Chapter 17
JANE? WAKE UP.” A faint voice entered my dream before I understood what was going on. A hand shook my shoulder, slowly coaxing me awake. I blinked, my vision gradually focusing on Edith looming right over me. Concern colored every inch of her face.
Where was I?
The night before came back to me in flashes. The realization that I’d been locked inside. The person I’d been locked inside with. The drawn-out conversation we’d shared. The potentially romantic moments.
No, Jane. Stop.
Clearly, spending the night in the bookstore had actually happened. But had the rest of it been real? Or had it been nothing more than a strange dream? A mishmash of thoughts and images, simply explained by being back in Avila Falls and running into Noah earlier that night?
That might have made sense, but a glance down at the jacket draped across my body gave me the answer I was looking for.
Noah’s worn leather jacket covered me, the faint scent of his woodsy cologne lingering. So last night was real.
“Sweetheart, I am so sorry.” Edith’s voice dripped with guilt. Her wide eyes were filled with tears. My heart broke for her.
“It’s okay,” I muttered, the early morning coating my voice. I coughed and rubbed my eyes. What time was it?
“Noah told me everything. I just feel awful.” She’d spoken to Noah? Where was he? I looked around. “I can’t believe I locked you in here,” she continued. “My memory must be worse than I even realized.”
Edith’s humiliation was tangible. In all my years of knowing her, I’d never seen her so distraught, never seen those deep creases of distress between her brows. She wrung her hands like a little girl who’d gotten herself into trouble and was now facing her parents’ wrath.
More than anything else, though, I was sincerely worried for her. Would she still be able to run the bookstore? I stood up and embraced her.
“Edith, it’s okay. Really.”
“I just can’t believe that I—” she choked out. I pulled back.
“We were okay. No one was hurt, there were no emergencies . . . we survived just fine.” I put on my best comforting smile.
Her eyes softened. She nodded, blotting away a tear that had just fallen. “If you’re sure.”
“It really wasn’t too bad,” I assured her. “Where is Noah, by the way?”
“He left. He had to get to work.”
I nodded, a surge of disappointment rushing over me. It had been silly of me to think he’d have waited around. My gaze shifted to the jacket I clutched in my hands. How was I going to return it to him?
“But at least it was a handsome young man you were locked in with.” A little sparkle sprouted in Edith’s eyes.
“Edith.” My mouth dropped open. Heat splashed across my chest.
“Noah is a nice boy. Very good at Saint David’s on Sundays. And single, from what I understand.” She grinned impishly.
“All right, I should probably get going,” I said, brushing off her comment with a chuckle. Or, at least, pretending to.
“Of course, honey, don’t let me keep you any longer .
. . oh, and here.” She took my hand and delicately placed my phone in my palm.
I started down the aisle when a thought stopped me in my tracks: the entire reason I’d come to the bookstore was to get a present for my mom’s birthday.
And twelve hours later, I still didn’t have one.
“What is it, dear?” Edith asked.
“I just realized I still don’t have a gift for my mom.”
“Oh, please, take anything you want. Take her a book—and one of those darling monogram mugs. Free of charge. It’s the least I can do.”
A quick browse and ten minutes later, I left the bookstore with what I hoped would be just the right thing.
I stealthily pushed open the front door and glanced around. My parents were nowhere to be seen. Slowly, I crept inside, tiptoeing and avoiding the extra creaky floorboards that would announce my entrance.
I dashed down the hall and into my bedroom, my heart beating rapidly. I stifled a snort as it registered that this was what it felt like to sneak back into my parents’ house after being out all night—an experience I was having for the first time at nearly thirty years old instead of sixteen.
Noah’s jacket, evidence of the night before, was folded in my arms. I carefully placed it on my armchair. My mouth tugged into a small, shy smile. Maybe it was girlish, but I couldn’t help but feel a flutter in my stomach at the thought of having something of his in my possession.
I rifled through my bag and slipped on a pair of dark skinny jeans and a chunky maroon sweater. After freshening up in the bathroom and swiping on some makeup, I felt like a brand-new woman.
“Jane?” Dad’s voice called from the kitchen. I stepped out of the bathroom and down the hall.
“Morning, Dad.”
He sat in his usual spot at the table, accompanied by a steaming cup of coffee and the business and world news sections.
“Morning, honey. How’d you sleep?”
I hid my grin, savoring the feeling of having a little secret that I now shared with Noah. And Edith, of course.
“Not too bad.”
Mom rounded the corner, donning a wide, bright smile—the way she always looked on her birthday morning. Cathy Caldwell was a woman who loved to be celebrated.
“Happy birthday, Mom.”
I pulled out the gifts I’d hidden behind my back: a ceramic floral mug with a C painted across the front and a copy of A Secret Unveiled, the detective novel I’d been hunting for that had, hilariously, been in plain sight the whole time.
“Oh, sweetie, these are wonderful. Did your father tell you I’d been wanting to read this?” she beamed. For the first time, it seemed the book I’d picked out for Mom was a winner. I gave myself a mental pat on the back.
“You girls better get going,” Dad chimed in. “Your reservation is in ten minutes. And you know how Jack gets about holding tables.”
We threw on our coats and hurried out the door.
“I’ll text you when we’re done,” I called out to Dad, who stood at the door.
“Email would be better.”
“Email it is.” I shook my head and grinned. Some things truly never would change.