Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 93400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“Mom and Dad seem to be enjoying themselves,” Everly stated before taking a sip of her beer.
“They always did like this area of New Hampshire, remember?” I asked.
“I do remember,” she answered, a fond smile on her face as if a memory had sparked to life. “I loved our summer trips here.”
I nodded. “I did too.”
Everly turned and held out her hand. “You’ve danced with Greer nearly the entire night. Now she’s dancing with her brother, so dance with me and let’s catch up.”
I took her hand and led her to the dance floor. “Are you in DC for a while now?”
Everly looked up at me with her soft green eyes. “I hope so, but I can be called away at any time. It’d be nice to be somewhere warmer for a bit. Although, I was offered a teaching position with Boston University.”
“You’re kidding me?” I said, a feeling of pride and joy bubbling in my chest. “Everly, that’s amazing. Are you going to take it?”
“I don’t know. I love field research, and the idea of being stuck behind a desk doesn’t sound appealing…yet it does at the same time,” she answered before digging her teeth into her lip.
“You’d be close to Mom and Dad. That’s a good thing.”
She glanced around until she spotted the two of them. “That would be nice.”
“And only an hour and a half from me.”
“Well, New York City isn’t that close to Boston, Hudson.”
When I didn’t reply, she stopped dancing and looked up at me with the same expression my mother had given me earlier. “Wait, are you leaving New York City and moving back to Boston?”
“I don’t have any set plans just yet, but if things keep going as they are with Greer, I can see myself settling down in Boggy Creek.”
Everly’s eyes widened before she let a huge smile spread across her face. “Shut up! Hudson, it’s that serious? Already?”
“I don’t know how serious it is, but I do know I want to keep seeing her. I want to wake up every day and kiss her good morning, hold her in my arms and see her smile.” I laughed and shook my head. “Hell, I guess it is pretty serious.”
“Oh. My. Goodness. You’re in love. You’ve fallen in love with her, haven’t you?”
I searched the dance floor until I found Greer. “I think I have, little sis. I think I have.”
The rest of the evening felt like a blur. We danced, laughed, listened to stories my folks told about me and Everly, and had our fill of drinks. Bishop Harris showed up at one point, and I quickly saw a small competition form between Kyle and Bishop for my sister’s attention. Kyle didn’t have a thing to worry about since it seemed that Everly only had eyes for him and hardly even noticed poor Bishop. I didn’t feel too sorry for him, though; he had a stream of women trying to get his attention all night.
Greer and I danced to the band’s cover of a Garth Brooks’ song, and I spun her around in circles. I loved the way she laughed and looked at me with nothing but happiness in her eyes. The way her gaze made me feel was new for me. Knowing I was the one who made her light up made me want to do it every day for as long as I could. I even tried a bit of two-stepping with her. Kyle, of course, had to cut in and show me how it was done.
Now Greer leaned closer to me and said, “Kyle and Everly seem to have hit it off pretty well. Your dad was being sneaky by asking Kyle to come along.”
I laughed. “He was. I’m glad Kyle was at the house when we stopped by. Speaking of which, what’s going on with your building?”
Greer let out a long sigh and then looked up at me. “Kyle stopped by to tell me that someone contacted Aiden about doing work on a building on Main Street. The address he gave Aiden was for Turning Pages. I told Kyle that I think it’s all a misunderstanding and that there’s nothing to worry about.”
I nearly froze as I thought about the guy taking pictures outside of Greer’s bookstore. “I don’t think it’s a mistake, Greer. Remember the guy I told you about, the one taking pictures?”
I glanced back over at our table and motioned for us to go and sit down.
“Do you think they’re interested in purchasing my building?” Greer asked, worry filling her words.
I nodded slowly. “I do, Greer. I didn’t want to think that was the case, but now it seems like a real possibility.”
She let out a disbelieving laugh. “Well, it will never happen because Tom has agreed to sell me the building. It’s been our plan since before I even went to college.”