“And a wood-cutting workshop at Callahan and Hartwood. We just saw a bunch of kids making cutting boards.” He grins, his short black hair and warm skin adding to his charm.
Jared’s single, but he’s known to be quite popular with young women.
I wonder why he never gave anyone a chance. Any girl would be lucky to be with him.
“Sounds great. Maybe I’ll keep the tent while you check it out, Laska?” says Bella, insisting on my name as if I needed to be brought back to reality. I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.
“I…” I try.
“By the way, guys, I forgot to introduce you to our new colleague. Officer Parkson. He’s here for a year, came straight from big Minneapolis,” Jared says, his chest rising at the mention of the city. Only a year? Why? A deep tone breaks my daze.
“We already m-met,” he states, his voice burning my skin. Just like last time, he crosses his arms on his chest, flexing his muscles as he speaks.
“You did? When? Didn’t take you for the bookish kind,” Jared scoffs, glancing back and forth between us.
Luckily, Bella comes to my rescue. “Welcome to Lakeside, Officer. I’m sure you’ll have a great time. There’s much to enjoy here.” Her expression shifts from friendly to businesslike. “Did you get a proper tour of the town yet?”
“A tour? Come on, Bella, we don’t have—” Jared starts, frowning.
She tsks him, counting on her fingers. “Shops, neighborhoods, lakes, forests, you’d be surprised,” she insists.
Officer Parkson tilts his head to the side, unreadable.
“Alaska could show you around, you know? Born and raised here, there’s no one better equipped to do that.
” A thick silence stretches between the four of us as I glare at Bella, shaking my head discreetly.
What is she up to? A tour? What would I do with this mountain of a man?
“That’d be great,” says Officer Parkson out of the blue, swallowing hard. “I-I just arrived. Haven’t seen much, uh—” he clears his throat, “yet.”
“I…I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I say, feeling like a pool of gasoline getting dangerously close to a flame.
“You should ask Jared, he’s funnier,” I offer with a light smile.
My shoulders stiffen as Officer Parkson steps into the booth, reducing the space between us while Bella and Jared start talking about tonight’s concert.
He comes closer, as if he was about to tell me something.
I stop breathing and scratch my knuckles with my left hand.
Two local girls, about ten years old, with braids and thick wool sweaters, arrive in the tent and break our spell.
They often come to Hidden Treasures with their grandma.
“Can we sign for the workshop, Miss Alaska?” the older one asks, her face angelic. I’m grateful for the diversion.
“Hi, girls,” I give a quick wave. “Yes, sure, you can sign up here, Lola.” I show her the pad of paper. “It’ll start at eleven. You’ll have to write a love letter for a person you’ve never met before.”
“Like a ghost?” Her question catches me off guard, but I shake it away.
“Um, why not? It’s a great idea.” She then takes her sister’s hand and squeezes it.
“Let’s go eat a waffle before it starts, Em,” she says with excitement, and we watch them barge out of the stand toward the nearest waffle tent. Their little interruption iced over the electricity still hanging in the air.
“We gotta go. Nice seeing you, Alaska,” says Jared as he rubs his fist on Bella’s head while she pushes him in protest.
“Come over tomorrow evening. We’re over at our parents’ for dinner. They’d love to have you,” he offers kindly.
“I’d love to. Thanks. Let me know what I can bring.”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it. Mom’s already testing new recipes since she found out Jack’s going to be there.” He smirks, motioning with his chin toward Officer Parkson.
Jack Parkson.
I blink, absorbing the information that I’ve unintentionally accepted an invitation to see him again tomorrow at Bella’s parents’.
“Well, off you go then,” urges Bella, pushing her brother out playfully, as the only person who could do that to a police officer. Jared shakes his head, chuckling.
“Bye, kiddo,” he says, annoying her with the nickname, while Officer Parkson, no, Jack, gives us a clipped nod.
“Ladies,” he murmurs before turning to follow Jared into the crowd.
I deflate like a balloon, only then realizing I’d been holding my breath for almost a minute.
He didn’t stutter this time. I wonder what triggers it.
Is it like me with ice? Does he also have things that short-circuit his brain?
I pretend to tidy up the books, but I keep him in the corner of my eye, aware of his body even away from mine.
For some strange reason, he comforted me.
Watching him control his speech and body, bracing for the sound of his own voice, made me feel less alone.
I brace too. I hyperfocus too. The wrong trigger, the wrong item, or the feel in my hand, and I’m brought back to the incident.
I may not have what he has, but I share his struggle, the constant anticipation of how my body will react to my surroundings. It’s exhausting and never-ending.
The difference is, his stutter is unfair. He didn’t choose it.
Whereas I deserve every bit of pain I inflict on myself.
Bella turns to me in one quick motion, satisfaction lighting up her face.
“You’re welcome,” she says smugly, crossing her arms like she just pulled off the greatest matchmaking scheme of the century.
“Bella,” I hiss, narrowing my eyes at her. “What was that?”
“That,” she says, grinning like the cat who caught the canary, “was me helping you get out of your comfort zone. You’ve been stuck in that bookshop too long, Alaska. Don’t you think it’s time to, I don’t know…connect with someone who doesn’t only exist on paper?”
I blink at her, my cheeks burning. “I…appreciate the thought, but…a tour? With a cop?”
She waves at the crowd, her tone gentle but insistent. “He’s new here. He doesn’t know anyone. And you’d be good at it. Besides,” she adds with a knowing look, “he seemed nice and interested.” How could a three-minute conversation give her any clue about that?
“Interested?” I squeak, shaking my head quickly. “I don’t think so, I’m sure I actually offended him when I didn’t offer to give him a tour, but—”
“You’ll be fine.” Bella pats my arm reassuringly.
“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.
I just…I think it could be good for you.
” I sigh. Maybe this could be a way to try new things without going too far outside my comfort zone.
It’s a tour, not a marriage proposal. Besides, he’s still a stranger, and there’s nothing that indicates I’ll have a great time. Friendship is okay, I guess…
It’s not like he’s going to uncover all my secrets, right?
Jack
“I-I didn’t know you had a s-sister,” I tell Jared as we walk through the crowd of the Fall Festival, which turned out to be much bigger than I expected. The county deployed many police officers around the perimeter and in town to keep things safe.
We left her, and still, her face remains imprinted in my mind like a damn tattoo.
She was quiet again, surrounded by her books in the small tent she’d managed to turn into a miniature version of her bookshop.
Light colors and framed handwritten letters, likely from her favorite books, hung on the fabric walls.
She’d changed sweater, and the color she’d chosen made her pupils pop.
Watching her felt like pressing a button to stop time. Like even the air refused to be rushed.
Perhaps I stared a bit too long, but her round, delicate face, wide blue doe eyes, and cherry lips were damn distracting.
She looked so breakable, I almost believed my hand on her cheek would shatter her.
Whatever broke her is still buried in her bones.
I know it because I carry it too. For a few minutes, time stopped.
I couldn’t get enough of watching her and listening to her breathy voice.
Each syllable she said had to be pulled out with effort, which only made me crave hearing more.
Having an instant attraction to a woman is one thing, but feeling like you’ve known the person in another lifetime is quite another.
I wasn’t expecting Jared’s sister to offer a tour of the town with her, though.
From the look of it, Alaska wasn’t on board either.
Despite the awkwardness, I accepted, but she shut down right away, shrinking into herself.
Even if I know deep down nobody would want to be with a man who cannot even speak without embarrassing himself, spending time with her is an enticing idea.
If she’s quiet, then maybe she wouldn’t mind me being silent too?