Well Met(14)

He was right. It wasn’t any of his business. But he was someone who appreciated scholarship, and my confession probably told him that I didn’t give a damn about education. But the truth was I did. I’d cared so much about it that when Jake had gotten into law school I’d put his education above my own, working two jobs so he could have the extra time to study. He was supposed to reciprocate, and I’d trusted him.

That wasn’t how it had gone. Not even close.

“Here we are!” We both jumped, startled out of our uncomfortable reveries as Chris emerged from the back room with a small paperback in her hand. She looked from Simon to me and back again closely before handing him the book. Simon frowned as he took it.

“You’re right, this isn’t the right one. I wanted the annotated edition of Pride and Prejudice.” He turned the book over in his hands before giving it back to her. “How long would it take to exchange them?”

She waved a hand. “Not long at all. I already ordered the replacements. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t want these for some reason before I sent them back.”

He shook his head. “No. I don’t need these.”

“The annotated one is good,” I said. I’d relied on it pretty heavily when I’d studied Jane Austen. “It’s smart to assign that one. The explanations give the kids a good start to understanding the text better.” I faltered as he turned to look at me again. That spark between us had gone, and I could see myself reflected in his brown eyes. Small. Worthless.

Well, fuck him.

Chris turned back to me after Simon had left. “Did he annoy you?”

“No.” Yes. I took a swig of my coffee, which had started to go cold.

She took in my expression and frowned. But where Simon’s frown had made me feel inferior, Chris’s was more concerned. More motherly. “He can sometimes come across a little . . .” She screwed up her mouth and made a face that perfectly described how I felt about Simon at that moment. Then she shook her head. “Don’t worry about him. Stacey was telling me the other day how glad she is you’ve joined us for the summer, and I couldn’t agree more.” She placed a hand on my shoulder. “Welcome to the family.”

I turned those words over in my head as I finished my coffee and browsed the new arrivals section. Welcome to the family. Why did those words fill me with excitement and dread at the same time? I had no idea what I’d gotten myself into when I’d signed on to volunteer. Simon made me want to spit nails, but Chris made me feel like I’d joined an exclusive club. I looked at the cardboard coffee cup in my hand, where she’d written Emma—my Faire name—in cursive with a small heart at the end. The sight of it made me feel warm inside, banishing the rest of the chill I’d felt when Simon had looked at me like I was nothing more than a college dropout.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. April was ready for her ride home.

Home.

I meditated on that word as I pulled up to the doctor’s office to pick up my sister. Her house wasn’t my home. This town wasn’t my home. Yet when I looked at the coffee cup again, that warm sense of belonging lingered. I wanted to hold on to that feeling. But I didn’t trust it, either. Not as long as people like Simon Graham were out there judging me.

I glanced at April quickly before pulling out into traffic. “How was therapy?”

“Painful.” Her sigh was tired, but there was a note of hope in her voice I hadn’t heard since I’d moved in. “I think it’s really going to help, though. I can do this.”

“Of course you can.” I allowed a small smile to show, but mostly masked the thrill flaring in my heart. My sister was confiding in me, and that wasn’t something that had happened much when we were younger. Mostly because we hadn’t been young together. But now that we were adults together, maybe things would be different. Sure, we weren’t braiding each other’s hair and confessing the darkest secrets of our hearts quite yet, but it was a start.

“What’s new in the world of the Renaissance faire?” Another surprise. While April was supportive of our Harry Potter nights and Caitlin’s endless lectures on the various forms of curtsies she’d learned, she hadn’t expressed much interest beyond that.

Where should I start? “Well, apparently this whole thing takes place out in the woods. That’s not new per se, but it was certainly news to me when Chris told me.”

“Chris,” April repeated blankly. “Oh, do you mean Christine Donovan? She owns the bookstore, right?” She smiled at my nod, like she’d caught me out. “So you found something to do while I’m at therapy.”

“Yep. What can I say, I miss books.”

“You were an English major, right?” After I nodded, April fell quiet as I pulled into the driveway and shut off the car. “Are you thinking about going back to school? You don’t have much left on your degree, right?” I came around and opened her door, but she didn’t take the hand I offered. Instead, she levered herself out of the Jeep.

“Right. I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.” That was the truth, at least; the end of the summer was as far as I could see right now. The month of September may as well have been a sign that said Here Be Dragons. Right now it was easier to think in terms of what I could do for April or Caitlin than what I wanted to do for myself.