Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
“Of course.” She still had that little all-knowing smile.
Finally at the car, I made a frustrated noise. “We better head out. I want to get you home. I don’t want to be late.”
“Can’t have that.” She laughed, but she did back off her teasing as I drove to her neighborhood.
She’d offered to make her usual walk home, but I’d noticed her moving a little stiffly earlier and wasn’t about to let her push herself too far. The neighborhood where she’d grown up was full of historic family homes, many over a century old, and the narrow streets lined with older trees added to the storybook appeal of the area. Naturally, when she’d inherited the house, she’d suggested we share it, but I’d been relieved to discover the two apartments over the store. I loved her more than life itself, but we each needed our space.
“Take care,” I said as I dropped her off in front of the house.
As I headed away from the city, the sky began to dim, and I drove slowly to make sure I didn’t miss any turns. Despite my best efforts, I was a few minutes later than I’d wanted to be when I pulled into the parking area by the farm stand. Finn was lounging on the white porch swing, looking like the cover of a country album in his loose jeans and another plaid shirt. His impressive muscles flexed as he strode over to me.
“You made it.”
“You thought I’d change my mind?” I hoped he hadn’t offered to do this simply to be nice. Maybe there was some sort of unspoken farm code, and I was supposed to have turned him down, not struck a bargain for shelves. My back tightened as we walked toward the store.
“Maybe.” Well, at least Finn was honest, even if it did nothing to help my growing unease. “I figured that you might have more exciting plans than an evening in my workshop.”
“No way.” My back eased, and I suppressed a laugh. There was little chance of me having a better offer. “Even in Manhattan, I was a bit of a homebody. If we didn’t have plans, I probably would have worked out, made some dinner, and curled up with my hot date.”
Finn’s eyebrows went up, and this time I couldn’t hold back my laugh as I held up the book. “Brought you a copy.”
“Hot date with a book?” Finn smiled so wide the corners of his eyes crinkled as he accepted the book. “You didn’t have to bring me more reading material. But thank you.” He glanced down at it. “It looks like a great collection.”
“Yes, I thought of you when Oz unpacked it,” I admitted as we passed the biggest of the barns, the one that had held the baby animals, and the greenhouses. I wasn’t precisely sure where he was taking me, but I was happy enough to follow him. “The best part of my job is first pick of the new arrivals.”
“So, bookselling is a new career?” Finn asked as we followed a gravel path up past the big farmhouse. “What did you do back in New York, anyway?”
“I’m an attorney. I was in-house counsel for a big auction house that specializes in rare items.”
“Rare items?” Finn squinted at me like he was trying to ascertain which parts of my outfit were designer. “Yeah, I can see you doing that. Was it fun for you?”
Funny, but I wasn’t sure if anyone had asked me that question before. “Yes, I guess it was. I liked it better than the law firm life they hired me away from. But then last year, they merged with another company. I worked long hours on the merger for months. In the end, though, they decided to keep the other company’s legal department.”
It was a brief summary of one of the major ways the prior year had been among the hardest of my life. I’d been counting on a promotion, not a pink slip and a severance package.
“Damn. That sucks.” Frowning, Finn paused by a large metal shed behind the house.
I wasn’t precisely sure what to do with his sympathy. It made my neck prickle.
“Well, at least it freed me to pursue my mom’s big dream here.” I tried to make my voice bright, but Finn kept right on frowning.
“Isn’t it your dream too?”
“Well. Sort of.” I was going to leave it at that, but something about the softness in Finn’s eyes made me more talkative. “We dreamed together for years, but it was one of those someday things. We’d say things like, ‘When we have our store…’ and laugh and laugh because she had the library, and I had my job. But then my position got eliminated, and she came into her inheritance when her sister passed away. Everything seemed to happen all at once.”