Chapter Eleven
Cassie and Chad were sitting in the living room watching some ladies talk show when I came upstairs.
“There you are,” Cassie said, reaching for the remote and muting the tv. “Did you have a nice nap?”
The nap was needed, which was highly unusual for me. I came home and fell into bed, crying for the strangest and most unknown reasons until I passed out.
After I woke up, or rather was woken by the start-up of my computer and my bedroom lights turning on as the power returned, I showered with hot water and a loofah full of candy cane-scented body wash. As much as I was feeling physically better, there was still an ache I couldn’t wash away.
I flopped onto the couch opposite where she and Chad were curled up. “I didn’t think I was that exhausted. It was a rough night. ”
Cassie narrowed her eyes and a deep v formed on her forehead. “How did you get trapped in there? I thought you were at work and then heading to the high school?”
“I had locked up at the store, but I needed to drop some books and games off at the Coffee Loft. That’s when I realised I’d left my phone back at the shop.” I sat up straight, remembering I didn’t yet have my phone. “Oh yeah, I need to head over to the bookstore and get my things.”
“I’ll take you over in a bit.” Cassie pushed out of Chad’s embrace and took a sip of her drink. Must’ve been a green tea, judging by the colour of the water. “But you were saying? About being trapped?”
I tipped my head back on the cushion and stared at the ceiling. I brought one of the throw pillows to my chest and hugged it tight. “Then the winds picked up in intensity and the lightning cracked, splitting the tree just outside the coffee shop. It ended up sending a giant shard of trunk through the awning and railing, trapping us in.”
“Holy smokes.” Cassie’s eyes almost bulged beyond the rim of her glasses.
I closed my eyes for a moment as a dull ache sat in the center of my chest. “Amazingly enough, the tree was doused from the torrential rain so there wasn’t a fire issue.”
Cassie shook her head. “That was a crazy storm. Alice and I were driving in it from Hinton. We had to pull over when the rain was coming down so hard the wipers couldn’t keep up. The noise it made was deafening.”
“Was there hail damage to her truck?” Chad asked Cassie.
“I don’t know, maybe?”
Opening my eyes, I stared at my big sister. “Speaking of Alice, I met her little brother Fox.”
“Oh?” Her face lit up.
“He’s a Coffee Loft employee.”
“Shut up, he is not.” Cassie had the audacity to look over to Chad with a smirk on her face before looking back at me. “What? She never told me that, just that he was seriously into astronomy and was helping out with the Dark Sky Event.”
I sighed as my heart thrummed louder just thinking of him. “Anyway, I know him as Elliot, my daily barista, and he knew me as the bookshop girl, so your plan was foiled. We’d already met. You two with your planned meet cute thing, well, sorry to say, that never happened either.”
“That was Alice’s idea anyway,” Cassie said with a huff.
“Yeah, well, when you see her next, tell her it was a bust. Neither of us showed up at the school for the volunteer thingy.” Shifting in my spot, I tucked my legs underneath me.
Chad reached for his can of pop and chugged back a drink, eliciting a small burp. “No one did. When the power was wiped out, an advisory was sent out to go home and stay there so the power crews and first responders could do their jobs.”
“Not everyone got that advisory.” If there had been any warning, surely Elliot would’ve seen it on his phone and said something, not that there was anything we could’ve done.
Chad got defensive. “It was supposed to go out as an alert.”
“Well, it didn’t happen. The cell phones went belly up at some point.” But I wasn’t in the mood to argue as to when it all went down as I was exhausted to the bone. “Anyway… Elliot Fox,. I stressed the nickname she or Alice had come up with. “Was the Coffee Loft employee I became trapped with.”
“Oh?” That look went beyond gentle curiosity; it had all the makings of big sisterly concern and perhaps a touch of contempt. “Is that where the bruise came from?”
Yes, that tidbit of information would cause her to instantly have her feathers ruffled. That had been her experience, not mine, but it still didn’t stop her from projecting any of those fears onto me.
I touched the bruise I bandaged after I applied a bit of green-tinted moisturizer to conceal the rosacea flare-up. “I fell.” Cassie cocked an eyebrow that told me she didn’t believe a lick of what I was saying. “Honestly, it was pitch black in the back room where we were hunting for the lockers, and I tripped over a wayward box and connected with a corner of a locker.”
“I see. That’s the killer box you spoke of earlier.” Her words said she understood, but the tightening of her posture betrayed that.
“I swear, nothing bad happened.” Except for a kiss or two that rocked my world, leaving me wanting and begging for more, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. It wasn’t bad. On the contrary, it was magical, and stirred feelings in me I wasn’t sure I could handle. Or trust. “Elliot was a perfect gentleman. A true sweetheart, and—you’ll love and appreciate this—he did his best to block out the sound of the storms.”
Cassie crossed her legs and cupped her mug of tea with both hands while leaning closer to me. “How’d he manage that?”
“Banging pots and pans and having a dance party.” And kissing me, but I wasn’t going to share that with her.
I was all for not keeping secrets from my sister, but this one, I wanted to keep for myself and put a lock on my heart to stop the memory from ever leaving. “And that’s where any little hope of a story will end. We’ll have that one night to keep in our hearts.”
“Why? Why won’t you give him more?” She narrowed her eyes in deep confusion.
I put my feet on the carpet.
“It’s not that I won’t, it’s just I … can’t.” I didn’t want to have this conversation with her. At least not in front of Chad. I knew he loved my sister down to his soul, but so had my dad with my mother, an d finding out he betrayed her in the worst possible way, left me forever unable to trust men completely. I was always second-guessing everything.
Dad’s cheating and mom’s heartbreak were the worst, and for some stupid reason, those types of guys were the kind I was most attracted to. If anything was to happen between Elliot and me, he’d just go out and rendezvous with another female. Most started out sweet and charming, and then they turned—like an avocado; one day perfect, the next day they’d gone bad.
However, there was something about Elliot that prevented me from believing that’s who he was—in his core—but still, there was no need to find out the hard way.
“You know what? I need to go get my things from the shop.”
“Sage, wait.” Cassie matched me step for step. “Just wait.” She followed me to the back door where I was shrugging on my red leather jacket and pulling my hair out to drape over the back. “Elliot was that sweet? You sound like you two had a good time despite the circumstances.”
I tapped my pocket for the keys to the store, doing everything I could to avoid looking into her eyes. Doing so would unravel me, and I wasn’t in the mood.
“Alice speaks so highly of him and dotes on him. Apparently, their parents aren’t as sweet toward him. ”
“Because he’s not an engineer like his father, and he’s just a coffee shop employee.” I air-quoted the last three words as a rise of anger boiled in my gut. I just didn’t understand how a parent could be that upset about their child’s career path. “But he’s an amazing barista, and he takes the coolest up-close photographs.”
“Wow, you’re highly defensive of someone you just met.”
“Just stating the truth.”
“Hey,” she said softly, “I wasn’t attacking him.” Her hand rested on my shoulder. “Did something happen last night? Something that promised more in a good way?”
“No.” The stupid tears built regardless, and my sister was becoming a fuzzy mess.
“Sage, tell me what’s going on.”
“Nothing.” I wiped the heel of my palms over my face and under my eyes.
She pulled me in for a hug and whispered in my ear. “Not every guy is like Dad or Jordan or Peter.”
Thanks for throwing my exes back at me.
“There are some good ones out there, and I think from what I’ve heard of Elliot from Alice and how you are acting right now, that he’s one of those rare, good ones. Be like your romance book heroines and trust a little in the emotions.”
“Trust gets your heart broken.”
“Sage.” It was heartbreaking the way she breathed out my name.
I stared at the locket around her neck that was beating to the rhythm of her heart. My voice dropped to a cracked whisper. “He accused me of using him to get through the night.”
“Did you?”
“Only at first, but it wasn’t my intention.”
“Well then, talk to him.”
“I don’t know how. I don’t know what to say.”
“Trust your heart – let it guide you.”
I laughed painfully. “Right. Because it’s been so accurate in the past.” Patting my pockets once again, I stepped out of her embrace. “I need to go and get my things. I’ll be back later. Don’t include me in your supper plans.”
The screen door slammed behind me with a bang.
I stormed down the street, but by the time I’d rounded the corner, my anger had dissipated. As I glanced around, I was in awe of the destruction that had happened, and I checked the skies just in case anything nasty was returning for a second show. The clouds were thick but not of the heavy rain variety, just cloudy enough to block the sunshine. The baseball field was littered with downed branches and several patches of puddles, and the fence line had collected a ton of garbage. It was almost as if a tornado had rolled through town. That wouldn’t be impossible; tornadoes never happened here .
Plus, the houses were all still shingled and holding onto their siding, so it had only been a nasty storm. Judging from some of the dents on the cars as I passed by, there had been pockets of hail. I shuddered just thinking about it and shuddered even harder when I thought of the thunder and lightning.
Slowly, I walked by the Little Free Library near the fire station and surveyed the contents. The last user had failed to secure the door, so it was hanging by a hinge, and the books inside were soaked beyond anything useable. I couldn’t even turn them into a fun project if I tried. I scooped out a dozen books and carried them in my arms until I spotted a bin, in which I added each book, saying a prayer and thanking them for their service as I dropped them into the recycle receptacle.
Passing over Geike Street, I headed to Patricia Street, turning left and meandering towards Pages and Dreams. There were many more busted trees with dangling limbs, but for the most part, the shop owners and employees had already cleaned up the street and cut down any dangerously dangling branches. That was Jasper—hard to keep the residents down and everyone banded together.
I stopped at the corner by the Coffee Loft and froze. I hadn’t taken everything in when I hurried out that morning, but seeing it now, it was something else. The awnings above all three stores on that stretch of the strip had been torn away or shredded in some part. The giant tree—a hanging birch?—was totally destroyed and there would never be the wonderful shade blanketing the doorway of the Coffee Loft again. The crews had taken it down, right to the stump, and spray painted the trunk in bright orange to alert passersby.
The house across the street had a fair amount of damage; one of the windows on the upper floor was shattered and the white picket gate had snapped free of its holds.
I wasn’t sure if anyone was in the Coffee Loft, and I especially wasn’t sure if Elliot was still there or not. Rather than take the chance of passing by and him flagging me down, although a small part of me wondered if he would do that or not, I walked around the back of the strip, through the alley, exiting on the road nearest the bookstore.
It was the coward’s way of avoiding any unnecessary entanglements.
And I was successful. Not proud of it, but successful.
Upon reaching the store, I was surprised it was still closed. Thankfully, I’d brought my keys, and twisting it in the lock, I entered and deactivated the alarm. Locking the door behind me, I skipped up the stairs to the counter. It took all of five seconds to locate my backpack, but finding my phone was different. It wasn’t in my bag, or just lying on the counter, so I picked up the old school landline and dialled my phone, hoping to hear it ring out. My phone was dead air; there still wasn’t cell service so I hung up.
“Dang it.” I pushed a stack of books aside and found my phone by accident when the book covering it slipped off to the side.
The landline phone rang.
“Pages and Dreams.”
“Sage?”
“Harvey?”
My boss coughed and then cleared his throat. “Glad I got in touch with you; this lack of cell service is chapping my behind.” He coughed again, and I pulled the phone away from my ear. “Sorry ‘bout that. Glad you’re there. Has it been busy?”
“I hope not since I only popped in here to get the bag I’d left behind. I thought you were working today, so I was a little surprised to have unlocked the store.”
“Well… I had planned on it, but I was in the ER last night.”
“Oh my goodness.” A sea of panic filled my veins. “Are you okay?”
He chuckled in his old man voice. “Yeah, fine fine. It was precautionary. I was in a minor fender-bender during that storm. I rear-ended a vehicle that didn’t have functioning brake lights.”
“You’re okay?”
“Fine. Just sore.”
My shoulders sagged as I heard the reassurance in his voice. “That’s a relief, and I’m glad you’re okay. ”
“So yeah, I didn’t make it in today. Obviously.”
A figure moving outside the window grabbed my attention, and the second I noticed it was Elliot I dropped to my knees and crawled on the floor, peering around the edge of the counter with the handset pressed to my ear.
“—are you there if you’re not working?”
It took a second to clue in that I was still talking to Harvey, all my attention had been focused on the gorgeous man trying the door and seeing that it was locked. “I, ah, forgot my things, and I wanted to check on the store.” I was worried he’d hit his head, as I was sure I’d told him that already.
“Is there any damage?”
“To what? Oh, right. The store.” I really needed to pay more attention to Harvey.
Elliot was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk, turning his head occasionally toward the store.
“Um, yeah, the awning is torn and will need to be replaced, but everything else seems fine.”
“No floods?” Harvey cleared his throat rather aggressively.
I hadn’t thought to look, but there wasn’t a musty, damp smell when I walked in, just that lovely, aged book scent I craved. “None that I’ve noticed.”
“Fine, that’s fine. Great even.”
Elliot pushed his face to the window, and I pulled back, counting to five before I even dared to take another peek. Before I hit four, I caved and watched as he double-tapped his fist against the window before walking away.
“Pop a sign up of some sort that says we are closed today and tomorrow but we’ll reopen on Saturday morning. I need you to do that please.”
“Absolutely.” But I wasn’t fully listening as my heart was pounding against my ribs.
“I’m going to stay home and rest, but I’ll be in on Sunday to help out. Put on the sign that Sunday will be a twelve to four kind of deal.”
The small-town lifestyle always allowed for a change in hours. The residents understood, especially after last night’s storm.
I pulled myself onto my feet and walked back behind the counter, scratching down his requests. “Got it, Harvey.”
“I knew you would.” He hung up before I could say anything else.
“Feel better,” I said to the handset as I settled it back into the cradle. However, my focus was on the window, wondering where Elliot had gone.
And then I wondered why I cared so much.