The Bookish Life of Nina Hill(64)

“Any of those Road Runner deaths would be fine with me. Running off a cliff while still running, then pausing in midair, holding up a sign that says, Whoops, and then plummeting to my death . . .”

“Running into a hole painted on the side of a rock and then getting hit by a train that shouldn’t be there in the first place.”

“Watching a bird eat a lot of explosive birdseed and being fine and then trying a single one and exploding.”

“Yeah, any of those would be OK.”

“And a fitting end to our grand romance.” Tom could feel her relaxing under his arm. She was so touchy, this one. Hard to navigate, although in bed they were so easy together, so relaxed and in tune. It was only the afterglow that held land mines.

He squeezed her shoulder. “Getting hungry?”

She nodded, wondering at the way his presence was somehow canceling out her anxiety. Each time she started to panic, the feelings just washed up against this big, solid wall of . . . him. He wasn’t doing it consciously, or at least she didn’t think he was, but he was 100 percent real, and her anxiety—which was, after all, made of smoke and mirrors—was no match for him.

“I need to work up a tiny bit more appetite,” she said, sliding her hand under the sheet.

He smiled and caught her hand before it reached its target. “No,” he said. “Let’s leave room for dessert.” He swung his legs out of bed. “I don’t want you to get a blood sugar crash and have a fight on our first day.” He tugged her to her feet. “Let me take care of you.”

She sighed, nodded, and got up.





Twenty-one




In which Nina proves useful.

Polly was thrilled for her, but then again, Polly’s default state was thrilled.

“It’s all very romantic,” she said. “Enemies first, then a kiss and an epic fail on your part . . .”

“Hey,” said Nina.

“Then coming together at a wedding, the fates aligning . . .”

Nina frowned. “I think it’s stars that align, not fates.”

Polly frowned at her. “Does it matter?”

“I suppose not.”

“Are you going to see him again?”

Nina nodded. Then shook her head. Then nodded again. “I imagine so. We got on pretty well to not see each other again.” She thought about it. “Of course, he is a guy, so who knows. I may never hear from him again. Or he might send me a picture of his penis any minute.”

“Well then,” said Polly, “keep checking your phone.”

Nina’s phone buzzed, obligingly. She picked it up but shook her head. “It’s not him; it’s Archie.”

“Oh, now, his penis I’d be totally open to seeing.” Polly leaned over to look, but Nina held the phone away.

“Excuse me, that’s my married brother you’re salivating over.” She looked at the text. “And it would be pretty weird of him to send his sister a dick pic.”

“Good point.”

“He’s wondering if I’m around for lunch. He says he’s bringing a friend he wants me to meet. Do you want to come? Maybe the friend is single.”

“How can I join you? Liz isn’t here. Are you suggesting we close the store?”

“Oh yeah.” Nina laughed. “Who knew you would turn out to be so responsible?”

“Not me.” Polly walked away. “I think it’s your terrible influence. I used to be carefree and disorganized, and you’ve ruined me. The other day I was able to put my hand directly on something I was looking for. It threw me off for the rest of the day.”

“Sorry,” said Nina.

“You should be,” Polly replied, heading into the office to grab some paperwork.

Archie’s friend was nothing like Nina had expected. She was only four feet tall, for a start.

“This is Millie,” said Archie. “She’s your sister.” He paused. “Mine, too.”

Millie wasn’t a redhead, but there was still something familiar about her. She looked more like her mom, Eliza, the woman who had attempted to stop Lydia’s tirade the other day, but there was still plenty of her dad in her bone structure.

She stuck out her hand. “Hi, Nina. It’s nice to meet you.”

Nina shook her hand. What a formal child. “I didn’t realize you two hung out,” she said.

The three of them found a table at the back of the restaurant, and Vanessa came over to take their order.

“More family?” she asked. She looked at Millie. “Do you want a kids’ menu?”

Millie looked up at her, thoughtfully. “Is there coloring on it?”

“Yes, and a word search.”

“Well then, yes, please.” She looked at Nina. “I love a word search.”

“Who doesn’t?” said Nina. “And Mad Libs.”

“Yeah!” said Millie, clearly tickled to have found a kindred spirit. Word geeks love to discover one another. Come upon. Identify. Recognize. Etc.

Archie cleared his throat. “Actually, we don’t usually hang out. Eliza reached out to me after the meeting at the lawyer’s a couple of weeks ago, and we decided it might be fun.” He looked at Millie and then back at Nina. “I brought her to lunch because I can’t talk about books anymore. I’m exhausted. I thought you could take over.”