Laurel blinked and her heart jolted as she walked toward the booth. “He did? What did he say?”
Annie grinned. “That it was about damn time.”
She dropped onto the seat across from her aunt. “Really? I called last night, half expecting him to try talking me out of it, but he didn’t.”
She was still trying to wrap her head around it all.
“As well he shouldn’t.” Annie sipped her tea, looking far too pleased. “He said he was proud of you. That it was your turn now.”
Laurel's throat tightened. That one phrase—your turn now—settled deep into her chest and unlocked something warm and right.
She hadn’t expected it to feel this big. This real.
Rylee slid into the booth beside her, nudging her shoulder. “That’s huge, Laurel. I know how long you’ve danced around the idea. You finally saying it out loud makes it official.”
Laurel smiled, but it was shaky. “It’s not just the bookstore,” she admitted. “It’s…everything. I want to stay here.”
She also wanted to see where this thing with Bennett went.
Her decision to stay in Harland hadn’t just been about opening her own bookstore, though that part felt like a dream finally within reach. No, the bigger truth, the one that clung toher every time she looked at him, was that she wanted to stay because of Bennett too. Because walking away from this thing growing between them felt wrong. Leaving town and trying to navigate some long-distance, weekend-only, maybe-it’ll-work-out relationship held no appeal. Not when she could see day by day how being near him made her feel grounded. Seen.
Wanted.
And maybe it was too soon, too fast. Maybe she’d been knocked a little sideways by the danger, the intimacy, and the adrenaline of the past few weeks, but that didn’t make what was developing between them any less real.
She was falling for him.
And the best part? The scariest part?
She didn’t think she was falling alone.
He hadn’t said it, not in words, but in the way he touched her, watched her, protected her, trusted her...it was there. Even in his guilt the other night after the security alert he’d missed. He’d been so mad at himself, so convinced he’d let her down even though it turned out to be nothing more than a roadrunner triggering the sensor on the perimeter. They’d viewed the footage later that night, her sitting beside him on the couch, both watching the bird strut right across several other feeds like it owned the place.
But still, he hadn’t laughed.
Not right away.
Because that was the kind of man he was—hyper-aware, always calculating risk, especially when it came to her. He carried that sense of responsibility like it was stitched into his DNA.
And she cared about him more for it. Cared more than she was ready to admit out loud.
“You okay?” Annie asked, eyeing her curiously.
Laurel blinked back into focus and smiled faintly. “Yeah. Just thinking.”
Annie hummed in agreement. “You’ve got roots here. I can see it.”
“And the way Bennett looks at you?” Rylee added. “Let’s just say, it’s not exactly subtle.”
A flush rose to Laurel’s cheeks. “He’s…uh…more than I expected. And he’s been so supportive, especially when I started doubting if I could handle all of this.”
She didn’t have to explain what “this” was. Rylee and Annie knew. The building. The fear. The aftermath of being targeted. The heaviness of starting over.
“That’s because he cares about you,” Annie said. “He’s not used to letting his guard down. You’re teaching him how.”
The bell in the kitchen dinged, and both Laurel and Rylee stood. “By the way,” she said, glancing at her friend as they walked to the counter, “I spoke to Jenna and her sister. After last week’s Zoom walk-through with Brandi, I sent them the lease. My lawyer—still weird to say that—is handling the final paperwork.”
“Mark Espinoza?” Rylee asked.
