Page 3 of Love Under Review

Checking the time, he moved into action, knowing the weekly book club would be arriving in a couple of hours. It had become a tradition for a group of over a dozen ladies to stop in once a week to talk about the books they were reading. It was great for business and even for a good chuckle when Liam managed to catch snippets of the conversation.

When the seats were all arranged in the large room they used for bigger gatherings, Liam settled behind the counter. He settled in with the MK Malone book, intrigued as the clues came in for who had killed the town chef.

Things were quiet for the next two hours, and as he finished the last page, it felt like he’d just stepped out of a new world and into his regular one. A thought somewhat depressing.

He looked at the back cover, reading about the author, but the biography was only two sentences long and no picture.

The thought crossed his mind that he should contact the author to do a reading and sign some books in the next month. They’d had two other authors visit since the store opened, which always helped sales go up as people flooded into the store. The book club wasn’t the only group of people reading the cozy mysteries, and he couldn’t keep the books in stock. That could be a big enough pull to draw the author into their sleepy little town.

The bell rang on the other side of the wall, and Liam jotted on a sticky note to find contact info on the author when he finished helping the book group settle in.

“Ah, Liam, dear. It’s so good to see you again. How is your sister?” Mrs. McCready asked. She was a small woman, her hair looking like a snowfall around her shoulders. Reaching up, she patted his cheek as though he were still a small child. She reminded him of the grandparents he’d never met, having lost them when he was much younger than Cari.

Liam gave her a small smile. “I’m just waiting to hear how things turned out with the tests.” He waved his cell phone as if it would summon the call from the hospital right then.

Mrs. McCready gasped. “I hope it was all clear. That would be such a wonderful miracle. Gordon has some more tests on Tuesday, so we’ll be heading to Grand Junction then. Do let me know if I can bring Kara anything, will you?”

The McCreadys had found out about Kara’s condition by accident, as Mr. McCready was taken in after some abnormalities in his bloodwork. Liam and Kara had just walked out of the doctor’s office located in the hospital after getting the news of her condition, and the McCreadys had been there. In a way, it was comforting to share the burden with a couple who’d already felt like family since he’d moved to Sage Creek.

“Yes, ma’am.” Liam moved to pick up a piece of paper on the floor. “Is there anything else I can get for you before your party arrives?”

“I don’t think so, dear. Thank you for letting us use this room, as always. It’s better than all of us trying to fit into each other’s houses, I’ll tell you that!”

With a smile, Liam said, “Anytime. I’ll just be in the back if you need me. Today’s shipment should be arriving at any moment, and I’ll have a few extra copies of the book you’re going to discuss.”

He turned and strode away, hoping to avoid the rest of the ladies in the group as the door opened and the noise level increased. While they were all very nice, he could see them calculating ways to introduce him to the single ladies in their lives, and that wasn’t something he wanted or needed right now. He was focused on taking care of his niece and keeping the bookstore running, in the hope that his sister would be back in his life, bossing him around like she always had. Relationships were sticky, and he’d learned enough from his last one to know he was better off making his own decisions.

Life was easier without the worry of losing someone he loved. He’d already done that three times, with his parents and his brother-in-law. He just hoped it wouldn’t happen with Kara too.

Chapter 2

Danielle Holloway gripped the steering wheel to her crossover SUV, willing the rollercoaster of emotions to even out a bit. She entered the narrow pass that led to Sage Creek, grateful to be at the end of her trip, but the feeling of failure increased with every mile traveled.

She was never supposed to reside in Sage Creek for longer than a few days, not since graduation from high school at least. That had been the pact she’d made to herself the moment she left for college eight years ago. Now, with a pink slip sitting in her briefcase on the seat next to her and her name muddied by newspaper ink, it was a sign that unless a miracle occurred, she’d have to stay in her hometown much longer than that.

Her original plan was to come back that weekend to see her best friend, Becca, and Colton get married, spend her obligatory few days, and then head out, jetting off to her next assignment as a media correspondent for one of the larger news outlets in Los Angeles. But word about her presence at a local protest against the city government had been documented through pictures and a giant headline screaming her name two days ago. Even with the near begging Danielle had done Monday morning, the answer her boss gave her was that she couldn’t report the news if she was the news.

She’d been up for a promotion, one that was a long time coming, which made the dismissal hurt that much more. But she’d built her career from nothing, and she could do it again if she needed to. At the moment, though, no news station or paper in California would hire her. Maybe if she found somewhere near her hometown but not actually in Sage Creek, she’d have more luck.

Tapping the brake as she rolled down Main Street, she glanced at the shops as she passed, her stomach plummeting as she thought about her bleak future. Her best friend had only been able to leave this town and the county four months ago for the first time in years, but the moment Danielle graduated, she’d done everything she could to get out, feeling claustrophobic.

The fact that Becca’s wedding was only four weeks after the proposal still sent her mind into spirals, but that was because it would be a miracle if Danielle ever got married. She didn’t doubt that Becca and Colton were perfect for each other.

She passed Mill Street, then Canyon, and finally turned onto Bryce Street, one of the last roads before the town hit the bottom of the mountains. Velda Gibson stood outside, watering her flowers, and Danielle waved, plastering on a fake smile as she pressed the gas down a bit more. The older woman had always kept an eye out for Becca, usually notifying Danielle when she needed to reach out to her friend from whatever hotel or resort she was staying in around the world. But today was not a day when she wanted to chance the intuition of the diner owner. She had to save all the energy she had to put on a façade in front of her mother.

The light blue house at the end of the street seemed smaller than Danielle remembered. The last time she’d been in Sage Creek was when she came home from an assignment in Europe and drove Becca to Denver to confess her feelings for Colton, her now-fiancé and, as of this weekend, her would-be husband.

As Danielle pulled into the driveway, she focused on her breathing. Short, slow breaths would help her keep her calm for however this conversation would go.

Pulling on the handle to release the door of her car, Danielle got out and swiped at the crumbs from her cheese crackers on her black slacks. Taking a deep breath, she wondered if she should tell her mother now that she was jobless, or if it was best to wait until after the wedding. She didn’t need the pity stares from the whole town and Becca worrying more about what Danielle was going to do with her life rather than focusing on her wedding.

She still held a thread of hope that one of the other agencies would call her, offering her the position of a lifetime. After winning several awards, she hadn’t expected it to be so hard to find another job. But it was as if the chief editors looked at her as a menace now instead of understanding the facts about why she’d been at the protest. All anyone saw was the sign she held in her hand, telling people to talk to their leaders about chemical waste being dumped in the Santa Ana River.

It was going to take longer than a few days to empty her apartment in Anaheim, which was why she’d only packed one suitcase.

Squaring her shoulders to take in the older Victorian home she’d been raised in, Danielle let out a breath. Home again.

“You can do this,” she said, walking up to the front door. “This isn’t forever. You’ll get another job and be off traveling the world once again.” The pep talk relaxed her, helping her thoughts to line up instead of running around like children after eating candy.

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