Page 14 of Honey Bee Library
I sucked in my breath before I blew it out. “The place I was renting burned down.”
Her eyes were wide again. “Why am I just hearing about this right now?”
I moved to lean my back against the nearby wall. I rested my left elbow on my right hand so I could pinch the bridge of my nose. “I didn’t want to stress you out. Plus, I was certain I would hear back from Uncle Doug.”
“Have you heard from him?”
I shook my head. “No.”
She took a step toward me, her gaze meeting mine. “Next time, tell me.” Her voice was low. “Your friends should know.”
I met her gaze and held it.Friends. It had been so long since I had true friends. Harold did all he could to isolate me from other people. When I finally had the strength to leave, my life consisted of Jasper and trying to survive. It felt good to hear her say we were friends. Harmony had truly saved me in so many ways.
“Okay.” I wanted to explain why I didn’t tell her, but I didn’t want to admit that if she had offered, and I’d accepted, I knew staying at her place would’ve stressed her out. On the flip side, I hadn’t wanted her to feel guilt-tripped into helping me, either.
After Harold, I’d learned that I had to pick and choose when I asked for help. It was only a matter of time before people would start to resent me, and that was the last thing I wanted from the people who were already helping me keep the diner afloat.
“So, what’s the plan for tonight?”
Her question pulled me from my thoughts. I glanced over at her.
“Are you going back to his place?”
My first instinct was to say,hell, no. There was so much about Cole that made me want to stay away from him. I didn’t like how much Jasper adored him. I didn’t like that he was the kind of male figure to my son that I could only dream Harold would be. And I didn’t like how Cole made me feel.
If I had half a brain cell, I would stay far,faraway from that man.
But for some reason, I couldn’t answer her. And then the kitchen door opened and Cole appeared, taking the opportunity.
“There you are,” he said.
There was a depth to his voice and a look in his eyes that made my skin warm and my heart pick up speed. I was ridiculous to react this way. He was looking for me, that was all. Those words didn’t mean what my body wanted them to.
Breia caught my gaze as she slunk back into the dining room. She mouthed,we’ll talk about this later, before she disappeared. I straightened and cleared my throat as I turned my attention back to Cole.
“Here I am,” I said in my best professional voice. “What’s up?”
“I have to…” His voice drifted off like he was weighing his words. I raised my eyebrows while I waited. “I have to leave during lunch for a few hours. Are you going to be okay here without me?”
That was the best news I’d heard all day. I wanted to tell him to take the rest of the day off, but I knew that might tip him off. And the last thing I wanted was for him to suspect something that I didn’t even understand.
“That’s fine. We can handle things here,” I said as I nodded, making sure I didn’t look too enthusiastic.
He eyed me and then blew out his breath. “Great. I’ll be back for the dinner rush.”
“Great,” I said.
He studied me for a moment more before he turned and headed deeper into the kitchen. Now alone, I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes. I took in a few cleansing breaths, gathered my wits, and straightened once more. Cole was leaving, which meant things were going to get easier around here. And that was exactly what I needed.
5
SABRINA
It had beena busy but fulfilling day. I spent most of the morning shadowing Isabelle. She showed me how to check books out, how to check books in, and we were even given the opportunity to issue someone a new library card. After lunch, things had slowed, and Isabelle seemed convinced that I could handle the front desk by myself while she went into her office to get some work done.
I felt anxious, manning the area that she’d just trained me on a few hours ago, but I was determined to be an asset, not a liability, to my new boss. If she had confidence that I could run the front desk, I was going to trust her.
Luckily, no one seemed to want to check out books, so the afternoon continued uneventfully. I was nose deep in the newest Ember Sage novel when I heard the front door open, and a tall, muscular man with shaggy brown hair, a loose-fitting tee, and fitted ripped jeans walked in.
