YOU were looking for? For yourself and not someone else?
Me:
Evangeline:
Ok, now you definitely have to spill.
Me:
It’s nothing. Levi just left me a little clue to something that is on a specific page of that book.
Martha:
How very Dash and Lily-esque of him.
Evangeline:
I love that Netflix miniseries!
Martha:
The books are better.
Evangeline:
Is this some sort of romantic scavenger hunt involving book quotes that the hunky mechanic has sent you on???
Me:
Who said anything about him being hunky?
Martha:
She’s hung up her official matchmaking hat, but the woman is still a hopeless romantic.??
Evangeline:
And unless you send a pic to prove otherwise, I’m imagining that man as Hayley hero material.
Evangeline doesn’t know how close to nail-on-the-head she is with her assessment. Levi is the kind of man who can stop a woman’s heart in her chest and then send a bolt of electricity to get it started again with a single brooding look.
Could Evangeline also be right about Levi’s postscript clue being of a romantic nature? He said it led to a hidden treasure, but what kind of treasure is he talking about? What does line 12 on page 286 say?
I could ask him. Straight out. Just march right up to him and ask him what it says. But that would spoil the game.
I refold his letter and place it back in the envelope, a thrill of possibility buzzing through my body and overriding any caution. I think maybe it’s time I make my own move on this little gameboard between us.
17
Iwish I could say that I have a plan as I make my way out of my room, but I’ve never been good at chess or other strategy-type games that require thinking multiple steps ahead, so I’m just going to wing it and hope that I stumble into a checkmate. The king I’m trying to capture being Levi, obviously, and a confession that I’m not the only one feeling this attraction between us.
Intuition,don’t fail me now.
I make my way down the hall, pausing at the closed laundry room door. Tiny little meows sound from the other side of the pressed particle board, and I crack the door open and peek my head inside. No Levi. I close the door with a quiet snick and pad the rest of the way into the living room on socked feet.
Levi’s not here either, but my gaze zeroes in on the bookcases lining the far wall. My heart makes a sudden shove against my ribs. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? Of course Levi would have a copy ofOfRoses and Lilies. Even if he’d had a specific quote memorized, he’d have had to look up the passage to see what page and line it was on to mark it in the postscript of his letter.
I hurry to one end of the bookcase and start scanning everytitle written along every spine. I’m halfway through the second bookcase when a throat clears behind me.
