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I wished that I could just talk to her now and magically conjure Layne, but our talk would have to wait.
“Thanks so much for getting the cake,” Joy said, giving me another hug as if sensing I needed one for the road.
“I’ll be by later to help,” I said.
“With Lark, right?” Joy said, filling her voice with suggestion.
“Yeah, she’ll be here. I think,” I said, trying to keep my tone casual.
“Well, I’ll see youbothlater,” Joy said with a wink.
“Yeah, sure, fine,” I said as I left.
* * *
I was backat Mainely Books only a few hours later after I’d closed the pottery shop down for the day. Joy was running around when I got there, stressed out as usual. She’d been doing book club for almost as long as the bookshop had been open, but she had a little panic every single month, as if things weren’t going to come together.
I was curious how people were going to respond to this month’s book, since it was pretty sexy. Our club was a range of people, some who liked spicier books than others.
I’d adored the book and thought it had just the right amount of banging in it, which was on nearly every page.
For next month’s pick, my top two choices were an absolutely heart-wrenching lyrical young adult book about a girl who wants to travel to space that I’d already read once, and a contemporary romance set in New York that involved a bar, rescue kittens, and a reality show that I hadn’t read yet. If I could, I was going to try and sway the group toward my choices, even though we all voted anonymously via email.
“What can I do?” I asked Joy.
“Set up the snacks,” she told me as she rushed to hang up the twinkly lights, hopping on a chair.
“What did I tell you about climbing on chairs?” Ezra said as she came in from the back with a box of stuff. She went right over to Joy, picked her up, and deposited her on the floor again.
“Let me do it.”
Ezra used a stepstool to string the lights as Joy supervised and directed her.
I was just setting out some chips when someone tapped me on the shoulder.
“Hey,” Lark said, holding a plate of pastries. “I brought these from work.”
“Wow, thanks,” I said, my voice just a little too cheerful. “If you want to just put them here.”
Lark set the pastries down. “Um, so what else can I help with?”
“Well, Joy didn’t ask me to get the drinks set up, but they’re not, so I’m going to guess that needs to be done too,” I said.
Lark followed me back to the fridge where we grabbed everything, including wine for those who wanted it. Ezra had brought the glasses out in the box, so Lark and I put everything out, probably being a little too extra with the arrangement, but it was fun.
Joy and Ezra finally got the lights up and started arranging the chairs.
Before we knew it, people were arriving, bringing even more snacks. Some of these people I only saw once a month, and it was good to catch up. I hoped Lark didn’t feel like I was abandoning her, but she perked up when Layne and Honor arrived together. She might say that her sister annoyed her, but the two of them were tight. They’d united against the tyranny of their mother and had had to raise themselves without her help. For all her faults, my mother did make sure that I made it into adulthood knowing how to cook at least a few things, clean, do laundry, pay bills, and generally care for myself. Honor and Lark’s mother had taught classes in Manipulating Men 101 and How to Get the Most Out of Your Alimony 203. If one day Lark told me that her mom taught her how to give a great blowjob, I would not have been surprised.
At last, it was time to start and we all took our seats with snacks and drinks and Joy got ready to lead. She was a little nervous every time, but once she got going, she was a great moderator. I had never been in another book club, but this one was extremely lowkey, which was one of the reasons I loved it.
“Can we talk about the sex scenes? I’m gonna talk about the sex scenes,” I said, when Joy asked anyone if they wanted to talk about their favorite parts.
I felt several people roll their eyes. I always talked about the sex scenes.
A few members fell silent when I started talking, but Ezra shared as well, and we had a good discussion about sex scenes in sapphic romance specifically.
Lark usually shared her opinions, but tonight she was pretty quiet. Still, I did catch her glancing at me a few times, and I felt myself blush in response, which made me want to hide under my chair. I wasn’t a person who blushed.
