Page 20 of Make You Mine

“He was a stray, along with Nimbus, who is currently sleeping on the couch. They lived near the dumpsters at my old apartment. It took a while, but I forced them to love me, and now here we are.”

“I’ll add this to the list of reasons I like you more each time I talk to you.”

“You say sweet things.” I exhaled slowly, trying to gather my feelings and stuff them back somewhere safe.

As I watched Ren pet my cat, I realized even more that I should have paid closer attention to how they had always treated Richard. It felt as if they could read my inner doubts about him and were trying to warn me.

The bottom line is that I had to start trusting my instincts. And right now, my instincts were screaming that Ren was amazing, and there was nothing fake about how quickly I was beginning to like him.

Chapter6

Ren

Ileaned back in my chair, relaxed now that we had settled everything. I would have told her I was proud of how she had bounced back from her earlier upset, but I was afraid it might come off as condescending, so I didn’t and decided to ask her about the bookstore instead.

“Now, about the bookstore where we met. Is it the one on Sycamore? Petals and Prose? I noticed it the first time I drove into town. It looks amazing. Like it’s dusty and old and full of weird books.”

She nodded, and a nostalgic smile crossed her face. “That’s the one. My grandpa opened it ages ago. He’s a big reader and a poet as well. My sister, Cara, manages it for him. Our grandparents own several businesses besides the inn. They’re kind of like the entrepreneurs of Honeybrook Hollow.”

“I love that,” I said, genuinely impressed and intrigued. “How many sisters do you have?”

She sighed, and her eyes shifted to the side as if she were about to get into something scandalous. “Paige, plus three half-sisters. Cara and Lucy are the same age, but they have different mothers—you can figure out for yourself what happened there. And then there’s Eliza. Our dad is obviously a big, huge cheater. Hence, my totally unhinged reaction to Richard cheating on me and his efforts to control my reaction to it and keep Cody from me. I can’t believe I fell for his bull crap?—”

I reached out to pat her hand in solidarity. “Not unhinged. Totally justifiable. My father was also a cheater. I have zero respect for men like him.”

She turned her hand palm up and laced her fingers with mine. “Paige told me that you are basically a crusader. Violet told me even more about your family, though not in a gossipy way; she adores you. I’m sorry about your dad. No kid deserves to grow up the way you did.”

I nodded, feeling a familiar pang of anger.

My father was abusive—a gambler and a cheat. He was always coming and going. When he was gone, we could be ourselves and breathe. But he always came back when he needed money or a place to crash. He kept that up for years until I was old enough and strong enough to make him stay away for good. He died about ten years ago, and he was not missed.

“It’s my mission to help any woman stuck with men like my father. It’s Jake’s, too.”

“Now, that I love,” she said, her eyes lighting up in admiration. “And that’s what Lyla’s Place is for—to honor your mom. Let me know if there's anything I can do. I would love to volunteer, or maybe I could organize a cupcake fundraising drive or something. It probably won’t bring in as much as the charity dinner donations, but I’d be happy to do it.”

“That would be amazing.Youare amazing.”

“Thank you. I think you are, too. I’m glad we are finally getting to know each other. We’ve been in the same orbit for a while now.”

“I’m glad too. I’m trying to slow down. That’s one of the reasons why I moved here. That, and to be closer to Jake and the rest of my family.”

“You needed to stop and smell the roses?”

I chuckled at the cliché. “Something like that.”

“I’m doing that too. That’s why I moved into this house. I need to learn to—I don’t know, relax or something. I’ve been working too much lately.”

“Exactly. I’ve never really taken the time to stop and appreciate the little things. Sometimes, I forget how important it is to just…pause. This is why Jake is making me take the rest of the week off. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”

Her grip on my hand tightened briefly, a silent affirmation that she understood me. She smiled softly, a gentle warmth spreading across her face as she released it and picked up her pen. “Well, I am actually growing roses on the side of the house. Feel free to stop and smell them anytime if you ever need to take a pause.”

“Thank you. I might take you up on that.” I cleared my throat and snapped out of the flirty haze we’d found ourselves in. “Am I holding you up? I know I stopped by unexpectedly.”

“Um, no.” She grinned at me with a shake of her head. “I’m the one who barged in on you first. And I didn’t even bring you any coffee. It’s all good. All I had to do today was work on plans for the bakery’s grand opening, but I’ve lost the motivation, if I’m being honest. Richard pretty much wrecked my day. I tried to let it go, but I’m still mad at him.”

“Would you like me to go with you to pick up your dog? I'm happy to help you out in any way I can. And I mean it. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“You're sweet, but no. I’m going to let it go for today and think it over. He wants me to have lunch with him after we take Cody to his vet appointment to talk things through. I’m going to text him and tell him I’ll go. He promised I could take Cody home with me after.”

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