Page 30 of Falling

I snorted. “Seth said I should hope I never have to deal with them.”

Booker laughed. “You know, I’ve never actually had to. This place was a bar when I bought it, so it was just business as usual when I took over.”

“What did you do before?” I asked. I hadn’t really thought of Booker having a before. He might’ve been born behind the bar here. I wouldn’t even have been all that surprised. It suited him.

“You’ll laugh,” he said.

I shrugged. “I might. Try me.”

“I used to be a lawyer,” Booker said.

I stared at him. Then blinked. Then stared some more.

I tried to picture him in a suit, but my imagination wasn’t quite up to the task. Booker looked like he’d been wearing a flannel shirt and jeans for the past almost-forty years.

“Wow,” I said, unable to hide my surprise. “There are so many other professions I would’ve guessed first.”

“Like?” Booker raised an eyebrow.

“I dunno.” I gestured helplessly. “I would’ve guessed kindergarten teacher or veterinarian before lawyer. You’re so sweet.”

Booker chuckled. “I didn’t say I was a good lawyer,” he said. “It’s kind of a family profession. My dad teaches law, Mark started out in law, too, my mom was a DA until she retired. That’s a⁠—”

“District attorney, I know,” I said, still in shock. “Wow.”

“Well, at least you’re not laughing,” Booker said. I might not have been laughing, but he was smiling so broadly it made his grey eyes sparkle.

“Do people normally laugh?”

Booker shrugged. “People normally don’t ask. Seth knows, and so does Andre. It’s probably come up with a few other people. But no one’s ever asked me outright before.”

“Research librarian,” I said, even as my heart sank at the thought that no one had cared to find out. “I like to know things.”

“I’d say I was an open book but that’d sail too close to being a pun for comfort,” Booker said, lips twitching. “You want breakfast before I take you home?”

“I thought we were going fishing?” I asked, frowning. I’d done so much research on local trout fishing. I’d been meaning to show up prepared.

I could never admit it to Evie, but I was even looking forward to it. What was the point of making such a huge life change if not to try new things?

“You…” Booker trailed off, blinking at me. “I… thought… I mean, you’re exhausted, and you really don’t have to. I was more or less kidding when I asked.”

“Oh.”

I might have liked to hide my disappointment, but I couldn’t. Who else was going to take me fishing?

“Did you want to?” Booker asked after a heartbeat, as though he couldn’t believe he was saying the words.

“Well… yeah,” I admitted. “I mean, it’s fine if it’s too much trouble. I just thought, umm. Could be a fun new experience? If you don’t hate the idea of having to teach me from absolutely zero knowledge?”

Booker’s smile—the one that lit up the whole room like the sun—came back with full force. Did people try to make him smile often? They should have. He had the most incredible smile. Not because his teeth were particularly straight or gleaming or his mouth was perfect or anything, but because it was so obvious he meant it when he smiled. That you’d earned it.

I liked earning it.

I liked Booker.

“I’d be honored,” he said. “Did you, uh. Wanna go home and change first, though?”

I shrugged, looking down at my third-favorite pair of wool pants. “My entire wardrobe looks more or less like this,” I said. “What you see is as outdoorsy as it gets.”