Chapter Three
It’s amazing how a solid night of sleep—albeit filled with the best dreams—can put a spring in my step. Even better, my hair had cooperated in styling and held the perfect, bouncy curls, and my makeup went on flawlessly, giving my complexion a healthy glow. Slipping into my favourite leggings and fitted shirt, I donned my red leather jacket from the back of my closet and headed to work feeling frisky and confident.
Strolling down the avenue of my small mountain town, I enjoyed how the season was on the cusp of change. The leaves were starting to change colour from the deep, rich hues of green to more yellows and oranges with a pop of red in between. The air had a fresh scent too; a little stronger than normal and almost tinged with rain.
Turning, I glanced behind me, up to the top of the mountain range where the winds rushed down from. The wispy clouds reminded me of stretched-out cotton balls, and they were typically a sign of impending nasty weather. I truly hoped not. If there was one thing I hated—more than speeders and farting guys—it was a thunderstorm.
I zipped up my jacket, shifted my bag on my shoulders, and picked up my pace, intent on making a much-needed stop at the Coffee Loft before starting my workday. More than the caffeine boost, I desired another quick conversation with a certain barista. Instead of a shot of espresso in my drink, I wished it had a shot of courage.
Especially after last night’s exchange at book club. Begrudgingly, I was going to meet Alice at the high school where she and her team were preparing for the upcoming Dark Sky Festival.
The festival was an annual two-week event, filled with guest speakers, astronomy events galore, and some fun with rockets.
Cassie thought it would be better to meet Fox, which was an unusual name, if they planned a dinner date and told me to show up at a certain place and time, like a blind date. Alice, bless her, thought rather than a true blind date, it would be best if we were to meet at someplace neutral—like this event—and see if we hit it off before planning dinner dates.
Alice was fairly new to book club, but I was starting to like her and the way she thought.
As it turned out, Alice had a meeting for her volunteers tonight, and I was invited. Not sure what I was going to do there, since I wasn’t volunteering as I’d be putting in more hours at the bookstore and setting up local promotional events for our authors. Regardless, I was to show up at seven-thirty. Alice assured me it would all be fine, and if Fox and me hit it off, excellent, and if we didn’t, then at least I’d get Cassie off my back about it.
Again, I was really warming up to Alice. She was a matchmaker through and through, but at least she was sweet about it, and not as pushy as my sister who would probably start planning a wedding if there was a second date.
I stumbled into the Coffee Loft just shy of my previously agreed-upon time of nine-thirty and saw the lineup—outside the door. Inching my way along the sidewalk, and eventually into the shop, the place was packed, unusual for a Wednesday morning. Scanning the area, I noticed my coveted wingback chair in the corner had a sweater over one of the wings, and a plate with a pastry on the knee-height table in front of it. Plus, dagnabbit, my favourite cup was in use.
Ugh. So much for a great start to my day.
I was fifth in line, surfing on my phone, reviewing the latest Publisher’s Weekly bestseller list (since customers were anxious to get their hands on those) when someone gently tapped my shoulder. I jumped slightly and dropped my phone.
“Elliot.”
The waves in his hair leaned more toward a curl, and they hung over his forehead, just waiting for someone to brush them across. “Hi, Sage.”
Before I could bend down and pick my phone up off the floor, he was already doing so. Freeing a cloth from his pocket, he gave my phone a wipe and handed it over.
“Thank you.”
“Sorry I made you jump.”
“I was just distracted. Normally, I’m very much aware of what’s going on around me.” Just not today, it seemed, but the bestseller list was amazing. So many books to add to my already miles-long Tbr list.
“You’re late. Hope everything’s okay?”
“You’ve seen the lineups, right?” I bit my tongue at my sudden burst of sass. My shoulders rolled forward as I put my phone into the pocket of my jacket. “Good thing it’s all worth the wait.” With that, a tinge of heat bloomed on my cheeks as I meant him, but it could’ve been interpreted as the coffee too.
He didn’t seem to catch my hidden meaning as he pointed toward the wingback chair. “I saved your spot for you, for when you showed up.”
“What?” That was for me?
“Come.” He looked like he was going to reach for my hand but thought the better of it. “This is mine.” Pulling it off the wing, he wrapped the grey sweater over his arm.
“Wow, you didn’t have to do this.” My heart swelled at the idea of him reserving a table for me. For me? That was such a wild thought.
His face lit up with a broad smile, pushing up the corners of his eyes. “You are, without a doubt, the most regular customer we have, so really, it’s our pleasure to make sure your drink, your pastry—and I took a stab at what you’d like—and your favourite spot was ready for you.”
“I don’t know what to say, except thank you.” That was the sweetest thing anyone had done for me.
He waved his hand to usher me into the chair, which I gladly sat in. There was a reason this spot was the best—the plush part of the seat was so much more comfortable than the wooden chairs and stools scattered throughout. Even better, it had a captain’s view of the rest of the place yet was tucked away to not be immediately noticeable. From this vantage point, I could easily watch Elliot move fluidly and not have it look like I was some sort of stalker.
“Elliot,” one of the baristas called out. I thought it was Nina, the owner.
“I’ve got to go, but I’ll be back.”
I nodded and watched him strut behind the counter. As he read the next coffee order to start making, he lifted his gaze briefly and stared at me from the corner of his eye. My heart fluttered in response. For as often as I had read that happening in books, it came as a total surprise when it happened in real life. I was pretty sure that the giddy part of infatuation was a myth as I really didn’t think my heart knew how to do that; it had never happened before. No guy previously had ever lit my fire; I guess that’s why my relationships crashed and burned before they could ever take flight.
With heating cheeks, I turned my attention to the table. The mug—my favourite—was filled with a tantalizing maple aroma and a weird foam art. Since the foam had reduced due to my tardiness, it was hard to tell what it had been, but I liked to think it was a flower or a heart.
Beside it, on the plate, was a chocolate donut; its centre hole was filled with a thick chocolate crème and decorated with white chocolate shavings. He’d made a great choice with his selection. Because it looked so decadent I’d never choose it, and if I were to indulge, I usually went with something slightly less rich.
However, it wasn’t the donut or the coffee that garnered my attention. Off to the left was a plastic bag. As I opened it, inside was a Mass Market paperback. I started laughing, perhaps a little too loudly since the people in line turned in my direction, and flashed the book cover to Elliot who was watching. The book was similar in nature to the one I had been reading yesterday, except this one was titled The Duke and His Mistress . Ten points to the sweet Elliot.
I mouthed, “Thank you”, and proceeded to flip it over to the back cover to read what it was about, although I had a super strong suspicion based on the title. Giving it a read, I tucked it back into the bag, knowing it wasn’t going to ever be read by me, but it would be one I’d save. Cheating tropes were a huge turnoff for me, not that Elliot would know that or my personal reasons for hating that particular style of writing. I’d dealt with enough of it in my real life. Still, it was beyond adorable of Elliot to find a romance book for me.
From inside my bag, I pulled out a worn and weathered children’s novel. The Great Gilly Hopkins had been donated to the bookstore, but when I flipped through the book, it was missing several pages. There was no way it was going to be read, and now was the perfect time to give it a new life.
Between sips of my coffee – and it was so tasty – and bites of my decadent donut, I began to craft a gift out of the book. Holding my breath for a moment, I tore off the front and back cover, apologizing to the book gods for the mighty destruction. Allowing the breath to sail out, I began folding in the top-right corner until it touched the spine, using the end of my blue-polished fingernail to crease a diagonal line, and then folded that newly created edge to the spine and pressed again. Since it left a tiny triangle of paper on the bottom, I bent it so it was flush with the bottom edge and tucked it under the folds. Page by page, sip after bite, I worked my way through the entire children’s book, producing a pristine book tree within forty minutes.
Normally, I’m much quicker, but since this was a thank you gift for Elliot, I put a little more effort into creasing the folds and making it perfect. Indeed, it was, and a sweeping feeling of pride ebbed through me.
The coffee queue had wound down, but the place was still busy, and every table was full. Sadly, it was time for me to head to work, so I gathered my things. Balancing the newly created gift for Elliot in one hand, I walked to the side of the counter with my empty plate and mug in the other, setting them into the bus tray. Most customers left their dishes on the table, but I preferred to ease the barista’s clean up.
Elliot came over. “How was your coffee?”
“Perfect, thank you.”
“And the donut?”
“Filling. I’m going to have to do loops around the town to burn it off.” A shy smile spread from cheek to cheek as I rocked on my feet while the sweet sugar surge built.
He locked his gaze onto mine. “Or around Pyramid Island.”
Pyramid Lake was a beautiful, glacier-fed lake just outside of the town of Jasper’s boundaries. The water was crystal clear and made for the most stunning pictures with the mountain range in the background. To get to the island area on foot, it was an easy walk from the nearby parking lot over packed trails and across a wooden bridge. When I was stressed or needed a whisper of time to think and breathe a little deeper, I’d sit on the bench and stare at the water until the calm washed back in. In that spot, it didn’t take long.
My body melted slightly at the thought of Elliot being there at the same time. “One of my favourite spots to visit, but it’s a smidge too far to walk to.”
“From here, sure, but we can drive.” The words hung there for a moment. A sweet moment to which I craved a longer response. What was he thinking? Was he subtly asking? Or was I reading way too much into things?
Nina walked by. “Hey, Sage, before you go, I need to talk to you real briefly about a joint project between us and Pages just the astronomy books on stands. That was hardly enticing, and if memory served me correctly, I was pretty sure we hadn’t sold many of them either.
He shuffled closer to the counter, moving much slower than normal.
“Are you okay?” I asked .
“No, everything aches.”
I stepped back, fearing he had the flu or something. Now wasn’t the time to get sick, although… If I were to get sick, then I could get out of attending Alice’s volunteer meeting tonight. On second thought, I stepped closer to Harvey. “Flu?”
“No, joints. There’s a storm brewing.”
Instinctively, I tossed my gaze out the storefront window to the streets. Big, leafy trees, some as old as the town itself, lined the street and their branches were blowing at a steep angle in the wind.
“When did that pick up?” It was fine when I got to work a couple of hours ago, and the last few customers hadn’t mentioned anything.
“Weather station is predicting a doozy of a storm late tonight.”
“A doozy?” That didn’t sound promising. Thankfully, the store closed at six, so I’d be safe at home when it hit; it was the perfect excuse to skip out on the volunteer meetup.
“Yeah. With all this unseasonal weather we’ve been having, I guess Mother Nature isn’t ready to slumber and let Old Man Winter take over.”
“I’m okay with that. Winter lasts long enough.”
Wintery roads stalled business for a little bit and made the driving treacherous and the sidewalks icy patches of slips and falls. I wasn’t a fan of winter, but once I adapted to it, it was manageable. It was getting to that point that was the most difficult.
“Anyway,” he tapped the countertop – a long live edge piece of wood stacked on top of several hundred books positioned perfectly as the supportive base. There were no drawers or anything, but it sure looked amazing. “I’m going to go home and rest. Lock up, will you?”
“Sure, of course.”
He tossed me the spare set of keys. “And Nina has requested a few of our second-hand books. Take a small box over to her when you leave.”
“Of course, and we already talked. I’m slowly working on what books would best fit the coffee shop.”
“Add in the coupons too. It’ll be good for business.”
“For sure.”
He leaned heavily on his left foot. “And staple them in. That way the customers have to take the book and not just the coupon.”
“You know, I’ve created a spreadsheet with the titles of the books we discard, so they don’t come back in for resale.”
A quizzical expression deepened the creases in his forehead. “When did you manage that?”
“A month ago? I’m still testing it out. I scan the ISBN into the computer, and it populates whether it’s something we’ve shelved, sold, or discarded.”
“Wow. I’m impressed.” He shuffled and lifted his shoulders one at a time as a grimace stretched across his face. “With all the neat little extras you do, you’re going to have to take over the store when I retire.”
That’s my plan.
“Anyway. Have a good night.” His expression flat-lined, a look I was all too familiar with. This conversation was finished.
A gust of wind whipped an empty box against the window. Heart pounding from the unexpected noise, I watched as it dipped toward the ground and then lifted back into the air. Shivering from the thought of the late-night storm, I pushed a pile of books off to the side and turned my back to the window. I didn’t need to see what was going on.
“Going to be a doozy alright.” Harvey inched toward the exit.
I swallowed down the slow build of anxiety rising in the back of my throat. “Have a good night, Harvey.”
“Don’t forget the window display and the books to Nina. I think there’s a game or two in there as well.” As he descended the two stairs and opened the door, a gust of wind pushed against it and Harvey had to hunker down and hold on tight to close the door properly on his way out.
Shaking my head as another piece of garbage angrily danced down the road, I produced a box of discarded books, debating which were coffee shop appropriate.
My cell phone rang, and seeing as the store was devoid of souls, I answered, putting it on speaker. It was my sister.
“Hey, Cassie. What’s up?”
“Change of plans for tonight.” The voice was a mixture of sadness and disappointment.
Yes! I fist-bumped the air and tried to keep the happiness out of my voice. “Awe, that’s too bad.”
“Not really. Alice needs to run to Hinton this afternoon and isn’t sure if she’ll be back in time, so she’s asked Fox to run the volunteer night.”
“Well, if he’s busy running the event, then it’s not like he’ll have the chance to visit.” This was getting better with each spoken word.
“Actually. Don’t hate me.”
“Oh no, you didn’t.” I knew where this was going, and a surge of anger pulsed through me, lighting the tip of my tongue on fire. “You didn’t volunteer me, did you?” But I already knew the answer.
The winds picked up, knocking the heavy raindrops against the window.
Her tone changed to an apologetic sound, but it was likely fake. “Alice said she was short on volunteers.”
“I only agreed to watch from afar, I never signed up for actually helping, I was only supposed to show up tonight to meet this guy. End of story.” My blood was boiling. “Plus, I don’t even know the first thing about astronomy.” Which was why the display window for the Dark Sky Event still hadn’t been decorated. I needed to consult a reference book for hanging the planets in the correct order.
“You don’t need to have a Ph.D. in rocket science to help out, you’ll just be directing the visitors to the buses if they’re heading out to the lake or helping out in rocket park. They’ll just be letting you know what’s involved with the festival and how best to assist.”
“You mean the school field which for the two weeks will be filled with astronaut stuff.”
“Astronomy things like telescopes and binoculars, not astronaut stuff, whatever that is.” Cassie sighed. “So, the meeting is in the high school gym at 7:30.”
“Does Fox know to expect me? Like, what should I be prepared for? What next level of humiliation are you throwing out at me?”
“Well, Alice is telling Fox to expect you, but she wanted an air of mystery, so he knows to expect someone, but doesn’t know who. It’ll be someone in the crowd who’ll come up afterward and say hi.”
“Why? Why are you two doing this to me?”
“Because she said it’s fun and romantic, and it could be a sweet meet cute.” The chipper tone in her voice was not at all contagious.
“It’s orchestrated. Not spur of the moment romantic.”
“She read about something like this in a book once and so wanted to set up her brother like it, but not really set it up. Just have all the pieces there. ”
“And you accuse me of reading too many romance novels.” However, as I thought about it, there was something appealing about the idea. “I’ll do it, but you owe me big time for this.”
She sighed. “What do you want?”
“A million dollars.”
“Be real.”
“If I had a million dollars, I could move somewhere else where you wouldn’t need to constantly try and set me up like it was necessary to have a man in my life in order to be happy.” Yes, it was mean, but I was getting tired of having the same conversation with her over and over again.
“So don’t go then.” Four words laced with more guilt than should be possible.
“Hey.” My anger was building, much like the bulleting raindrops against the window. I hated when she guilted me into things, and I was too weak to resist. “You know I’ll go, but just stop butting into my love life.”
“Fine. Be that way. I only do it because I care, and I don’t want you to die alone.”
I rolled my eyes and watched the leaves fight to stay gripped to the branches. “I won’t die alone. I have you.”
“Yes, you’re stuck with me, always and forever, however, I can’t light your soul on fire.”
A loud sigh I wanted her to hear barreled out. “Fine. Seven-thirty, is it? That’s when I have to be there? ”
“Yes,” the chipper popped back into her voice. “And go say hi after.”
“Well, we’ll see about that.” I was going, but there was no way I was going to introduce myself when it was over.
“Thanks. I gotta run. I’m going with Alice to Hinton. You need anything?”
“No, I’m good.”
“Love you.”
“You know I love you too.”
She ended the call on a high note, something I could never do. I hung onto my emotions for a long time, but not Cassie. Hers flicked on and off like a switch. I tossed my phone onto the back counter, covering it with a book to hide the happy face emojis she texted. How did she flip so fast?
* * *
Harvey had called and said to close early if business hadn’t picked up with the brewing storm. Although I was supposed to stay open until six, by five the last customer had been through nearly two hours earlier. The storm was picking up intensity, and when a crack of thunder sounded, I rushed around turning off the lights at an epic pace. It was time to get home and be safe.
The keypad beeped as I punched in the activation code to secure the bookshop, and with a box of books tucked under my arm, I pushed myself past the Tiger’s Tail children’s consignment shop, taking shelter under the small red and white awning of the Coffee Loft, although I wasn’t sure what the point was. The rain had already pelted against my cheeks and ruined the soft curls I had painstakingly rolled into my hair. No doubt my mascara was streaking down my face, and my foundation had worn off enough to let the rosacea shine through as well. Perfect. Just perfect.
I pulled on the door, and it didn’t budge. Dang. Had they closed early too?
I shielded my eyes as I pressed against the window and peered inside. Most of the lights were off, including those over the display case. Thankfully, Elliot was still there and came running over.
The rains blew in an unnatural arc, soaking my calves and shoes.
“What are you doing out there?” Elliot asked, pushing against the door to open it. “Get inside.” Using his body weight, he managed to pull the door closed and lock it.
“It’s awful out there.”
“No kidding. Here, let me help you.” He took the box from my arms and walked toward the counter.
I felt loads lighter following him, and then I remembered why; it wasn’t the box of books. “My bag.”
“Where is it?”
“Under the counter at Pages, but I can go back and get it.”
Wide-eyed, he stared out the window. “Right now? In this?”
“Yeah, but I need to give the alarm system fifteen minutes to cycle through or whatever it does. Mind if I wait here for a few?” I glanced into the chrome reflection of the display case and swiped my fingers under my eyes to remove any possible traces of mascara. No need to resemble a raccoon.
“Not at all. What’s in the box?” He walked in my direction.
“Those are for Nina. She wanted a take one, leave one shelf.” I finger brushed the damp ends of my hair to try and remove the stringiness of it all. The rain had ruined the good look I had successfully achieved this morning. At least Elliot had seen my more polished version this morning, now it was the unfiltered variety.
“That explains that.” He pointed to a dark empty three-shelf unit over by my chair.
I took the box back. “While I’m waiting for the alarm to reset, I’ll fill this up.”
“Let me make you a warm drink. I haven’t shut everything down yet.”
“That’s sweet of you. I’m good, but thanks. I just want to get home before the worst of this hits.” And pray the storm passed before the meeting, although … that would definitely give me an out, and Cassie would ba ck it up.
“It’s not a problem. I was just about to make myself one.”
A warm drink had its appeal and suddenly my taste buds started prepping for a party. “What are you making?”
“Was going to make myself a gingerbread mocha.”
“Yeah, that sounds amazing. Thanks, I’d like one.”
I crouched down on the floor in front of the shelves and opened the box. One by one I added the books, arranging them in such a way that they looked enticing, like I was prone to do in the bookstore. I set the weathered box with the chess set under the box with an older version of Guess Who. Satisfied with the way it looked, I rose.
“Your coffee.” Elliot sat my drink on the edge of the counter and wiped it down, the click of buttons sounding one by one as he turned off the machines.
He swiped his hands together and hung his apron on the hook by what I guessed was the door to the storage area since Nina’s office had a sign indicating what lay beyond that door.
“Where do you put your empty boxes?” I gazed down the short hall to the storage.
“Just by the front door. I’ll drop them off in the bins as I walk by.”
Same as us. All garbage and recyclables were dropped off in the bins just behind our strip of stores. One building, three stores, and a shared waste collection .
Looking out the window by the long bar with the stools all tucked under, another wet gust whipped more garbage around. Like a mini twister was forming outside the window, an empty soft drink container spun in place and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. The white picket fence across the street was acting as a strainer as the debris was collecting against the wooden boards.
Slowly, I inched backward, right into Elliot’s firm chest.
“Wow, would you look at that?” His voice tickled my ears as his hands steadied me.
“Ah, yeah.”
As much as I wanted to be close and see what it was like to be held by him, now was not the time. I needed to get home, desperately, and as fast as humanly possible. I was sure Cassie would understand me no-showing the volunteer event with this storm. She understood my fear, and was ready with a soft blanket, my noise-cancelling headphones, and a brightly lit room to wash out the flashes of lightning.
I just needed a few more minutes to go back to the bookstore, grab my bag with my phone, and head for the hills in the pouring rain. If I ran all the way home, it shouldn’t take more than ten minutes. Manageable. It was amazing how fast I could run if I was scared, and being out in this storm would be terrifying. I could likely sprint all the way. Unless … Maybe Elliot had a car and could drop me off ?
I twisted away from him and paced to the back of the dining room, staying as far away from the window as I could. Nervously, I wrung my hands together, trying to encourage some warmth back into them.
“Are you bothered by the storm?”
A rumble of thunder shook the ground. The storm was rolling down over the mountain range. I crossed my fingers it would pass quickly and not stall over the town; it didn’t need to do that every time, did it?
“What? Me? No. I’m just cold from being wet. Has it been fifteen minutes yet?” My gaze jumped around the space looking for a clock. “I think it’s been fifteen minutes. I should go get my things.”
Where was the clock? Why didn’t the Coffee Loft have one in the customer area? That was just all sorts of crazy. There was no clock anywhere . Surely, fifteen minutes had passed. At least. Probably twenty. Yeah, it had been at least twenty.
“It’s been five.”
“Five? Really?” I pulled my head back in shock. Impossible. “Maybe that’s enough? Maybe I should go? Worst thing to happen is the alarm goes off, and my brother-in-law shows up. He knows I’m not a criminal.”
Sidestepping away from him, I moved toward my chair, spun, and paced back toward the front counter to grab my drink, unsure of the best place to be. I couldn’t make myself head to the door just yet .
He walked the length of the counter, clicking the last machine off. The display case darkened, and the house lights went to sleep. “Let me grab my things from the back, and I’ll walk you over. I get the sense you shouldn’t be alone right now.”
“What? No. I’m fine. I’m really fine. I just want to go home, is all. Simple really.” My gaze was as unsteady as my heart rate which was jumping like a kernel of popcorn in a hot air popper.
Elliot stood in front of me, shielding me from the window and door. “Are you just scared of the storms, or is it something more?”
“What? No. I’m not scared. Not at–” The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as if a general had entered the room.
Microseconds later, the place flashed in brightness and a loud crack exploded.
Once again, the lightning had come for me.
My hands covered my ears, and I screamed as the giant tree out in front of the store was blown apart. Massive branches and part of the trunk crashed to the ground, ripping the awning above the door, and effectively blocking our way out.