Page 61 of The Huckleberry Bookshop

“This okay?” he asked.

Athena shrugged. The cat would probably hate having the smell of an unknown dog in his bed, but what was she going to do? Kick out the poor puppy or make Chad hold it even longer? Brant Wylder was up to something with this latest rescue. He didn’t let just anyone babysit one of his animals. And where had the man vanished to?

Something was definitely up, and him leaving an animal with Chad was a bold statement. A statement of approval.

“So you know Brant?” she asked.

Chad shrugged. “Not especially.” He’d returned to his stool, his elbows resting on the counter as he leaned forward.

“I’m heading out,” Meddy called as she came through from the kitchen. “I have the dishwasher running, and I’ll come in early to deal with the rest of the kitchen, as well as bake another few dozen muffins.” She peered through the glass at the back of the treats case and frowned at the crumbs. Everything they’d made had been bought and eaten.

“We did good today.” Athena stood, wrapping her sister in a hug.

“Just the beginning.”

“Sure is.”

Athena had believed that she’d eventually back away from the store and let Meddy buy her out. But the way they were tag-teaming problems, she kind of loved being so ensconced in her sister’s life again—and in the community, too.

“See ya, cutie.” Meddy winked at Chad.

He lifted a finger and angled his head downward as though tipping an invisible hat. “Later, Medusa.”

She laughed at the nickname and headed for the back exit, and the outside stairs to her apartment above.

Chad slid off his stool again while Athena returned to hers, her feet throbbing after the number of steps she’d taken that day. She watched him cross the room, his strong body full of ease. He headed to the children’s section, scooping up the stack of books he’d selected earlier. He set them in front of Athena, his credit card sitting on top.

“I donate money, my time, but also books.” He reclaimed his spot on the stool across from her. His focus felt intense and, as a distraction from the heat pouring through her and the dwindling oxygen in her lungs, Athena started ringing up his purchases.

This irresistible hunk was one big mystery, wasn’t he?

“The books go to an organization that helped my sister,” he said, and Athena let that information settle inside her.

“That’s why you know sign language?” She waited for the receipt to print, curious what more he’d reveal, if anything.

He nodded.

She thought for a moment, then decided to take a risk and walk through the conversational door he’d opened. “And she’s why you know your way around a bobby pin and earrings? You helped out a lot?”

He nodded again.

“And why you carried that man in the wheelchair into the Dragons’ headquarters when the ramp was out—you knew he was stuck?”

That one wasn’t huge, though. Anyone half present would have put two and two together. It was more the way he’d taken charge, knowing he could carry the chair, man and all, up the stairs.

Chad nodded again, not looking up. She stilled, afraid to make a wrong move and have him close down or shut her out.

“She was a bit vain,” he finally said in a low voice. “I used to tease her and call her Vainy. She loved it.” His smile was wistful, etched with love but also pain.

“When did she pass away?”

His focus went to his thumbs, which did a little dance around each other as he hunched forward. “I was thirteen.”

“That must’ve been hard.”

He inhaled sharply, clearly uncomfortable, and Athena silently prayed that he’d trust her with his pain and stay with the thread of conversation. Open up to her.

“How did your family cope?”

---