Chapter 12 #2
“I can’t go back there.” The words come out flat. Final. “I can’t sleep there knowing someone broke in. Touched my things. Went through—“ My voice breaks.
Mateo’s hand finds mine. “You don’t have to. You’re staying with me as long as you need.”
“And you’ll build the shop again,” Jess says firmly.
Even if I can afford to fix this now, should I?
If the town turns against me and if Judith convinces everyone I’m too vile to be around, or that my writing makes me unfit to run a business here, I would have zero customers and zero support.
It’s a bookshop in a small town in a world where you can click on a computer and have a book at your door the next day.
I need community support to survive. Without it, Wildflower Books is just an empty building with my name on it.
Owen’s voice echoes through my head. Every insult and backhanded comment. The doubt creeps in. What if the damage isn’t just physical? What if the people who supported me before see the destruction and decide I’m not worth the trouble?
“Will I?” I look at Mateo. “I built my shop from nothing. I curated the romance section book by book. Five years of making this place mine, and someone tore through it in one night like none of it mattered. What if I open back up and no one buys from me? What if whoever destroyed it just destroys it again? What if this never stops?”
“It will stop,” Mateo says.
“You don’t know that.”
“No. But I know you.” His arm tightens around me. “And I know you’re not going to let them win.”
I want to believe him.
God, I want to believe him.
“How long will it take to fix everything?” I ask.
Dean and Mateo exchange another look.
“No. No more knowing looks between anyone here.” I point around the table. “For the next twenty-four hours, everyone just has to say what they know and not give each other looks.”
“At least two weeks,” Dean says. “Maybe three. Possibly a month. Between ordering materials, scheduling contractors, replacing inventory…”
“So the shop stays closed,” I say quietly.
“You don’t have to decide right now,” Mateo offers.
“No. It’s the right call.” I lean further into him, needing the solid warmth of him. “I can’t open the store when it has boarded windows and destroyed shelves. It’s not safe. And honestly...” I take a breath. “It gives me time to prepare.”
“Prepare for what?” Macy asks.
“This month’s town hall meeting in a week and a half, and whatever aftermath comes from it. If they want to debate whether I belong here, fine. Let’s debate.”
Jess glances at her phone, and her eyes go wide. “Holy shit.”
“What?” I ask. She doesn’t answer. Just stares at her screen. “Jess. What?”
She looks up at me. “You’re number one.”
“What?”
“On .” She turns her phone toward me. “Wildfire Summer is the number one bestseller in the entire store. Your first three novels are also in the top fifty. And you’re number one in Contemporary Romance, Small Town Romance, AND Romantic Comedy.”
Holy shit.
Number one.
Macy screams with excitement. The entire café turns to look again.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” she asks.
“I didn’t know. I turned off notifications,” I say. “I couldn’t handle seeing—“
“So you haven’t checked your sales?” Jess interrupts.
“No. I’ve been too scared to look.”
“Look. Right. Now.”
My hands shake as I pull out my phone, go to my KDP account, and navigate to my dashboard.
And then I just stare.
The numbers don’t make sense. They can’t be real.
Sales in the thousands. Page reads through the roof. Money I’ve never seen from my books before. I’ve made more in the last three days than I usually make in half a year.
“Oh my god,” I whisper.
“See?” Jess says. “They tried to silence you and made you more popular instead.”
“I hit number one the same day my shop got destroyed.” I can’t stop staring at the numbers. “How is that even—“
“Because people are furious about what is happening to you,” Macy says. “They’re buying your book to support you. And then reading it and loving it. I bet your presales for book two are through the roof.”
I glance up at Mateo. He’s watching me with pride.
“This money,” I say slowly. “These sales. It’s because of Sierra Rose Ridge. The real town inspired the fictional one.”
“People know. They’ll want to visit,” Jess adds. “They’ll want to see the place that inspired the book.”
The idea forms before I have a chance to discourage it. “What if I put some of this money back into the community? Fund more murals like Isabel’s. Support local businesses. Show them that my book isn’t something to be ashamed of, it’s a celebration of this town.”
“That’s your statement,” Jess says quietly.
I look at her. “What?”
“That’s what you say at the town hall, not just that you’re staying. That you’re investing. Your success is their success too.”
She’s right.
God, she’s right.
I look around the table at my friends. Jess, fierce and loyal. Macy, enthusiastic and brave. Dean, quiet and supportive.
And Mateo, who’s been calling me his treasure for five years. Who stopped me last night because he wanted me to be sure. Who sees every version of me—the scared one, the angry one, the one who almost ran—and stays anyway.
His hand finds mine under the table. Squeezes.
“I’m going to show them that my success doesn’t hurt this town. It helps it.” I squeeze Mateo’s hand back.
Jess raises her teacup. “Now that’s my girl.”
Macy raises her coffee. “To Sadie Pierce, number one bestselling author and Sierra Rose Ridge’s biggest champion.”
Dean lifts his water. “To not letting the bastards win.”
Mateo raises his coffee with his free hand, the other still holding mine. “To tesoro.”
Our eyes meet.
And for the first time since this whole thing blew up, I feel like maybe—just maybe—everything is going to be okay.