Chapter 46
Lila
Three days.
That’s how long it had been since Wade called to say it was done — since Milton Merrick and Derek Burnett were booked, charged, and processed.
You might think the words ‘it’s over’ would bring relief.
It had been the phrase I’d been hoping to hear for weeks.
But relief came in strange waves. It wasn’t instant.
It came in small pieces: the first full night’s sleep, the first time I didn’t check the cameras every hour, the first time I could walk through my cottage without expecting to find something broken or wrong.
The snow had melted into slush around town, while the mountains received another layer of fresh powder.
The morning air was cold enough to bite my cheeks as I sipped my coffee by the window, watching the fog roll through the valley.
My house looked like a real home again. The back porch, the mudroom, even the kitchen — all of it bore East’s mark.
We hadn’t had the “are you moving in?” talk, but it happened naturally.
His boots were toed off by the door just like they might be at the Holt farmhouse.
In the mudroom, his Carhartt hung from the hook, and in the kitchen, the coffee mug he favored sat by the sink.
Every morning, I woke up to find him already moving — checking the porch rail, stacking wood, fixing something that probably didn’t even need fixing.
He said it was habit, but I knew better.
He needed to do things to keep from worrying about me.
When he kissed me goodbye that morning, his beard softly scraped my cheek, and his voice was that low, steady murmur I loved. “Back through town by lunch. You got this?”
“I got this,” I’d said, even though the idea of going back to full normal still made my heart thump.
Across the street, Sage’s house sat solid and warm, smoke curling from its chimney. Maggie had called earlier, insisting we come for supper again tonight.
She’d also told me I was family now, and warned me that if I showed up empty-handed, she’d revoke my “guest privileges.” I’d laughed then, but the words had stuck.
Family now.
I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed hearing something like that.
Ever since I was little, Grams had told me that it didn’t matter if your family was small; it just mattered that you had one, even if you picked it for yourself.
I’d taken that to heart. After she passed, it had set me loose into the world without a tether.
Truly alone. Until now, I’d thought I’d done okay, but now I understood how much I needed to feel like I belonged.
Milton and Derek were safely waiting for their arraignment, but I still had a lot of questions about all the whys.
Now, standing in the doorway, the smell of sugar and coffee was almost enough to make me cry. Mia was already behind the counter, her apron looking like it had been through one too many flour wars.
“Morning, boss,” she said, not looking up. “You’re late. Again.”
“It’s seven-oh-five,” I said, hanging my scarf. “That’s not late. That’s fashionably delayed.” I’d gone back to walking to the shop instead of driving, and I was enjoying the heck out of it.
“Tell that to the mixer. I thought it was going to revolt.” She glanced over her shoulder, grinning.
We settled into the rhythm that we had established long ago as we assembled our cake slices for the day, baked fresh sets of scones, and then filled the bakery cases.
This month, in honor of our book club selection, we had a distinctly English theme with specialty teas, finger sandwiches, and treats like frangipane tarts.
But I had to admit that I loved the challenge of learning new recipes.
I wrote up our specials. We were still putting in a few of our Rose Code options, so we had a Bletchley Lemon Drizzle slice with a rose glaze and a Rose Martini Mocktail, made with pink lemonade, rose syrup, and tonic water, with a sugar rim.
After we opened, I moved to the bookstore section to restock and check the shelves.
It was surprising how quickly things could fall out of place, especially with waves of tourists passing through.
People often moved books around while browsing the blurbs, then left them in the wrong spots.
Not that I minded, but it took some effort to make sure I was either recirculating the end cap books or returning them to their proper spots.
There were also new releases that needed to be shelved, which was one of my favorite jobs.
“Hey, East. You want a coffee?” I heard Mia say.
Popping up from the stacks, I could see my man’s sexy ass self as he sauntered to the counter. “Hey,” I said, giving him a little wave.
“Coffee would be great,” East’s voice was still gravelly from the cold as he shrugged out of his coat. “You been keeping her in line?”
Mia snorted. “Trying. She keeps sneaking in late and pretending she’s fine. I keep pretending to believe her.”
I shot her a look. “You’re not supposed to narc on your boss after eleven.
” Sidling up beside my man, I let him cuddle me and kiss my temple, his hand roaming over that curve of my hip that he favored.
He made appreciative little noises as he waited for Mia to bring his coffee over.
“You want something sweet with your coffee?”
“I got something right here,” he murmured before he let his hand drift under the edge of my sweater.
Giving him a tame kiss on the lips, I darted out of his grip and moved behind the counter to heat a cinnamon roll, trying to ignore his eyes on me.
I’d never get anything done if I stayed right next to him, and I’d want more than a chaste kiss or two.
I’d want to corral him in the back office and see what magic he could do with his tongue.
The problem was that Easton Holt was a bad boy at heart, and he would be more than accommodating to a romp in the office, but I had work to do.
The bell jingled again, and Sage swept in, a gust of cold air, wrapped in her purple coat. “Good morning, my favorite people!” she said brightly. “I brought green stuff for the display window. Hello brother. What’s shaking?”
“Sage,” Easton chuckled under his breath. “Come here and give me a hug.”
Sage smirked and did as he asked, setting down her bundle of assorted rosemary, evergreens, and what looked like ivy. “Thought your window needed a refresh for book club.”
“Very nice. Thanks, Sage-O-Rama.” I gathered up the garlands. “You want to help me swap everything out?” She was the best at decorating. I definitely benefited a lot from having a best friend in the florist business. My windows always looked fresh and stylish.
We moved together to the window, and she began swapping out our current display before nesting in the ivy’s fronds among the teacups and weaving baby’s breath between them. “This will last about a week. When’s this book going to finish up?”
“Soon,” I said. “Just one more week, then I’ll let people stew for a bit. Maybe start dropping some hints. You’ll like the next one.”
Sage’s eyes sparkled. “Is it going to be raunchy?” She wiggled her eyebrows over at her brother as we made our way back with the bottles that we’d borrowed from her shop. “Maybe we can make some people blush.”
“You know the rules, Sage. No hints. Not even for you.” She fake grumped a little while we packed up the bottles.
“I wouldn’t mind a raunchy title.” East winked over at me. “But maybe we can save that for private book club night. You know how much I love those.”
Sage clapped her hands over her ears. “Stop it. My ears. My brain. I’m going to need bleach.”
I hadn’t told Sage of East’s newfound interest in Ruby Dixon’s Ice Planet Barbarian series.
He’d surprised me by coming home one day, nearly frantic as he’d carried me to the bed, pulling down my leggings (thank God for leggings) and diving between my thighs where he’d set to proving that it wasn’t just Vektal that knew how to eat.
Apparently, he’d gotten hold of an audiobook version of the first book.
He’d gotten himself all worked up and rushed home for a little relief. I loved how it made him all hot and bothered. Spicy books for the win.
The door chimed, drawing me out of my very hot reminiscing as I shot a glance toward East. He’d been watching me, tracking my every move like he always did. He offered a small smirk, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
Janice came bustling in, just behind Marge Callahan, stomping their shoes on the mat. “Morning, girls! Morning, Easton,” Janice sang. “Are you here to supervise or just eat pastries again?”
“Can’t a man do both?” East replied dryly, taking a giant bite of his cinnamon roll, making the older woman laugh.
They went straight for the case, cooing over the cake slices while Mia launched into her best sales pitch.
Some were pretty straightforward, but we had some specialties.
“This one here is after a Fraisier cake, and that one is a pear frangipane.” She pointed out dutifully while the women cooed.
“We have our Bletchley Lemon Drizzle slices today too.”
East leaned closer to me, voice dropping. “Wade told me he’s got more info coming in about Milton’s filings. He didn’t say much, but he said he’d tell us tonight.”
My stomach sank, but I nodded. “Okay.”
Sage’s eyes flicked toward me, catching that tone immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly. “I’ll tell you later.”
The last thing I wanted was for Janice and Marge to hear any gossip about what was going on with Derek and the bio-dad. They wouldn’t mean anything by it, but I’d like the whole thing to just fade away into resolution-land.
Marge looked up from the counter. “Oh! Before I forget — what’s the new book for next month, Lila? We’re all dying to know.”
I smiled, tucking a curl behind my ear. “No hints. You know that. But I’m looking forward to seeing you at the next meeting so we can all finish up our current book. I hope you’re enjoying it.”
“Oh yes. It’s been super interesting. I’ve already finished it. Got to the point of no return,” Janice said smugly. It wasn’t a big surprise that she’d finished early. Janice was a quick reader anyway.
“Nice job, Janice. No spoilers.” It was East who reminded her, but Marge gave him a grateful look. I knew for a fact that East had already finished listening to it. “I’ve been busy lately and haven’t had a chance to finish it yet,” he fibbed.
“Better hop to it, Holt. Your girl waits for nobody,” Janice chuckled as she accepted her slice of cake from Mia before she and Marge headed to their table.
Sage gave a little laugh. “She’s not wrong. You are an impatient thing.”
“That is true,” East whispered as I went by. I could practically feel the blush creeping over my cheeks, and I stepped back behind the counter to find something to keep busy with.
“I really loved the selection this month, and your costume was to die for. The victory rolls and the tea dress,” Mia sighed dramatically. “I especially loved the whole drama bit you did with that thrifted adding machine. Can’t believe you managed to dig that up.”
Sage nodded. “That was super cool. You did look gorg.”
It had been a lot of fun creating the drama and lighting.
It was almost like putting on a small theater show to reveal the books each month.
I had East help me set up the last one, and he was the one who found the old adding machine that I hunched over and “typed” on, making it look almost like an Enigma machine that I used to silently pull out pre-printed messages for each person, showing the book title.
East leaned back in his chair, his eyes gentle as he watched me banter with them.
It felt like life was settling into place again.
Of course, I had to think about Wade talking to me later.
There was still the other shoe that felt like it was about to drop.
I knew another blow was coming. East had asked if I wanted to talk to Milton, and my gut reaction was ‘no’.
I wanted nothing to do with him except for Wade to figure out why he was here.
He was nothing to me. Resolution was what I needed.