Page 176 of Worth the Trip

“You keep doing that, the book staying theoretical.”

“You started kissing me.”

“You called me baby.”

“That defense is becoming unreliable.”

“Still persuasive.”

Nolani laughed and climbed off my lap before I could reconsider letting her.

She opened the bag and took out the novel.

Her thumb moved across the cover.

“You picked this because she owns a bakery?”

“Struggling bakery. Your operation successful. Important distinction.”

“She has difficulty accepting help.”

“Coincidence.”

“And learns joy doesn’t have to be earned.”

“Universal theme.”

She looked at me over the book.

“You absolutely chose this to make a point.”

“I chose it because the writing sounded like you. And the woman argues with a man for eleven lines, then expects him to buy her coffee.”

“That does sound familiar.”

“She got less restraint.”

“I have restraint?”

“Comparatively.”

Nolani opened it to the first page.

I touched the bottom edge.

“Read it out loud.”

“Why?”

“I wanna hear what you hear.”

That surprised her.

Good.

She shifted beside me, cleared her throat like she was about to address a classroom, and started.

Her voice changed when she read. Slower. More deliberate. She gave good sentences room to breathe without making a production out of them. I watched the story move across her face and understood why books had claimed so much space in her life.