Page 122 of Book and Ladder

---

I picture his face, turned toward mine as we squatted in front of the pilot light. His expression when he stood on my porch, a coffee and croissant extended toward me. But then, just as quickly, I remember him sitting next to his dad in the last few town halls—a mini-me dead set on tearing down my bookshop.

“If Patrick’s not in the running, I’m team podcast host,” Winona says.

“We’ll see,” I tell her.

“Are you going to shower?” she asks.

“Why?”

“You have thatI haven’t showered or used dry shampoo in a few daysthing going for you.”

“For your information, I showered two … no, three … days ago.”

She cocks her head and raises a brow.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll shower tomorrow. And when I start work again, I’ll obviously be showering then.”

“I thought maybe you’d want to go to the town hall.” Her tone is cautious.

“Is that tonight?”

“Yep.”

“Nope.”

There’s a knock at the door. Winona stands without even flinching.

“Who is it?” I ask before she’s even at the door.

“Ummm.”

She opens it without checking. Carli walks in.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Nice greeting. Good to see you too?”

“Sorry. Hi. But what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to escort you to the town meeting.”

“Well, you both are wasting your time. I’m not going.”

“You know what they say about falling off a horse?” Carli says.

“Ouch?” I ask, knowing full well how the saying goes.

“Ha ha. I think you need to get back on and ride, Daisy.”

“That’s what I’m doing when I start a new job. It will be the first job I’ve ever held that isn’t at Moss and Maple. I think that’s enough getting back on a horse for one week.”

Winona’s head pivots from Carli to me to Carli like she’s watching a match at Wimbledon.

“I know,” Carli says as if she’s agreeing with my resignation, but her face is still pleading with me as if she’s holding a neon sign that saysBut …

“But what?” I ask.

“But I still think you need to show up tonight.”

---