Page 60 of The Huckleberry Bookshop

“A crusty bastard like you will never win over a sweetheart like Jenny.” He grinned, waiting for Dylan to turn around and give him a one-finger salute. The man didn’t disappoint.

Mullens let himself back into the store with the folded-up sign.

Earlier, Athena and Meddy’s parents had been by the shop, their mother in a wheelchair. Now just their dad had returned, and was loading up boxes of what looked like dishes.

“I think they’re closing up, son,” Mr. Gavras said, his kind eyes the same deep hazel as Athena’s.

“Thanks. Just seeing if Tina needs anything.” His focus locked on the woman with the wavy brown hair.

“Athena,” the older man corrected, darting a look at his daughter, who was hunched over some books and papers at the counter.

“Right. Sorry.” Still cradling the puppy in his shirt, he leaned the sign against his leg and held out his free hand. “I’m Mullens.”

Her dad gave him an apologetic look and shifted the box in his arms.

“Right! Sorry. Hands full.” He inhaled, trying to calm himself and his sudden nerves. “Let me get the door.” He ditched the sign and strode over, pushing open the door with one hand while supporting the puppy with the other.

“What have you got there?” Mr. Gavras asked, eyeing the squirming mass under the fabric while he passed.

“Apparently I got— Uh, it’s a stray. Brant Wylder asked me to take care of it. But I haven’t seen him around lately, so…I’m not sure what to do with it.”

Mr. Gavras’s smile widened knowingly.

“Did I inadvertently adopt a puppy?”

The man shrugged, giving him a look that was way too innocent.

If he had adopted the pup, could he even buy it food this late at night? A leash? A collar? Chew toys? What else did a puppy need? A bed? It could sleep on his—if it wasn’t too high for the little guy to jump up onto.

Mullens followed Athena’s dad to the car waiting on the street, then opened the hatch for him so he could set the boxes in the trunk. “Anything else to come out?”

“No, this is all.” The man glanced back at the shop where his daughters were still working. He stretched out his hand for Mullens to shake. “Thank you, Chad.”

His first name hit him hard in the chest. Unable to speak, Mullens nodded, gave a firm shake, then returned to the bookstore on wooden legs.

Chad.

Why did Athena’s dad know his first name? Did he follow hockey? Mullens somehow doubted that. But even if he did, the sports announcers always called him by his last name.

He paused inside the warm building filled with the scents of new books, coffee and pastries, wondering what had been said about him within the confines of the Gavras family. And if he was already in, or already out.

Athena looked up, large dark plastic circles framing her eyes at a haphazard angle.

She wore glasses. Gigantic frames that were way too big for her face.

They were perfect.

He longed to straighten them, and found himself moving closer, unable to look away as she blinked up at him from the pages of the book she was skimming, as if momentarily lost between two worlds. She was undeniably adorable.

As she pulled herself back to reality, closing the book and adding it to a stack beside her, Mullens could see into her like a window. Her hopes, her dreams. Her seriousness and pain were temporarily absent, and it was then that he knew Athena Gavras was the woman who finally had the power to break his heart.

Athena blinked and pushed away the books and paperwork stacked in front of her, watching as Chad grabbed a stool from behind her counter and set it across from her. The shop was closed, but he was still here. He’d hung around all evening, then helped with the cleanup without being asked. He wasn’t going away despite the way she’d tried to shut things down between them at his apartment after their kiss. Kisses.

She wasn’t sure if she loved his stubbornness or resented it.

It hadn’t helped, seeing him use sign language to read stories to a child, while carrying that sad excuse for a puppy around in his sweatshirt. Her stupid ovaries were making their seahorse argument again.

Chad untucked his shirt, carefully transferring the small, sleeping puppy into the crook of his arm. He set Clem’s basket on the floor, tucking the dog inside.

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