Page 3

His parents stood and smiled. His father clapped Reece on the back, giving his shoulder a squeeze.

“I’ll let your mom take it from here,” he said. “It’s almost time for the lunch crowd.”

“Lunch crowd?” Reece raised an eyebrow. “Do you really get one of those? I figured everyone still went over to the pub.”

Marlene waved a dismissive hand. “The pub is great if you have time to sit down. We get the people running errands or on a quick lunch break who just want to grab a sandwich and a drink.” She motioned toward one of the display cases. “The prepackaged sandwiches have been a big hit.”

He remembered her mentioning that during nearly every phone call they’d had about the shop, and yet somehow he still couldn’t quite picture it. When he glanced back at his mom, she was watching him expectantly.

“Looks great,” he said with a smile. “I’ll try one as soon as we finish the walk-through upstairs.”

“Wonderful!” Marlene beamed as she grabbed his hand. “Come on. I have a ton of ideas.”

Reece shot a quick glance at his father for help, but his dad just grinned and headed for the door.

“And don’t worry. I’m going to be working with you every step of the way!” she assured him.

He inwardly groaned.

That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.

two

The bell above the door chimed softly when Alesha stepped inside.

Warm air wrapped around her immediately, carrying the familiar scent of paper, coffee, and cinnamon. For a moment she simply stood there, taking it all in.

Behind the counter, her father was stacking a small display of books. She took a moment to observe him. After arriving late last night and then only having a quick breakfast with him this morning, it was nice to just embrace the fact that they were in the same room.

In some ways he still looked the same as he always did, but now she could see that he was a little grayer around the temples and moved a little slower. But otherwise, he was exactly the way she remembered.

He glanced up.

For a second, he just stared at her but then his smile grew, as if his brain had taken a moment to catch up with what his eyes were seeing.

“There’s my favorite girl,” he said, sliding the stack of books over. “It’s good to see you walking through the door of The Lit Loft. Makes my heart happy.”

Her chest tightened at the emotion in his voice.

“Hey, Dad.”

He slid a second pile of books over and walked around the counter. “Well,” he said, stopping a few feet away and looking her over with a mixture of surprise and quiet pride. “I feel like I can finally get a proper look at you. I was so darn tired last night, and I’m sorry about that. This is my busy season and I swore I was going to leave early so I could be fully rested when you arrived, and then…”

A small smile tugged at his mouth.

“I’m just so happy that you’re here,” he said warmly before giving her a hug. He smelled like the cinnamon in the air along with a hint of pine.

He smelled like home.

Tears stung her eyes for a moment as she hugged him back. When they broke apart, she took in all the festive decorations. “It looks amazing in here.”

Martin glanced around the shop, then back at her. “Place is still standing,” he said with a small shrug and a hint of pride. “Though I could probably use a younger set of eyes around here these days. Moving books and setting up displays takes a little longer than it used to. I swear these shelves need to be restocked several times a day this time of year.”

All she could do was nod.

“But maybe you wouldn’t mind giving your old man a hand today?”

“Of course! What can I do?”