Chapter Fifteen
By late November, the first snow had fallen. It was just a dusting and likely wouldn’t stick around for long, but for a moment that Saturday morning, the world looked fresh and clean, like if you wanted to start all over again, with anything at all, today was the day.
Jenna texted with Delia a few times to make sure things at the shop were okay.
She didn’t often take a weekend day off, but every year, she helped the local library with their book sale to help raise funds, and Delia was more than capable of running BookLove on a Sunday without Jenna there to tell her what to do.
Still, it felt a little bit like leaving her infant with a babysitter, so she liked to check in and make sure everything was going okay without her.
As she locked up her car and was crossing the parking lot, her phone rang. A glance at the screen told her it was her brother.
“Hey, Nathan,” she said cheerfully.
“Hi, Punky, how’s life?” Her brother used the nickname he’d given her when she was about six and favored pigtails over any other hairstyle.
“It’s not bad. I’m headed into the library to help with their book sale.” She involuntarily shivered. “Ugh. Winter’s on its way. Cold today.”
“I think it’s here,” he said. “Listen, Mom wanted me to check with you about Thanksgiving next week.”
She stifled a sigh. Her mother rarely called her, and Jenna had grown used to that. She did the calling, once or twice a month, just to check that box, but they really didn’t have much to talk about. “What time?”
Nathan told her they were planning to eat around one o’clock, as usual.
Her parents were elderly—her father in his early eighties and her mother not far behind—and they liked to have their evenings to themselves.
That meant their children should come early and leave early, and Jenna was okay with that. “You’re in charge of rolls.”
Jenna rolled her eyes at that. She’d been in charge of bringing rolls to Thanksgiving dinner since she’d moved out years ago.
It was as if her mom didn’t think she was capable of making any kind of dish, certainly not anything complicated.
She wrapped things up with her brother and headed into the library, shaking her head with a sigh as she typed herself a reminder to pick up rolls.
Holidays were not much cause for celebration in her family, mostly because she’d never felt like she could be herself.
No, that wasn’t quite it. It was that she didn’t think her parents were okay with her being herself.
“Jenna!” Her thoughts were interrupted by Becca Jenkins, one of the library employees that Jenna had known for years. Before she could even unbutton her coat, Becca had wrapped her in a warm, loving hug. “How are you, my friend?”
They chatted as Jenna stowed her things and Becca showed her to the romance table, which was set up right off the entryway this year. “Oh, look at us, right in the traffic pattern,” she said with a grin.
“We decided not to put you in the basement this year,” Becca said, laughing, then detailed pricing for her, where to send folks to pay, everything Jenna already knew, but Becca had to go over anyway.
“Wow, there’s some good stuff in here,” she said quietly, as she scanned the books available, picking up a Susan Mallery novel.
“There always is,” Becca said. “Thanks again for giving up a Sunday for us. We’re always thrilled to have a romance expert to help guide people.”
Jenna waved her away with a pfft. “I’m just happy to help.”
This location was perfect. The library wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either.
Three floors and a basement level, all filled with shelves of books.
Becca was right: for last year’s book sale, the romance section had been set up downstairs, and foot traffic to that floor was minimal.
But where she was today, you could see her and her table of books through the windows from the street.
Anybody entering the library would walk right past her.
The doors opened at ten, and people filed in, and Jenna was busy for a solid hour before a to-go cup was set in front of her, the mouthwatering scent of fresh coffee wafting up from it. She looked up to see Dakota and Veronica.
“You guys! What are you doing here?” Jenna came around the table and hugged each of them, then took a sip of the coffee and hummed her approval.
“We couldn’t let you stand here all day without saying hi,” Dakota said. “Plus, Ronni wants to check out the sci-fi section.”
“My nephew’s really into sci-fi and fantasy now, so…” Ronni shrugged. “Thought I’d see what they’ve got here.”
Jenna pointed her in the direction of the sci-fi table while Dakota hung out. “How’s things?” Jenna asked. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in a while. This time of year gets so busy.”
“We need to set up a holiday happy hour,” Dakota said.
They chatted for a bit as people came and left Jenna’s table. Then Dakota asked if there were cookbooks for sale, and Jenna pointed her toward Becca as the woman to ask.
Each time she got a slight break in the action, Jenna would scan through the books on the table, picking up one here and another there, and soon she had a pile of about six books she planned to buy.
She set the most recent choice on her pile behind her, then turned back and gave a small, involuntary gasp at the person suddenly standing there.
“Hi,” Sawyer said with a warm smile, handing over another to-go cup of coffee.
She saw the one Dakota had brought and she frowned, but Jenna didn’t care.
Sawyer was just the sight she needed. Her cheeks were rosy, and there were small snowflakes melting in her dark hair.
Her glasses were in one hand. She set the coffee down and held up the glasses.
“It’s cold out, and they fogged up as soon as I came in. ”
“What are you doing here?” Jenna asked, feeling like she had no control over her face or what had to be a goofy smile. “I didn’t expect to see you.”
Sawyer pointed to the cup. “Brought you this.” Her eyes indicated the cup Dakota had left her. “Though I see I’m a bit late.”
Jenna grinned at her and took the coffee. “You can never have too many warm liquids on a cold day like today. Plus, this one’s almost gone.” She met Sawyer’s bright blue eyes. “Thank you,” she said softly.
“You’re welcome.” Sawyer jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “I’m gonna wander around, see what there is, but then…can I hang with you for a bit?”
“I’d love that.”
Sawyer’s responding smile was radiant, and Jenna felt a gentle pulse low in her body as she watched her walk away, farther into the library, absorbed by the rest of the wanderers.
“Was that—?” Dakota asked as she came back by the table.
“It was.”
“Things are going well there?” Rather than sounding happy for her friend, the best way Jenna could describe Dakota’s tone was hesitant.
“Yes. They’re going slow, but that’s a good thing.”
Dakota nodded, clearly a woman with thoughts on the subject, but she ended up keeping them to herself, aside from saying, “Just be careful.”
“I will.”
“I think she has the potential to hurt you.”
Jenna met her friend’s gaze, saw the worry there, and felt a warm love for her. “I know. I’m paying attention. Promise.”
Dakota and Ronni left soon after—Ronni with a stack of books for her nephew and a big smile on her face—and Jenna dealt with a handful of customers before she saw Sawyer wandering back toward her. Her heart rate kicked up in speed, something she was keenly aware of when it happened.
“Hi,” she said when Sawyer reached her. “Find some good stuff?” She indicated the three books in Sawyer’s hands.
“I managed to snag two Lee Childs and a Tana French. I read this one, but not the other two. Thought they’d be good additions to my bookshelf.
” She scanned behind Jenna and saw the stack she’d built and laughed as she jerked her chin at it.
“Ma’am, you own a bookstore. What can you possibly need with old library books? ”
“Oh, those are for you.” Jenna grinned at Sawyer’s surprise.
“Me?”
With a nod, she said, “I haven’t given up on you finding a romance you actually like.” She winked, just to make sure Sawyer knew she was toying with her a little bit.
Sawyer shed her coat and set it behind the table with Jenna’s, then stood next to her, and Jenna didn’t want to admit how her entire body reacted to Sawyer’s proximity.
The way her skin tingled when Sawyer was close, the way she could smell Sawyer’s perfume, something light and warm and inviting, the way Sawyer was a bit taller and made Jenna feel safe somehow. Protected.
“Have you read her?” A woman was pointing to a Lily Chambers book on the table, and she looked up at Sawyer.
“I have, but not that particular book.” She indicated Jenna. “This is the woman you want to ask, though. She’s an expert on the romance genre, and she actually knows Lily Chambers.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say expert,” Jenna began.
“I would,” Sawyer countered with a sly grin. “In fact, I just did.”
Sawyer stayed with her for hours. She didn’t seem to notice the concerned look Dakota had shot at Jenna on her way out, and she even ran out to grab them some lunch when Jenna complained about how she’d forgotten to eat that morning.
“Hey, I was thinking,” Sawyer said, as things wound down.
“Uh-oh.”
“Funny.” Sawyer’s laugh was rapidly becoming a sound Jenna adored, and she pointed a finger at Jenna. “You’re very funny. You should take that on the road.”
“I mean, I have thought about it.”
“Anyway.” Sawyer gave her a mock glare. “Thursday is Thanksgiving.”
“It is.”
“Are you going to your parents’?”
Jenna nodded on top of a sigh. “Yeah.”
“Oh, that sounds ominous.”
She shouldn’t be that way about her own parents, and she knew it. “No, no, it’s fine. My parents are just…they can be tough, as I’ve told you. But I’ll get to see my niece and nephew, and my brothers and…” She wiped her hand across the air like she was erasing what she’d said. “It’s fine.”