Chapter Sixteen
“Wow. They keep a lot of copies in stock,” Kenzie said, running her fingertip over the spines. “Kowalski. Kowalski. Kowalski. And, oh, look, a whole nother shelf.”
“Okay, smart-ass,” he said, pretending to tug her away from the shelves of his uncle’s horror novels while she laughed. “He’s been writing books since before I was born, you know. That’s quite a head start.”
“Aww.” She fixed her face into an expression of mock sympathy as she patted his chest—and damn, the man had a very solid chest. “If it makes you feel better, I haven’t actually read any Joe Kowalski books. Horror’s not really my thing.”
“That does help, actually. But look at this one.” He plucked one of the titles from the shelf and handed it to her.
The book had a waterfall on the cover, shrouded in fog, with a very creepy shadow figure lurking in the trees. “This waterfall looks familiar.”
“Rob took that photo for Uncle Joe as inspiration while he worked, and they used it for the cover.”
“That’s so cool.” She ran her hand over the cover and then frowned at him. “They added the creepy guy after, though. Right?”
“Yeah.” He took the book and chuckled as he reshelved it.
“Though they managed to convince my cousin Cat—or second cousin or however that goes, but she’s my dad’s cousin’s daughter—that the camera captured it, and it was fun until she said she was never, ever going to northern New Hampshire again.
And this may come as a shock, but Kowalskis can be pretty stubborn, so they had to tell her the truth. ”
“I don’t blame her. I know I’ll remember that cover every time I go there for a while—or possibly for the rest of my life. So enough with the horror section. Let’s go find your books now.”
Even though she had no doubt Danny knew exactly where his books were shelved in the store, he didn’t lead the way.
Instead, he let her meander through the aisles.
They wouldn’t make it a few feet before one of them saw a book to give a closer look, or to share how much they enjoyed it and see if the other had read it.
Once she knew they were nearing the general fiction section where they’d find his books, she took a hard turn toward the romance section. Maybe it was a silly test, but she wanted to see how he reacted.
To her surprise, he said nothing and didn’t make any snarky comments. He browsed alongside her, occasionally pointing out a book or author that a member of his family enjoyed. There was a new release in a series she and Rhylee both enjoyed, so she grabbed a copy.
Danny offered to carry it for her, and by the time they reached the K section in the general fiction area, he was carrying four books—two each.
When she found the line of books with Dan Kowalski printed on the spine, she glanced at him to find his cheeks pink.
He shifted his weight, looking as though he’d like to sprint off in another direction.
“It’s great that they keep multiple copies of each book,” she said.
It was tempting to buy a new copy of Under Still Waters because hers would inevitably fall apart, but she got the impression that might make him uncomfortable.
And he’d probably try to get her to take a free copy from his stockpile of them.
“They have more in a display toward the front with other local authors, all of them signed.”
“Will you do a signing when the new book comes out?”
“Definitely. And no, you shouldn’t come. I’m very awkward when everybody in the room is looking at me, expecting me to say something profound.”
“Maybe I’ll sneak in the back of the crowd and you’ll never know I was there.”
“Crowd might be a bit of a stretch, but I always visit a few of the bookstores in New Hampshire, and I get enough of a turnout to make it worth their while. And my Aunt Terry always comes with me and plays assistant. She’s really good at talking with readers and guiding conversations.”
“Do you do book tours? Not that I really know much about them other than what I’ve seen on TV.”
He wrinkled his nose. “I did book festivals and stuff a lot earlier in my career. I did a big tour for my third book and hated it. I did smaller tours for my fourth and fifth, with most of the signings in New England and then a few big cities around the country.”
Kenzie tried to imagine it, but she had a hard time picturing Danny as anything other than…just Danny. To her, him being an author meant walks in the woods to solve plot problems and collections of empty coffee cups, but in reality, he had an entirely different life down here.
She had a million questions, but standing here in front of his books talking about his career clearly wasn’t his favorite thing, so she trailed her fingers down the spines a last time and then grinned.
“Let’s go look at the snarky coffee mugs and funny cards.”
They spent another hour roaming the store, laughing and sharing discoveries with each other.
There was a slight dustup at the register when Danny tried to pay for her purchases, but he eventually acquiesced and let her pay for her own books, and the funny coffee mug she bought for Rhylee’s birthday.
When Kenzie climbed into his truck, she relaxed into the comfortable seat with a sigh of relief. She was accustomed to spending her days on her feet, but she was usually wearing very supportive sneakers and not cute black boots.
“Are you hungry?” Danny asked once they’d both buckled up.
“Famished,” she said honestly. “Bookstore browsing is quite a workout, especially if your favorite authors end up alphabetically on the lower shelves.”
“Is there a restaurant you already know you like? Or did you scope any out online that you want to check out? Since we’re already in Manchester, we can get almost anything you’re in the mood for.”
Kenzie suspected he was imagining the two of them in an upscale restaurant. The kind with candles on the table and cloth napkins. A wine list. She didn’t love that idea, but she also knew he was trying to spoil her a little.
“Come on,” he cajoled. “I can see you want to say something.”
She knew he’d rather her have a good time than pretend for his sake, so she answered honestly. “Do you have a favorite pizza delivery place?”
“Of course. Who doesn’t?” When she gave him a wry smile, he winced. “Right. But yes, I have a favorite pizza place that delivers to my house. They visit almost as much as my family, honestly.”
“The only time food gets delivered to my house is if somebody died and the community thinks two people who own a restaurant need two dozen casseroles, or if a bunch of stuff in Aunt Karen’s freezer is nearing expiration and she doesn’t want to throw it away.
” He laughed, but she wasn’t kidding. “I know it’s not fancy, but I’d love to get a pizza delivered and eat on your back porch. ”
“That sounds perfect.” His smile made her want to reach over and crank the AC up a notch. “You’re not just my friend, Kenzie.”
Her heart stopped, and it took all of her self-control not to react to the words.
“An afternoon at the bookstore and then pizza on the back porch?” he continued. “You are my best friend.”
She laughed and slapped his arm. “You say that now, but we’ll see how you feel after we negotiate the toppings.”
* * *
The pizza topping negotiation had been brutal as Danny finally discovered the inevitable flaw in the almost-perfection that was Kenzie Pelletier.
She liked mushrooms on her pizza.
No, not just liked them. Insisted on them.
“While I might not be the resident expert on pizza delivery,” she said, “I do know you can get mushrooms on just half of the pizza.”
“Mushrooms are a fungus and you know what a fungus does? It spreads.” He held up his cell phone.
“Ask anybody in my family—except Aunt Keri, actually—and they’ll tell you that mushrooms are a fungus that spread to the other half.
They slide over under the cheese, and you think you’re safe and then—bam! —a mouthful of slimy fungus.”
“So what I’m hearing is that your aunt is a reasonable person?”
“Yes, but Aunt Keri’s a Kowalski by marriage, so—” He stopped, frowning.
“Wait, that didn’t come out right. Kowalskis are very reasonable people…
usually. Sometimes. We just don’t like mushrooms. So whenever the family’s together and we get pizza, she always gets a small one of her own so hers can’t infect the rest with fungus. ”
He had to wait while Kenzie lost the battle not to laugh at him. While mushrooms actually were a hard pass for him, he was deliberately being a little dramatic about it just because it amused her, so he was happy to keep it going.
“Okay, look,” she said, once her laughing fit passed. “It doesn’t make sense to get two pizza, even two small ones. I’ll personally inspect your half for rogue mushrooms.”
“I’ve heard that before.” He shook his head. “That’s the whole point of fungi. They get under the cheese.”
In the end, he ordered two small pizzas—one a meat lover’s and the other with sausage and mushrooms—and added an order of the cheesy garlic knots that were both too much and irresistible at the same time.
When he asked if she wanted him to add a salad to the order—something his mother always did—she laughed at him, helping restore some of the faith he’d lost in her during the mushroom debacle. There was no reason to involve lettuce in a pizza night.
They got the back porch ready while they waited for the pizza.
Danny moved the larger table from in front of the cushioned love seat to be within reach of the chairs.
Then he put his side table in between them to set their drinks on.
It also gave him a reason to move the chairs closer together when she wasn’t looking.
Paper plates and some napkins went on the coffee table, and he filled an insulated carafe with ice water. After checking with her, he opened a bottle of beer for each of them. Then he grabbed a knife in case they didn’t cut through the slices all the way, and the salt and pepper shakers.
When Kenzie’s phone chimed, he watched her pick it up from the table, and she sighed when she looked at the screen, but her mouth curved into a smile. After typing a response, she set it face down on the table.
“Rhylee,” she said, even though he hadn’t asked.
“If you didn’t respond, how much time do you think she’d let go by before she called 9-1-1?”
She laughed, shaking her head. “If she didn’t see the dots that I’m typing, she’d probably send a question mark demanding an answer before two minutes were up.
Then, a few minutes later, she’d call. If I didn’t answer, she’d start getting anxious.
Not answering a second call would have her texting Aunt Karen.
My aunt doesn’t really pay attention to true crime at all, so she’d assume I’m busy and talk Rhylee down. ”
“It’s good to have people watching out for you. But instead of involving your aunt, she could call the campground and make Rob text me.”
She frowned. “Okay, but if you’d put me in your padlocked garden shed, you would lie. Plus Rob would totally cover for you.”
Danny laughed, loving the reminder she could spot a plot hole so easily. “Hannah’s a wild card, though.”
“Hannah’s my friend. She’d want answers.”
“But she’s going to be my sister-in-law,” he pointed out. “Definitely a wild card.”
When the pizza arrived, he carried the boxes to the back porch and set them side by side. After opening the lids—making sure to give an exaggerated shudder at the sight of the mushrooms to make her laugh—he served them each a slice and settled into his chair.
Over the course of the meal, they talked about everything from their favorite songs in middle school—they did not like the same music—to their general worldviews, which thankfully aligned.
Danny had to field a text message from Rob, accusing him of stealing all the sticky notes, which he had not done.
He bought them in bulk, and the ones he bought had better sticking power.
Maybe he was a sticky note snob, but Danny didn’t use the ones Rob bought.
And Kenzie was betrayed by her fungus when a mushroom that had weaseled under the cheese fell and splashed pizza sauce on her sweater. He almost choked on the bite of garlic knot he’d just taken, and when she reached for him, concerned, more sauce fell onto her sweater.
He survived, though they both laughed so hard she had to put down her slice to dab at her eyes—and her sweater—with a napkin.
Once they were done, he closed the pizza boxes and stuck them in the fridge.
They’d demolished the garlic knots, which was good because the last time he’d gotten them, he’d ended up thinking about them instead of sleeping and then he finished them off at two in the morning. Not one of his healthier choices.
“Okay, I’m going to go change and try to rinse the worst of this out of my sweater,” Kenzie said when he returned with a refilled water carafe.
“I brought the water, but I’ll probably have another beer. Do you want one?”
“Sure. It’s a nice night to sit out here and relax.”
Once she’d gone upstairs, he wiped down the tables and put them back where they belonged.
Each of the chairs had a side table to set their bottles on.
After a moment of hesitation, he pushed the chairs a little closer to each other.
Then he had to move the side tables again because it was obvious the chairs had been moved.
He was being ridiculous, he told himself. It didn’t matter how close he sat to her because the night was going to end with him alone in his bed, staring at the ceiling and trying not to think about Kenzie being right across the hall.
She’d made it clear they were just friends, and he’d agreed to those conditions. It didn’t matter if his body ached with need or he had to keep something in his hands, whether a drink or his phone, at all times to stop himself from reaching for her.
He was going to keep his word.