“What size you need. And the brand. And the job.”
“Any size, any brand.”
“What are you tryin’ to fix?”
My life.At least the part that couldn’t stop being attracted to Olivia. “A faucet.”
“Okay, now we’re gettin’ somewhere. Follow me, Doc.”
He trailed Jasper and listened to the old man wax ineloquently but with knowledge and enthusiasm about wrenches. By the time he left, he’d purchased an entire wrench set he hadn’t known he needed. The old man possessed excellent sales skills. Kingston thanked him and went to his car. It was getting close to suppertime. He thought about stopping at the diner to grab a bite to eat and fulfill his promise to himself to support his family’s businesses. But he wasn’t hungry. He was unsettled.
He got into his car and turned on the engine. Instead of leaving, he sat lost in thought. The dance practice with Sunny had gone well. She was not only an excellent teacher but also an excellent partner, and he’d enjoyed himself. But he couldn’t get Olivia off his mind. And he knew the reasonwhy. The guilt and shame over how he’d treated her, and was still treating her, would stick around unless he did something about it. And it was past time he did.
Kingston put his car in Drive and headed to the library.
Chapter10
Olivia turned the Open sign on the front of the library door to Closed and walked back to the circulation desk, where she spied a stack of young-adult books on the return cart. She could wait until tomorrow for Flo or RaeAnne to put them back. It was closing time, after all. But working within the stated library hours was the one area of her life where she didn’t follow a firm schedule. And while returning books to the shelves wasn’t technically on her duty list, it wouldn’t take long to put a few back. Then she would visit Aunt Bea and check on her ankle. According to her aunt’s text, she was feeling “just fine,” but Olivia wanted to see for herself.
She pushed the cart to the YA section and started shelving the books.The Belle of the Ballhad a princess on the cover. Hall of Snow and Skyhad a female warrior decked out in a shimmering ice-blue cloak and armed with a bowand arrow.The Girl You Lovedhad a cartoon drawing of a teenager in a flowery dress holding a puppy. Cute. It had been a long time since Olivia had read any YA fiction, and she setHall of Snow and Skyto the side. It was the only book that didn’t appear to be a romance. She was staying away from those for a long while.
As she pushed the last novel on the cart,Forever Sophia—great, another romance—into its slot on the shelf, she heard knocking on the front doors. She stood and pushed the cart to the front desk, walked over to the entrance... and froze.
Kingston waved. Grinned. Pointed at the locked door.
She drew in a deep breath and took measured steps toward him, stopping a few feet from the door. “We’re closed.”
“I know.” His voice was slightly muffled, his grin less bright. “I wanted to talk to you. Can you let me in? Or I can wait until you’re ready to go.”
Olivia didn’t move.
“I won’t take up much of your time. Promise.”
Her gaze met his, and she saw the entreaty in his alluring blue eyes. But she’d been here before and fallen for his pleas. She wouldn’t be fooled this time. “I don’t want to talk to you.” She turned on her heel and walked away.
“Olivia...”
Ignore him.She walked back to her office, sat at her desk, and opened her laptop. The first assignment for her lit class popped up. She was almost finished, and she had a week before it was due, so there was no urgency to work on it. The last thing she wanted to think about was how the Industrial Revolution had influenced romanticism and classicism andhow both literary movements affected current contemporary works. Blech.
She began typing anyway, glancing at the clock every so often. After half an hour she looked over her progressand groaned. Four pages of nonsense. Her professor would think she’d had a stroke. She erased her work, stared at the blank screen, and tapped her fingers against her desk.Tap... tap... tap.
Forty minutes later she closed her laptop and turned off the office light. Surely Kingston was gone by now. After making her usual rounds to secure the library, she opened the back door and walked out, locking the door behind her. She glanced around the parking lot and was relieved that Kingston’s car wasn’t there. But when she approached her coupe, she saw a note tucked under one of the windshield wipers, the words written on a small square sheet of paper with the nonsensical name of a prescription medicine at the top.
Olivia,
I don’t blame you for not wanting to talk to me, but I hope you reconsider. I’m sorry for what I did to you. An apology note isn’t enough, though. I want to explain why. I also hope you’ll continue to take dance lessons. Don’t let me stand in the way of your fun.
When Anita opened her café, she gave me a key. If you change your mind about hearing me out, I’ll be waiting for you inside. Like I said, I won’t take up much of your time.
K
She crumpled the note in her hand. The Sunshine Café closed at six thirty every night except Sunday, when it was closed all day. She glanced at her watch. Six fifty-three.
Forget it. I’m not talking to him.He can sit there all night for all I care.
But as she started her car, she hesitated. He was offering her closure. She wasn’t interested in what he had to say, but she had plenty to tell him. And hopefully, if she got her anger off her chest, she could move on. She could be around Anita and not think twice about Kingston, the way she had most of her life. It would be easier to avoid him. And a little delicious to let him stew in his guilt—if he even had any.
A knot formed in her stomach. She stared at the back of the library as her car engine hummed. Finally she picked up her phone and texted her aunt.
