Chapter Eight
“See you tomorrow,” Shane said with a wave as he pushed through the door and left the shop to go pick up his kids.
Jenna watched him walk down the street, a shiver from the brief gust of wind he’d let in crawling up her spine.
October first came in kind of chilly, and Jenna gazed out the window of BookLove as a few newly fallen leaves blew around the sidewalk and down the street.
She loved the fall so much. The coziness, getting out and slipping into that first soft sweater of the season, curling up on the couch under a blanket. Definitely her favorite season of the year for so many reasons.
Speaking of gifts… She glanced across the shop to the shelf on the far wall.
She tried to stock a few happy little things in addition to books—candles, bookmarks, mugs, pens—things people could give as gifts to their book-loving loved ones, and the new shipment of scented candles looked colorful and inviting sitting on the shelf.
They were hand-poured by an artisan with a small shop in the Adirondacks, and they sold like crazy, so she jotted herself a note to remember to put in another order within the next week or two so she’d have a decent stock for the holidays.
She went back to what she’d been working on—fall and Halloween decorations for the shop.
Each year, she forced herself to wait until October first before putting up anything Halloween related, but some of the stuff that was just fall-ish had been up since mid-September.
Garlands made of orange and red plastic leaves were draped along shelves.
Some corn husks were wrapped together in a bunch and stood next to the door.
Today, she would add some colorful gourds, a few witchy things to would spruce up the romantasy section, and a couple of light-up plastic pumpkins that would go near the door.
The bell over the door yanked her back to her present reality, and she was happily surprised to see Ally Hall, Sawyer’s mother, coming into her shop.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, standing to give Ally a hug.
“I mean, duh. I came to buy books.” Ally squeezed her tightly, then let her go. “How are you?”
“Great,” Jenna said. “Really good. I was just watching out the window and thinking how much I love the fall.”
“Oh God, me too. It’s the best. All the colors and getting cozy and making apple pie.”
“Apple pie,” Jenna said, pointing a finger at her. “One thing I forgot when listing my favorite things about fall.”
“We’re going apple picking this weekend,” Ally said, her face lighting up as she gave a small gasp of delight. “You should come.”
“Really?”
“Yes! It’ll be me, my mother, Sawyer, and my other daughter, Courtney. You met her the day Sawyer moved in.” She held her hands out in front of her stomach.
“Ah, the pregnant one.”
“That’s her. My youngest and about to give birth to my very first grandchild.” Ally pulled her shoulders up to her ears and grinned widely, doing a little happy dance.
“Not at all excited about that, are you?” Jenna said with a soft laugh.
“Not even a little bit. Babies are so boring.” Ally grinned, then glanced around. “Oh, this place is just so cute!” She waved a hand at Jenna. “You think about it while I wander.” And then she headed down the first row, dragging her fingertips across the spines of the books.
Jenna used to go apple picking often with her aunts when she was younger, but her mom and sisters had all become too elderly to be able to navigate the bumpy terrain between rows of apple trees.
Then she’d opened the shop and all her time got sucked away anyhow.
Now the shop had grown and become successful enough for her to hire help, and that enabled her to take some time away if she needed or wanted to.
She could definitely go apple picking this weekend.
The question was, did she want to spend a day with Sawyer Hall?
And more importantly, how would Sawyer feel about her mom inviting Jenna without asking?
Would she feel stuck? Set up? Happy about it?
These questions danced around in her head for the next twenty minutes, until Ally arrived at the counter with a stack of four books and a candle in her arms.
“Wow. Found some stuff to read, did you?” Jenna asked as she went around the counter.
“There’s so much here,” Ally replied, clearly delighted. “I had to stop myself.”
“Listen, you don’t have to limit yourself on my account. I won’t tell.”
They laughed together as Jenna began ringing things up. “So?” Ally asked. “What do you think about apple picking? Will you come?”
“Are you sure Sawyer will be okay with it?” She wrinkled her nose as she asked, slipping a bookmark into each book Ally was buying. “I don’t want to step on her toes or anything.”
Ally waved a dismissive hand. “Are you kidding? She’ll be thrilled. We would love you to join us.” She handed Jenna her credit card.
There was something about Ally’s energy that drew Jenna in, made her feel warm and welcome.
She didn’t always get that from her own mother, who loved her very much, of course, but because she struggled with Jenna’s “lifestyle choices,” as she called them, they hadn’t spent much time together over the past several years.
Before she could allow herself any more second-guessing, she nodded.
“I’d love to go. I could use some fresh apples.” She bagged up Ally’s purchases. “As long as you’re sure.”
“I am one hundred percent positive.” Ally reached across the counter and squeezed Jenna’s hand. “I’m so glad you’re coming. We’re going to have so much fun!” She gave a little squeal of delight. “I’ll send you the details about when and where. See you soon!”
And she was off.
Jenna watched her go and stood staring after her at the closed door for another moment or two, and then Dakota entered her vision as she came through the door carrying a to-go cup.
“Just passed a very happy-looking woman carrying one of your bags,” Dakota said, setting the cup on the counter. “And I brought you some sustenance.”
Jenna smiled at her and took the cup. “Oh, you’re the best.” She took the lid off and held the cup up so she could inhale the earthy aroma of Dakota’s house-made chai.
Vanilla, cloves, ginger, cinnamon; she could pick it all out.
She took a sip and hummed her approval. “God, that’s good.
” Meeting Dakota’s eyes, she added, “Yeah, that was my neighbor’s mom. ”
Dakota looked at the door as if Ally was still in sight. “The one you had dinner with?”
Jenna nodded. “She’s invited me to go apple picking with her and her daughters—and I think she said her mom, too—this weekend.”
“Babe, I hate to break it to you, but she is so trying to fix you up.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Jenna said. “At dinner, she kind of hinted that Sawyer’s had a breakup.”
“Recently?”
Jenna squinched up her face. “I’m not sure.”
Dakota shook her head. “Doesn’t even matter, though. When a mom finds somebody they think is perfect for their kid, nothing can stop the matchmaking. It’s, like, in their mom blood or something.”
“And you know this how?”
Dakota shrugged. “I read.”
Jenna looked pointedly at the shelves in her shop. “And I don’t?”
“Okay. Fine.” Dakota pulled out her phone, typed up a quick message, and sent it. Seconds later, Jenna’s phone pinged and she looked at the text in the group chat.
Jenna’s neighbor’s mom invited her to go apple picking with them. One simple, truthful sentence.
Dakota stared at Jenna like they were in a standoff until both their phones pinged a second later with a text from Ronni.
OMG, she’s trying to set Jenna up with her daughter!
“And I rest my case,” Dakota said, holding up her phone and tipping it side to side.
Sawyer couldn’t believe her mother had invited Jenna to go apple picking with them and hadn’t even cleared it with her first.
“Would you have said no?” Colton had asked her when she’d told him.
Sawyer’s hesitation did her in.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” When she made a worried face at him, he grinned. “You’re not getting married. It’s not even a date. How about you just try to have a good time? Pick some apples. Laugh a little. Enjoy yourself.”
That seemed like good advice, and it was how Sawyer planned to spend the time, but apparently, she’d forgotten to tell her face that. The second Jenna stepped out onto the porch to meet her, she grimaced and said, “Look, if you don’t want me to come, just say so, okay? No hard feelings.”
Her voice was soft and kind, and Sawyer knew she meant it, which made her feel worse.
“No, no. It’s totally fine. Let’s go pick some apples.
” She did her best to shoot Jenna a genuine smile, then clicked the key fob in her hand to unlock her car.
The second Jenna slid into the passenger seat and closed the door, she looked like she was maybe second-guessing whether she should’ve driven her own car.
“If you need to escape, just give me a look,” Sawyer said.
“I’ll give you my keys and get my sister to drop me off. Okay?”
Jenna nodded once. “Okay.”
There were so many things Sawyer wanted to say to Jenna as they drove. That she was sorry her mom had put them in this awkward situation, that her family was fun and Jenna shouldn’t worry, that she’d fit right in, that Sawyer was honestly glad Jenna was coming, despite her clear worry about it.