Page 34 of Bookworm
She liked dogs a lot, usually, as long as they’re not too excitable.
Verne pulled at the leash, panting and trying to get to her. “Verne,” Adam said, firmly. “Easy.”
That one command shifted Verne into a polite young pup. He sat down at the edge of the coffee table and patiently waited, tail wagging, as Jules cautiously made her way over to him, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger.
Nose to nose, they sniffed each other until Verne released a big sloppy kiss over her ear. Surprised, Jules shook off the kiss, then butted her head against Verne, chirping and snuggling him.
Adam smiled at me. “I think the coast is clear if you want to change.”
As we walked around downtown Hanover, I was charmed by its quaint storefronts and friendly population.
I sighed wistfully as the woman at the food truck handed me a foil wrapped egg and cheese sandwich and another coffee.
“Want me to top that off for you, too?” The woman asked.
“Top it off? You’ll basically have to fill it to the brim,” I laughed.
“You didn’t seriously finish thatentireYeti cup of coffee I brought you?” Adam gaped at me.
“No…” Holding up a finger, I tipped my head back and swallowed the remaining gulp. “NowI did.” I handed the woman my empty cup, which she quickly refilled and gave back to me.
Smiling, we resumed our stroll down the sidewalk of the cute little downtown area, stopping to let Verne sniff and do his business.
Living in the UK the last several years was nothing short of beautiful. Historic, reverent beauty. Every building, every cobbled stone street was laced with more history than Americans could ever imagine.
And I loved it. Truly, I did.
But I’d almost forgotten that I also lovedthis. I loved New England. I loved how small and sweet it was here. I loved that there wasn’t a bone-chilling dampness in the air.
“You missed it, didn’t you?” Adam asked, practically reading my mind as we strolled down the sidewalk.
“Yeah. There’s a lot I missed,” I admitted. “But there’s also a lot I miss about England.”
“Like what?”
“Everything over there is so old. It’s like being a miniature part of history just walking down the street. Every stone wall I touch, I wonder who touched it hundreds of years ago. The thought that maybe William Shakespeare touched the very wall I did makes me giddy. And I miss how chipper everyone is at the local pub every night. They know you by name. They shout hello when you come in. They challenge you to dart tournaments?—”
“They challengedyouto darts? Yikes.”
“Well, they learned that lesson the hard way,” I laughed. “After my stray dart hit the painting of the original pub owner right between the eyes, I was banned from playing darts in that pub ever again.”
Adam snorted with a little shake of his head. “Same ol’ Harper.”
It was no secret how bad I was at all bar games… darts, pool, air hockey, buck hunter. I sucked at all of them.
“So other than historicity and pubs—which, by the way, we’ve got here in New England, too— what else do you miss?” Adam asked.
“I miss my mom, my little brother, Duke. And my best friend, Daphne.”
He examined me as we took each careful step over the uneven brick sidewalk. “And what did you miss about here?”
I smiled. “The obvious… my dad. Addy. Coen, Cole, and Lacey, too of course. It’s not justthemI miss, though. I’m sad I missed so many of their milestones. I never saw Coen and Cole’s first steps. Or their preschool graduation. I missed out on Lacey starting to crawl.” I paused to take another sip of coffee. “But maybe most of all, more than any of that… I missed howlargethe coffees are here. I mean come on, look at this thing! It weighs more than Verne does!”
I grinned at Adam over the lip of the Yeti cup. “Verne weighs eighty pounds,” he said, voice dry despite the smile splayed on his full lips.
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. It weighs more than Jules does!”
Shaking his head, he let that one go. Because my cat easily weighed fifteen pounds. “They don’t have Starbucks and venti sizes in England?”
