Chapter 34
Fable
It’s midafternoon when Logan steps out of the store for his Coffee Cottage excursion. He has given up the front that he’s in it for the drinks and instead announced, “Going to say hi to Mabel” before he left.
Clutching my phone in my hands, I pace the paint aisle. I’ve been working up the nerve to call the owner of the rental space all day. I promised myself that if I was brave enough to do it by the end of today, I could go to the Branch and gorge myself on fries and ranch as a reward.
What would Tessa do? She’d say the only way to get to the next step is to push through this one. Get it over with. What would Millie do? She’d hold my hand and tell me to take a deep breath.
I pull a little strength from my sisters and imagine them here with me as I push the call button.
Nausea rolls through me with every ring. One. Two. Three. Four.
Until finally the call connects. “Callum Properties. How can I help you?” asks a voice through the line.
I freeze, forgetting everything I’m supposed to say.
“Hello?”
My stomach swoops, but I manage to form words. “Hi. My name is Fable Oaks, and I’m interested in finding out more information about a rental property at 416 Main Street in Fern River, Washington.”
“Ah, yes. Just a moment. Let me bring it up,” he says, typing something.
My unease spurs me to fill the quiet. “I’m looking to open a bookstore, and it seems like the perfect location.
I saw there was some work that needed to be done, but that doesn’t scare me.
” I’m rambling, giving him more information than he needs this early in the conversation, but he doesn’t say anything, so I keep going.
“It seems perfect, and I grew up here in Fern River. I promise I would—”
“Miss?” he interrupts.
I swallow down the rest of my speech. “Yes.”
“It looks like that space isn’t available anymore. We’re drawing up the contract with a new tenant this week.”
My mind goes utterly blank—no idea how to proceed past this barrier.
“But don’t worry,” he adds animatedly. “You’re really going to love what they’re opening: a Smoothie Bro. Have you been to one? They’re a huge hit.”
The ground tilts under me. All the anticipation leaves my body in a rush, and I slump against the end cap of aisle four. A few empty plastic buckets clatter to the floor.
“Are you there?” the man asks.
I croak out a “Yeah.”
“I can send you over to our website where we have a lot of other rental listings.” His voice is so chipper it grates on my nerves. “We have quite a bit in Seattle and Portland, and all the way into California too. A lot of options for you.”
“Mm-hmm. Thanks,” is all I can muster.
“I’ll text you a link when we get off the phone, and we hope to hear from you soon.”
I don’t even manage a goodbye before I hang up and walk to the stool behind the counter. Sadness and grief swirl in my chest, stealing my breath.
My mind drifts to that picture of me and Gramps pinned to the fridge at home.
His huge smile and hopeful heart. I thought it was a sign.
I’d already daydreamed about hanging that photo in the bookstore.
I’d imagined waking up every morning and feeling as though I was going to work with Gramps, making him proud.
How did I get it so wrong?
Tears burn behind my eyes. I’m merely days too late. If I’d just called earlier. If I’d tried harder. If I’d jumped sooner.
If I hadn’t been so distracted by Theo.
The bell rings over the door. “Have you ever heard of a pineapple latte—” Logan’s words cut off when he sees me. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m, uh—” I haven’t breathed a word of this idea to anyone but Theo and explaining it from start to finish sounds miserable. There’s no way I can do it. “I’m not feeling well.”
Sympathy washes his features. “Go ahead and take the rest of the day off, then. I can handle everything here.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
I give a faint nod. “Thank you,” I mutter, and seconds later, I’m out the door to where Baby Blue waits for me on the street.
It takes me four frantic tries to get the door open, and with every attempt I can feel the tension in my body pulling tighter.
I’m a rubber band, being stretched to capacity.
When I finally get inside and stick the key into the ignition, she doesn’t roar to life. The click-click-click echoes ominously through the cab as I try again. And again. And again.
Baby Blue quits on me, and something in my chest breaks. It’s sharp and jagged, and it hurts so damn much I can’t breathe through it.
I try again, cursing myself and begging her to please work for me. But she just gives me a few more clicks and nothing else.
That’s the final straw. I drop my forehead to the steering wheel and burst into tears.
Which is how Theo finds me a few minutes later. He jerks open the driver’s door in one try and wraps his arms around me. “What’s wrong? What happened?” he asks, breathless.
“Everything is falling apart,” I cry into his neck, unable to make any more sense than that.
“What do you mean?” He rubs gentle circles on my back.
I pull away to see his face. “I just talked to the rental space owner.”
“What did they say?”
I toss my hands up. “Add it to the list of things falling apart.”
“Huh?” He’s more confused than ever.
“They already have a renter,” I explain.
“A Smoothie Bro is going in, and if that’s not a giant fuck you, I don’t know what is.
I quit working at one in Seattle because they wanted me to add ‘bro’ to the end of everything I said to the customers.
” He bites back a smile, and that only enrages me more.
“It’s not funny! A fucking Smoothie Bro, Theo! ”
Gently—like I’m made of fragile glass—he cups my cheeks and wipes my tears with his thumbs. “It’s okay. I promise. We can figure this out.”
I shake my head, spiraling further with every breath I take. “There’s nothing to figure out. This wasn’t meant to be.”
His expression takes on that sympathetic look that my family always has when I’ve failed at another thing. “That’s not what this means. It’s simply a roadblock we have to work around. It’s not a big deal.”
But everything feels like a very big deal. The dream is disintegrating before it even took its first breath.
I’m suddenly too hot. Too frustrated. Too angry. Pushing him out of the way, I scramble out of the cab and pace the length of the Bronco. “It’s a sign that it’s time to quit thinking about this.”
“What about all the signs that you were on the right track?”
“I misread them. Maybe Barb’s Books was the sign!
You know, that sometimes dreams pass you by because they’re meant for someone else,” I continue, trying to convince myself.
“The Smoothie Bro sign is going to be clear as day when it’s hanging there!
” I jab a finger in the direction of the rental space.
“I can’t live here and see that every time I drive through town. ”
Theo shakes his head. “Or maybe you’re looking for a sign from someone else to tell you what to do, when really you need to look in here to figure it out,” he says, walking closer to lay his palm to the center of my chest.
Stepping out of his reach, I stare up at him, my breaths quickening with every inhale. I feel irrational. Barely held together. But I don’t know how to fight against it. Years of self-doubt are coming back up my throat and choking me.
“How am I even supposed to know what this”—I point to my chest—“is saying? I can’t trust that either.” I’ve never been able to.
His expression hardens. “If this is your dream, I’m not letting you quit. Don’t give up just because things get hard.”
I make a short, frustrated sound. “It’s my life, Theo. Not yours.” Groaning, I press my palms to my face. “Fuck, I should just leave town.” The rental space isn’t mine. The A-frame isn’t mine. There’s nothing tying me down here other than reminders of all the ways I’ve fucked up. I could just go.
“What?” His voice is eerily calm.
I lower my hands and find confusion etched on his features.
“What do you mean leave town?” His focus is intense. Locked-in. “Where are you planning on going?”
There’s an uncomfortable twist in the pit of my stomach. I’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere and I don’t know how to get back on track.
I shake off the feeling and press on. “Well, Baby Blue isn’t going anywhere, apparently.
Can’t even get her back to the A-frame.” I glance around, suddenly realizing we’re having this very public disagreement.
Fortunately, there are only a few people walking through downtown.
“This probably isn’t looking good for your bullshit with Arthur. ”
“I don’t give a fuck about that.” His jaw ticks, his entire body tense. “You’d leave? Just like that?”
“Yes,” I blurt, exasperated. “Remember? I’m an expert at giving up. Gold medal quitter.”
Hurt pinches his face. “What about me?”
“What about you?” I blink up at him, trying to slow my racing pulse. “This is fake, Theo,” I whisper. “What, I’m supposed to be your fake girlfriend forever?”
His brows crash together. “This is not fake, and you know it.”
The space between us seems to pulse. The rest of the world is startlingly quiet.
I can’t pull my gaze from his. “No emotions, remember?” It’s a bold-faced lie, but with everything that’s happened in the last fifteen minutes, I can’t think straight. I’m careening out of control, and I don’t know how to stop the momentum.
In one big step, he reaches me. Warm hands cup my cheeks, and he dips his mouth to mine.
It’s less of a kiss and more of a reckoning.
Warmth infuses my body as he parts my lips, and his tongue slips into my mouth.
He tips my head and pushes me back against the truck, and I go willingly.
The kiss is thorough and deep, like he’s working to undo every bit of doubt I might have.
Attempting to unravel every thread of tension in me.