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Her eyes sparked brilliantly, her face glowing with a happy smile. “Yeah. Aurora had a puppy yoga class at her studio this morning. It was a blast.”
My eyes went wide as I leaned back on my side of the booth, taking her in. Her smile could light up an entire room. “What the hell is puppy yoga?”
Her laughter was like music. It filled my chest with warmth that would have easily beaten back a Siberian winter. “It’s exactly what it sounds like. Basically, a bunch of puppies run around the studio while we move through our positions. They get all excited, thinking we’re playing, and bounce around licking and barking, happy as can be. It’s so much fun.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her exuberance as she described what it had been like. It wasn’t something I had any desire to be a part of, but I loved how it made her light up.
“So what happens to the puppies after the class is over?”
She sat up even taller as Deb placed her breakfast down in front of her and refilled my coffee. We both gave the woman a thank you before resuming our conversation.
“That’s the best part.” She speared a sliced strawberry with her fork and popped it into her mouth before she resumed talking, and it took a great deal of effort to rip my gaze off her luscious lips as she licked a dollop of yogurt off. “They were all from the shelter, so they were up for adoption. One class, and every puppy headed off to a new home.”
It was good to hear the shelter was taking extra steps to get those animals adopted. I’d have been lying if I said I didn’t have nightmares after my attempt to drop Churro there.
I wanted to stretch this breakfast out as long as I possibly could, but before I could ask any more questions, anything to keep Lyric talking so animatedly so I could sit back and enjoy watching her, my cell rang. I knew the sound of the alert without having to pull it out of my pocket and look at the screen. It was the station. My time with Lyric had officially run out.
“That’s work. I gotta go,” I said as I slid out of the booth.
“Oh.” All the light that had been shining from her expression only a moment ago faded away. Her smile fell and the glimmer that had been in her eyes snuffed out. It was as if some spell had been broken, and all of a sudden she remembered we weren’t friends. We weren’t anything. “Yeah. Of course. Sorry for keeping you.”
She hadn’t been keeping me from anything. That booth was exactly where I’d wanted to be. I opened my mouth to say that very thing, only to snap it closed again so hard my teeth clacked. Saying as much would only fuck with her head, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. As much as my own head was a fucking mess over this girl, she didn’t deserve all the mixed signals I was throwing her way. I needed to get my shit together.
Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out my wallet and riffled through the bills stuffed inside. “Let me pay for your breakfast.”
“No. Thanks.” The way those two words came out left no room for argument. The smile she offered didn’t come anywhere near her eyes. “I’ll pay for my own breakfast. Have a good day, deputy,” she said with finality.
ChapterEleven
LYRIC
It wasthe opening weekend of the McCall County fair, and I felt a buzz of excitement flowing through my veins. Roads were closed in the heart of downtown Redemption to host a sea of booths that had everything from your standard fair food of fried Oreos and funnel cakes to handmade jewelry to artisanal beers and soaps.
It was clear that the librarian before me had slacked on the job, hence, why the position had been open for me to apply for in the first place. There were a great deal of books in bad shape and several things in the historic old building needed to be replaced, updated, or repaired. I’d suggested to town council that we host a booth of our own where we could hand out drink tickets in exchange for donations.
It was the first year the library had ever done something like this, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the town had turned out for us in a huge way. Sure, the drink tickets were a huge hit, but mainly, the citizens of this town took care of their own. Not only were we receiving monetary donations, but people were donating books as well.
Several of the library volunteers had come out to help me, including Mr. Hasslebeck, who had shown up to volunteer true to form, dressed as Harry Potter. People loved it, me included, and I was convinced that his exuberance was a large reason why our booth was so popular. Well, that and because... drink tickets.
Who didn’t love those?
I’d been working from the start of the fair earlier this morning, and it was now well into the afternoon. I hadn’t had a chance to take a break or grab something to eat since my coffee that morning, but the energy in the air kept me going, the excitement of everyone coming out dumping adrenaline into my bloodstream every time I needed it. The sun was high and bright, not a cloud in the brilliant blue sky. Autumn was in full effect in the mountains, keeping everything pleasantly mild.
Even though I was starting to get tired, it was easy to maintain my smile simply because the good mood of everyone I talked to made it that way.
Just then, the cutest kids I’d ever seen stopped right in front of my booth. The little girl blinked big green doe eyes surrounded by a thick fringe of dark lashes, and the little boy smiled at me with a big gap-toothed smile. “Hi,” he greeted, and I instantly melted.
I braced my hands on the table in front of me and leaned forward. “Hey, sweetheart. Are you having fun today?”
He nodded enthusiastically, the little girl clutching his hand looked to the boy before mimicking his actions. It was cute enough to make me laugh.
“Oh, yeah! So much fun! But we gots somethin’ for you. Mommy said we haves to give it so she can have grownup juice.”
“Luke! Oh my god!” A harried woman came running up, stopping behind the boy and slapping a hand over the boy’s mouth. The little girl looked just like her, so it was obvious the woman was their mom, the woman in need ofgrownup juice. “I’m so sorry,” she said to me. “My boy here was born without a filter.”
I let out a laugh. “It’s okay, really.” I could only imagine what it was like to attend something like this with two little kids in tow. I imagined I’d be looking for booze too if I were in her position. “I totally get it.”
She smiled and let out a breath of relief as she reached across the table. “Thanks for understanding. I’m Alexis.”
