AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I need some variety from the plain sheet cakes I make at the grocery store all day.”
Eliza steps up to pile two plates with snacks. “Eden and June send their regards.”
Both of them had babies pretty recently—Eden’s second, June’s first—and have understandably bowed out of book club for a while. Most of our larger group includes people who are related to Harper’s family in one way or another. Sisters, cousins, aunts, and in-laws mingle through in any given month. They’ve all adopted me as generic “family,” and treat me like part of their crew.
“Eden also suggested we try a monster romance next month.” Eliza flops down on a couch next to Callie, who’s married to her cousin. See the pattern? She offers one of the plates of snacks to the other quite pregnant woman.
“I’m sure it was Eden.” Miguel winks at her. Eliza’s been trying to work a monster romance into our rotation for months now, but she never gets the votes. “I’ve got a new recommendation for you. One’s a human, one’s a monster, but the other guy doesn’t know…”
Josie widens her eyes as Miguel goes into detail about his book. She’s a recent newcomer to Magnolia Ridge, and not in the wider family circle. She doesn’t speak up during book club a lot, but when she does, it’s always to make some interesting point or another about a character’s deeper motivations or backstory. She pays more attention to the actual books than most of us do, and is an awesome addition to the group.
“He keeps it a secret?” she asks. “That he’s a monster?”
“Well…” Miguel bobs his eyebrows scandalously. “He can’t hide it for long.”
“Wait, before we start dishing books, I want an update onGrant.” Nicole ties her long black braids into a knot at the top of her head, balancing our book of the month on her knees.
Grant is one of Eliza’s brothers-in-law. Yeah. We’re basically one big messy family tree in here. Small town life.
Eliza snorts. “Deliriously happy in Sunshine, Oregon.”
Everyone coos over that cute town name, but the realawwis that he moved because he fell in love over the summer. He went on a hike and found love in the woods. Sounds about right for the outdoor store manager.
“That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. If anybody deserves it, it’s Grant. Surprisingly fast mover though.”
That earns another chorus of confirmation.
“When you know, you know,” Harper says.
Still kind of weird to me that she “knows” and is madly in love with my goofball brother, but I’m here for it.
Cece nods sagely. “When you meet the love of your life, you wake up and realize you’re done waiting around.”
My attention drifts to Miles at the counter, but he’s already watching me. The force of his gaze hits me square in the chest, spreading warmth through me like red ink running on wet paper. I try to swallow, but my throat sticks. I’m staring too long. I am. But I can’t look away. It’s like I’ve caught fire and all I can do is sit here and burn.
The room goes strangely quiet. Miles breaks eye contact, glancing at the others in the group before returning his attention to the register and closing out for the day. I draw in a deep breath like I just had a close call.
I’m just not sure if I’m glad I avoided it…or if I regret missing out.
The others watch me with strange expressions. Like I’m the latest romance book cover, and they’re scouring me for details about what’s going on inside. Ireallydon’t want them to judge this book by its cover. Which is probably blushing like crazy.
“That just leaves his brother, Rhett, to fall in love.” My voice is too loud in my effort to sound totally unbothered. Inwardly, I’m a tangled ball of yarn I can’t loosen.
Eliza snorts. “He’d rather walk on broken glass.”
“Commitment-phobes,” Nicole says, wrinkling her nose. “Why are they always the cutest?”
“It’s the hot-guy tax,” Miguel says. Nicole holds out her hand, and they high-five.
“Sometimes the commitment-phobe has good reason to be wary,” Callie pipes up. Her husband, Jed, was the same way, once upon a time. All the women in town pined after him, but he never looked in anyone’s direction twice. Now? He only has eyes for her.
Josie nods. “People are more than the personas we assign to them. Maybe it’s less a fear of commitment, and more a fear of not being the right person for the one they want.”
“Or maybe he’s seen too many relationships fail and doesn’t want to risk the same thing,” Bailey says.
Eliza pops a pretzel into her mouth. “I think y’all are giving Rhett too much credit. He just likes to date a lot.”
Miles moves to the door and flips the sign over toClosed. He turns and flashes a small wave to our group. When his gaze meets mine, thesomethingthat was in it before isn’t there anymore.
