Page 10 of Bearly Taken

I laughed, the tension in my shoulders easing slightly. “I have nowhere else to go, Reed. Cub Lake is it for me.”

The admission worked, because he nodded.

He waited until I’d started my car, stepping back as I pulled out.

Relief coursed through me when I’d made a few turns, separating me from the man I had so many feelings for. It probably wouldn’t last, but I’d enjoy it while I could.

four

WREN

My mom metme at the shop with Parker.

I had always loved bookstores, so when our town’s only one closed during my freshman year of college, opening a new one had become my dream. Business classes seemed like an unnecessary expense, so I moved back to Cub Lake to start figuring things out.

It hadn’t been profitable at first, but I’d slowly made it work, and it wasn’t in the red anymore. I wasn’t making quite enough to quit working mornings at the diner or be comfortable paying rent on a nicer apartment, but I was getting there.

It had started as a normal bookstore, truthfully. But when I got pregnant, I talked to a lot of moms in town and realized that many of them had one thing in common:

They read books to get a break.

Whether they read dark, spicy mafia books or light, young adult fantasy, they needed that escape.

The problem?

Those adorable little munchkins exhausting them constantly.

So, my idea had really hatched.

A bookstore with a large playroom. Like the gym in town, but for your brain instead of your body. Perhaps not as physically healthy, but mentally? Necessary.

Though I didn’t make enough to cover paying someone to work full-time in the playroom, there were enough mothers and grandmothers who had volunteered a little of their time to make it work. If things kept going the way they were, in another year, I would be able to hire someone.

My mom went home after I thanked her profusely, and Parker ran around the bookstore like always as I got it ready for opening.

The first volunteer arrived with her two kids right on time, and we chatted for a few minutes before she headed to the playroom, holding Parker’s hand as they went.

Though I didn’t like watching him walk away, I was building the shop for him. For his future. I could make the money we would need to survive, to have a nice house, to really enjoy our life in a way I just couldn’t while working at the diner alone.

So, the sacrifice was worth it.

Or itwouldbe worth it, eventually.

I stepped into the playroom for a minute to watch Parker devour his PB&J sandwich and checked my phone for the first time in a few hours.

There were messages from both Reed and Callie.

Callie

Well?

Me

He’s still here. Insisted on working at the diner with me. I had to agree to move into his house to buy myself some space for him

Callie

WHAT?

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