Page 10 of Call It Serendipity

“Hi, Lucy,” he says through that stunning smile of his.

“Hi.” I manage a nervous smile in return.

“Not to press my luck, but would you happen to have any free time now that this meeting is over?”

“I guess that depends,” I reply, aiming for breezy. Flirting isn’t something I do often or am any good at. But I hope I don’t sound as rusty as I feel.

When his smile doesn’t dim, I wonder if I’m doing alright. “Name your conditions.”

“Well—”

“Ah, Mr. Carpenter, glad you were able to join us and learn about the town’s concerns,” I hear Garrison say from somewhere behind me. But then I notice Jake is lifting his attention to follow the conversation as well.

And to my surprise, he’s replying.

“I don’t take these opportunities lightly,” he says back to the village trustee.

A shiver skates across my skin, and my legs itch to flee as I look at the stranger before me with fresh eyes. “You’re… you’re from the Carpenter Collection.”

His expression seems pained when he drops his dark gaze back to me and says, “Please don’t run away again. Just give me a chance.”

“Why should I?”

Jake flinches at my question, but he doesn’t sour. “One drink. If I can’t convince you to keep talking to me after one drink, I’ll leave you be—no matter how many times the universe seems to throw us together.”

“I’m not going to get a drink with you,” I say, noticing the way Garrison is still hovering on the edge of our conversation. I don’t necessarily want to have a dramatic moment around my old principal. What I want is to get the hell out of here.

“It’s nothing personal,” I say weakly, avoiding his eyes. “But it’s just not a good idea to go out with…”

I don’t finish the thought in case the remnants of the town crowd hear. Instead, I glance around the room and slowly take a step towards the door.

Jake takes a cautious step with me, as if testing the waters. “The enemy?” he guesses at the end of my sentence.

“You said it, not me.”

I take another few steps and he follows until we reach the front doors. They’re propped open, revealing a crisp, starry evening. Suddenly, I want nothing more than to disappear into it. To run away from this confusing jumble in my chest.

“Is this going to be it then?” he asks, looking a little more than forlorn. For some reason it sends a fresh pang through that jumble.

“Maybe. I guess it depends on how much you really trust your own serendipity theory.”

Before I hurry down the stairs and away from Ellicottville’s biggest enemy, I swear I catch his mouth turn up into a smile.

7

Itry to spend the rest of the week thinking about anything other than that fateful town forum. For the most part, I fail.

How did your little chat with Jake go? Claire had been waiting eagerly to ask the second we were both home. I didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth, or maybe I wasn’t ready to admit it to myself yet.

The cute guy that saved me from a terrible fate had purchased the vacant brewery with the intention of crushing all the local rental homes in town. Some doomed fate I must have earned if this is what it brought me.

Instead, I had told her it was interrupted before anything eventful could happen. She had been disappointed but hopeful that I’d see him again.

Little did she know, it would be only days later.

At first, I don’t notice him coming down the sidewalk toward me. I stayed later than usual at the shelter tonight, and my walk has been spent watching only the few feet in front of me with each step for home. But then he drifts under the hazy glow of the streetlamp, his face lighting up as our eyes lock.

“Lucy, hi,” he greets me with a tinge of hope lifting his voice.