Page 2 of Love Under Review

“If it doesn’t rain, we will.”

She folded her arms against her chest. “You said we could go to the park. I think we should go even in the rain.”

Raising both hands in surrender, Liam chuckled. “We’ll see what we can do.”

Cari hesitated, and Liam could tell the wheels were turning from his statement. “If we don’t go to the park, then you owe me a big bowl of ice cream.”

“Deal.” Liam pulled her into a hug, but she tore away and waved, disappearing into the crowd of children playing on the playground. Liam smiled, remembering when he’d do that with his own mother.

His thoughts turned to his mother as he walked back to the bookstore on Main Street. It was just south of the coffee shop, probably the best spot they could have hoped for as people would grab their beverage and walk over, looking for their latest read. It had been their mother’s dream to own one, as she loved reading or anything that had to do with books. In his mind’s eye, Liam could see her chatting away when he was as young as Cari, talking about how the characters in the book she was currently reading “moved” her.

It had been Kara’s idea to open the store in Sage Creek, and while Liam had been skeptical that a bookstore would survive in a small town like this, he’d put up the money to get it started and trusted his sister that it would all work out. Five months in, every day he was surprised by how much income they were making and the number of people he spoke to about this book or that.

Now, New York seemed light-years away, as if that had been a long dream he’d had and this was what his reality looked like. He was content for the most part, aside from worrying about his sister. But he wouldn’t have been able to help out like this, taking care of Cari and driving back and forth to Grand Junction for this appointment or that surgery, if he still lived across the country.

Opening the door to the bookstore, Liam flipped the lights on and walked to set his current book down on the counter. It was a mystery, one that many of the citizens of the town had already bought or borrowed. MK Malone was the hot topic for many, and Liam was pleasantly surprised when he’d finally broken down and started reading it.

He’d always thought cozy mysteries were for girls, as the main character was usually some snoopy woman who couldn’t mind her own business. But the way the author had crafted the characters and the plot so far, Liam had to smile several times throughout the first half as he realized the author had linked with points A, B, and C from the beginning of the book. Such nuances he’d overlooked until they’d begun to come into play. He found himself looking forward to seeing how it ended.

He walked in the direction of the small breakroom in back, past the rows of shelves and the small study desks along the wall, to place his leftovers in the fridge for lunch before he moved to the large event room. He’d ordered several new computers to go next to the row of desks, and with all the little trinkets he’d started stocking, he’d drawn in more and more customers.

When looking for a place to open up shop, Kara had the idea to find something big enough for the books and space large enough to allow people to talk about them. After looking throughout Sage Creek and finding nothing suitable at first, Liam asked the landlord if they could rent two units and place a few doors in the wall that divided them to allow passage between the two. He’d approved without hesitation, glad to rent out both.

The bell over the door chimed, and Liam walked back to the counter to see who it was. “Oh, hey, Tanner.” He walked over and shook the hand of the owner of the hardware store. They’d hung out quite a bit before his sister had taken a turn for the worse, but with the extra appointments and surgery, it had been a while since they’d gotten together. “What can I do for you today?”

“I’m just wondering if you have any books on sewing?”

Liam raised his eyebrow, curious as to why Tanner Hart would suddenly need something for sewing. He’d been the quarterback for his high school and had even gone to school on scholarship. Liam knew a lot of guys who could sew, but that was something he couldn’t picture Tanner doing. “Yeah, here in the Arts and Crafts section.”

They walked over to one of the back rows, and Liam waved across the selection that spanned several shelves.

Tanner’s eyes went wide, and he frowned. “It’s for my mother, so any advice you have would be great. She wanted one with embroidery. Is that when they make a whole bunch of x’s on the white fabric?”

Liam laughed and slapped Tanner on the back. “Yep. Okay, here at the bottom, we have a lot of those kinds of books, different themes along here. If there isn’t something you think she’d like, I can order one for you. When do you need it by?”

“Tomorrow,” Tanner said, a sheepish grin on his face. He bent down and looked over the books displayed there, pulling out one with fairytale designs. “I’m going to go with this one. If she doesn’t like it, I’ll send her here and you can order her something.”

Liam turned and walked back to the counter, realizing he hadn’t started the computer up just yet. “At least you thought about her the day before her birthday, right?”

“Yep.” Tanner chuckled and pulled out his wallet, extending a credit card toward Liam. “What are you doing in a couple of weeks? A bunch of us were going to head up into the mountains on side-by-sides the weekend after Colton gets back from his honeymoon, and we haven’t seen you in a while. You should come.”

Focusing on the computer, Liam nodded, swiping the card through the reader. “It sounds like a lot of fun, but I’ve got Cari.”

“No news yet about Kara?” Tanner’s lips drooped, making him look ten years older. He was one of a handful of people in town who truly knew what was going on with Liam’s sister. It was hard enough having his sister in the hospital, but in a town like this, Liam would get attacked by the questions and pity stares.

Aside from Tanner, Colton Maxfield, the builder of a new subdivision and one of the first people to welcome him in town, along with his fiancée, Becca, and two or three of the older ladies in town were about the only people who knew her condition. Becca owned the flower shop up Main Street, and the one time Liam had broken down and told Colton just after Kara’s diagnosis, she’d sent several bouquets to the hospital.

“I’ve just been waiting for a call that Kara has woken up. And any news on her counts. It might be too early to know too much, but I’ll take whatever information they’ll give me. I’m hoping she can come home next week, but who knows.”

Tanner signed his name on the touchscreen and replaced the pen. “What if I arrange for someone to watch Cari? Since it’s fall, we won’t have light for too long.”

The idea was tempting, but Liam wasn’t going to hold his breath. Tanner was a good-looking single guy. There wasn’t a chance he’d actually remember to talk to someone about babysitting Tanner’s niece once he walked out the door. At least, that would have been Liam’s mentality just a few years ago.

“I mean, if you can find someone, then I’ll see what I can do. It all depends on when Kara gets out and what she needs right now.”

Tanner smiled. “Awesome. I’ll get it all set up.” He waved goodbye as he headed out with the book in hand.

Liam grinned, thinking of the fun it would be to adventure into the hills behind Sage Creek, something not possible in Manhattan. But then he remembered his sister and niece and brought himself back to reality. There was no way he was going to let either one of them down now, when they needed him most. He’d already done that to his sister once, and he wasn’t about to repeat it.

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