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“Oh honey,” the smaller of the ladies took her into her arms. “What is it? What can we do?”
They steered her to a bench, rubbing her back and offering her tissues until they were able to drag the entire story out of her.
“What are you going to do now?” the larger woman asked.
“I say you kick his ass,” the smaller offered.
Through her tears, Cassie managed a laugh. No. She wouldn’t kick Ryan’s ass. He didn’t know she was pregnant. He certainly hadn’t planned for it any more than she had. She couldn’t be angry at him. She’d go home and start planning a life for her and her unborn child.
* * *
Four Months Later
Ryan stood in front of the bookstore as his Uber drove away. The ancient two-story home-turned shop had recently received a fresh coat of white paint, and the new blue door now matched the updated shutters. But the same old sign stood proudly by the road announcing the place asA New Chapter Bookstore.Apparently, he’d been wrong to assume whoever bought this place would turn it into something more lucrative than a bookstore. What did he know though? Maybe the new owner had added something to draw in more revenue than Cassie’s grandmother had been able to scrape together - not that the old woman had needed the money. The bookstore had been a hobby for her. Perhaps the new owner had only needed a hobby as well.
Please God, don’t let my mother have asked me to meet her here to tell me she’s the new owner.It would be just like Linda McLeod to decide she needed something to do with her time and end up taking on more than she could handle. For years, she’d been hounding him to settle down and give her grandbabies to occupy her time. On second thought, maybe a bookstore was just what she needed to fill her days.
Hefting his bags onto his shoulders, Ryan trudged up the front steps. The wooden boards creaked under the weight of his boots. Those would need replacing. If he remembered correctly, a lot needed to be replaced in the old shop. He caught himself before he dropped his bags onto the porch. When the porch did finally cave in, it wouldn’t be because he dropped his bags on it. After carefully placing the bags on a bench, he pushed through the front door. A small bell tinkled above his head.
“Oh, I’m sorry we’re not . . .”
Cassie.
She stood on the other side of the counter in an old t-shirt and cardigan with a dusty bandana over her dark hair.
“Ryan?” Her face had gone as white as the snow that had fallen the night they’d spent together.
He smiled, genuinely happy for the first time since he’d last seen her. “What are you doing here?” Two weeks after Christmas, in a phone call with his mom, he’d learned Cassie had flown off to New York and accepted a job in a publishing house. So why was she here in his mother’s bookstore?
“Excuse me?” her eyes narrowed now as she tugged her cardigan tight around her. “Your mother’s bookstore?”
Had he said that aloud? When around Cassie, he often said things without thinking. “My mom told me to meet her here, I thought maybe she’d bought it.”
Cassie straightened, her fingers turning white around the edges of the sweater. “No. I bought it. It’s actually my bookstore now.”
Hers?“Why?” This wasn’t her dream. Cassie had spent years wanting to escape this small town. Why the hell was she back here?
“What do you mean, why? There’s nothing wrong with owning and operating a small business, Ryan. We can’t all be world famous photographers.” The way she spat the words at him, so sassy and mean, was unlike any tone she’d ever taken with him. Cassie had always been his biggest supporter. Those first pictures he’d taken - the ones that had gotten him recognized- had all been of a teenaged Cassie. To this day he’d argue her beauty, not his skill, had won him his first contest.
“But you don’t want to do this.” That last night she’d said as much when they discussed the future of the bookstore. Her voice had contained so much joy as she spoke of her possible future in the Big Apple.
She smirked. “What makes you think you know what I want?”
Her words smacked at him like little slaps of her hands against his face. What the hell had gotten into her? Was this because they’d slept together? Because he hadn’t called in the months since? He’d known he should have, but what the hell was he supposed to say?Hey Cassie, I think you wrecked me for all other women, want to just marry me and put me out of my misery?
Hell no.She would’ve laughed in his face. He’d been a one-night stand for her, a rebound, no way would she want to hear that he was completely fucked over her. Still, as her friend, he should’ve called.
“Look. I’m sorry I didn’t call. I didn’t think—”
“I didn’t ask you to call. You didn’t owe me a phone call.” That was what her mouth said, but her eyes told a different story. At least what he could see of her eyes since she wouldn’t look directly at him.
He stood in the middle of the bookstore at a loss. Why had his mom sent him here? Surely she hadn’t expected Cassie’s icy greeting.
“Well, I didn’t mean to interrupt you, I’ll just—”
“I’m pregnant.”
Words failed him. Cassie? Pregnant? Well, that explained the cold welcome. They’d slept together and now she and Levi had reconciled and started a family. No doubt Levi would have an absolute shit fit if he knew Ryan was here. That didn’t mean he wanted to leave though.
