“Sounds fun.” Normally she would’ve loved joining in. Spending time with the women she’d gotten to know in Heart Falls was a blast, but there was this other commitment she’d been obsessing over. “I’ll have to take a rain check, though. I’m booked for tonight.”
“Okay. What’re you up to?”
Lisa was perpetually curious. There was absolutely no reason why Yvette couldn’t answer that question honestly and easily. “Going to the bookstore.”
Dammit. Her cheeks flamed. They had to be glowing red, especially considering the look Lisa gave her.
Yvette focused on Ollie, trying to ignore the question in Lisa’s eyes.
Lisa fought back the worst way possible.
She stayed quiet.
“I’m meeting Alex.” The words burst free, and Yvette sighed dramatically. “He gave me a Christmas calendar desk, and day one is books.”
Zoë shook the keys enthusiastically, and Ollie barked, neither of which was enough to distract Lisa or kill the highly interested smile crossing her face. “Really? He gave you…a calendar desk?”
“Like one of those countdown-to-Christmas things. Only bigger.” Awkward. She had to work on exactly what to call it. And what to call this thing going on between her and Alex.
“So, it’s a date?” Lisa held up a finger. “Please, don’t try to deny that, because you would not give up an evening with us to go to the bookstore.”
“Maybe I just love books,” Yvette said earnestly.
“Of course, you do, but you’re still seeing him.” Lisa reached over and patted her shoulder. “It’s okay. I like him.”
“It’s only a date,” Yvette said. Testing out the word felt…strange. “But I feel bad because I wanted to help plan the shower.”
Lisa waved a hand. “It’s not happening until early January. We’ll chat a couple days from now. That will give me a chance to find out exactly how things are going between you and Alex. A full report.”
“You’re annoying,” Yvette informed the other woman.
“So I’ve been told.” Lisa grinned harder.
Finishing up with Ollie didn’t take long. Lisa chatted easily about other matters, once again holding her little girl. Zoë laughed like a banshee as the puppy snuck in licks whenever possible.
The mood was light and happy, and Yvette floated out of the office with that contented sensation lingering in her veins.
She had a date. Alex was dating her. He’d made her a desk full of drawers filled with secret treasures, and tonight they were buying books.
It seemed magical. It seemed too good to be true.
It seemed too good to last.
Yvette shivered as the echo of thoughtless laughter rang in her memories. Her siblings, teasing. Taunting because she wasn’t like them. Because her goals were different.
She was different.
Why can’t you be more grounded, Yvette?
Jeez, kiddo, you need to keep both feet moving.
Silly girl, caught up chasing dreams. You’re not good enough for him.
Not good enough for us.
Not good enough.
A cold wind blew over her as she approached the small house where she’d made her home for the past two years, making her shiver.
Anger shot in.
Screw this. Yvette shoved the gloomy thoughts away. She had a date. The voices could go stuff themselves.
Fallen Books smelled like adventure and hope.
Alex snickered at his poetic turn of thought even as he relaxed back into the easy chair he’d claimed, tucked into a comfortable back nook of the store. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
Crisp new pages, the faintest hint of scented candles, and some kind of spicy tea tickled his senses. Pretty much the perfect bookstore aroma.
They should bottle it or infuse it into a candle or something.
He’d arrived at six thirty so he’d have plenty of time to look around and make some choices before Yvette joined him.
Day one. Within the hour, they’d have officially started what Alex hoped would be an epic journey.
The part he had to get settled in his gut was to stop hoping for everything to go smoothly the entire time. It was hard, though. The more time he’d had to plan, and the more items that he’d put on his list, the easier it had been to imagine coming out the other end with Yvette by his side.
Damn optimistic soul that he had. He really needed to speak to his foster parents. Maybe he should have had fewer positive experiences during his teen years—that might’ve kicked the cheerful positivity out of his core.
They hadn’t been perfect, but the one thing they had taught him was that success involved a lot of dreaming. Then it involved putting in the hard work.
So be it. The small moment of keep it real had just been kicked to the curb by one hundred percent holiday enthusiasm. Alex was going to do his damnedest to make sure when Christmas landed, he and Yvette were more than friends.
He flipped through one of his books, holiday carols playing in the background. Very appropriately, “I Know What I Want for Christmas” by George Strait came on, and Alex grinned as he hummed along.
“You understand this is a bookstore, not a library.”
The statement was said dryly with just a hint of warning as Sonora Fallen settled into the armchair next to his. The woman was striking in a solid, contented way. In her early sixties, she had long, silver-white hair she usually wore in a braid as she worked the animal rescue at the ranch where she lived. Tonight she’d left her hair down, and for a moment Alex could see hints of what she would’ve looked like in her early twenties. Bold, fearless, and brilliantly beautiful.
Alex laid a hand on the pile of books on the table between them. “I plan to purchase them all.”
“Huh.” She leaned back in her chair and folded her hands in her lap then examined him closely. “You were gone for months.”
“I was. I came back.”
Her gaze remained fixed on his face. Assessing—which was a little worrisome, because she was not only smart as a whip, she’d been around a few times when he hadn’t been at his best. Including one time when he’d managed to put both feet in his mouth regarding Yvette.
Sure enough, Sonora’s brow rose. “While you were gone, did you learn any manners?”
Interesting to discover he was sitting upright, no longer slouched and relaxed but as if he were on inspection. “Yes, ma’am.”
She made a sound that could possibly be called a snort before sliding his pile of books into her lap. Quietly, she examined each one before restacking it.
Alex had worked at the Silver Stone ranch for many years. Between that and his time at the fire hall, he’d gotten to know the foreman, Ashton Stewart, pretty well. Ashton, whom they were all convinced had a thing for the woman sitting next to him. Ashton was also in his sixties and usually said as little as possible about his relationship situation.
Which just made it all the more tempting for Alex to open the topic.
“I’ll be seeing Ashton later,” Alex informed Sonora.
Her hands remained steady as she turned pages. Her voice was cool as she answered, “I assumed you would.”
Alex was about to offer to say hello from her when the bell over the door rang, and Yvette walked in.