CHAPTER ONE Naomi

I lock the door of my bookstore, tuck the key into my bra, and start down Main Street, putting extra swing in my strut, faking it with everything I’ve got. My cute strappy heels tap out a confident beat on the concrete sidewalk, and the evening breeze is a little cool on my bare arms and shoulders, but I ignore it. My hot-pink slip dress is my favorite, the one that makes me feel like the big, beautiful woman I am.

I need that extra layer of confidence tonight, because I’m about to walk into my ex’s engagement party like I don’t have a care in the world.

“Naomi!” Hannah calls from across the street. “Wait up!”

A sigh of relief escapes me. All of this will be much easier with my bestie by my side.

She looks both ways before crossing the street, which is funny and sad all at the same time. It’s six thirty in the evening. Ferndale Falls should be experiencing rush hour, but once Old Joe putters by in his vintage Ford pickup truck, Main Street is painfully empty.

Just like my bookshop. Just like all the stores still struggling not to go out of business.

Our tiny New England town is just as cute as can be, filled with ornate Victorian houses and old, quaint buildings and lots of laws about keeping them looking like the historical monuments they are. The heavy forest that surrounds the town even boasts the picturesque waterfall that gives us our name.

But for all of that, the town is still dying a long prolonged death brought on by the fact that the narrow state highway that used to feed us tourists got replaced by a multilane interstate located over fifty miles away.

Hannah skirts the street’s infamous pothole, scowling down at it. “Damn thing. I just had Larry fill it in again last week!”

“How many times does that make?” I ask.

“Too many! I don’t have any more roadworks budget.” She throws out a dramatic hand, gesturing to the gaping hole. “That thing ate it all.”

As town mayor, my best friend works herself to the bone, trying to keep Ferndale Falls going as best she can. If sheer willpower alone worked, we’d be standing in a thriving tourist hotspot instead of surrounded by closed and empty storefronts.

When she reaches the sidewalk beside me, she pretends to do a double take, her light face breaking into an expression of awe as she looks me up and down. “Girl, you are looking fierce!”

“Thanks.” I smooth my hands down the silky hot-pink satin of my slip dress, molding it to my curves and loving the way it gleams against my brown skin. My hair’s looking on point, with my loose curls freshly scrunched and well defined.

Then I grin at her. “You’ve got it going on, too!”

Tall and thin, Hannah looks like the models you see stalking New York City catwalks, with her long hair falling like a glossy brown waterfall down her back. She wears a chic black pantsuit without a blouse under the jacket, turning it from businessy to sexy with the deep V showing off lots of skin.

I’ve always envied her height. She’s always envied my butt and boobs. We both got over it in ninth grade, when Mrs. Bernstein paired us as lab partners in biology, and have been best friends ever since.

Hannah hooks her arm through mine as we continue down the sidewalk, her tone changing to careful concern. “You okay? Because it’s totally okay to not be okay, if it’s okay for me to say that.” She gives a muffled snort. “God, could I say ‘okay’ more times?”

“I’m okay,” I say.

“Really?” She raises an eyebrow.

“No.” The air whooshes out of me, and my shoulders slump as we come to a halt. “Or yes. I don’t know.”

“Do you… do you want Matt back?”

“God no!” A laughs sputters out of me. “I’m seriously glad the ex is the ex .”

“Then what is it?”

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Because I love my best friend, and she’s spent every waking moment for the past three years doing everything she can to turn things around for our town. How am I supposed to admit I want to leave?

I’ve spent my entire life here. Even my English degree came from the online program at the state university, everything done on the computer in the back office of the family bookstore. Ferndale Falls is home, and I love it.

But I want more! I want to experience the things I read about. I want to travel and see new places and people. I want to eat different food and try to puzzle out a language I don’t know.

I want the world to not feel so… small.

And Matt pushed me to do that, to leave with him. So seeing him again brings up all of that on top of the relationship stuff.

“It’s nothing,” I lie and squeeze her arm, giving a little tug to get us moving again.

Luigi’s is the best restaurant in town, in part because it’s the only restaurant left that’s not fast-food. The delicious scent of tomatoes and garlic sweeps over us as we pull open the heavy wooden door and step inside, and my stomach gives an appreciative growl.

“Oh!” Hannah says from beside me. “I just realized I got so busy I forgot to eat lunch.”

“Not me,” I say. “I only had two customers in the store today.” Thank god I started online sales. They’re the only thing keeping the shop going.

Away from the picture window, the light level drops to the cozy warmth of a golden glow, lighting the burgundy and dark wood interior in an intimate way. Faint instrumental music plays, just enough to add a pleasant backdrop to conversation. All of the restaurant’s four-person tables line the side walls, covered with long table cloths to turn them into buffets. The wooden bar at the back stands ready with several bottles of wine on display.

The room’s full of everyone who still lives in town from our high school graduating class. Trevor, Maria, Jules, Shonda, and the rest spin around as we enter.

And every single one of them stares at me, eager to see what I’ll do.

Because in the middle of the room, my high school sweetheart stands beside the woman he’s going to marry.

Matt’s still got his boy-next-door good looks, his pale, clean-cut face round and youthful, his blond hair just a little too long. It really worked for him when we were teenagers, but when he shoots me his boyish smile, I’m secretly thrilled it no longer makes my heart race.

At twenty-four, I don’t want a boy. I want a man .

“Naomi!” He starts forward, pulled up short by the woman clinging to his arm.

It’s my first time meeting Porsha, and she’s…

“Fucking hell,” Hannah breathes so quietly only I can hear.

I just stand there, stunned.

Looking at Porsha is like looking in a freaking mirror. She’s medium height and built large, with full breasts and stomach and an even bigger butt. Her medium-brown skin and looser 3A curls match mine, too. She’s pretty, and she’s staring back at me just as shocked as I feel. Then her expression hardens, her mouth pursing and her eyes narrowing as she side-eyes Matt.

A pinch of sympathy goes through me. It’s got to feel pretty shitty to find out you’re the carbon copy of your fiancé’s ex-girlfriend.

Matt grins on, oblivious. “Naomi, you have to meet Porsha. She’s from New York .”

Okay, maybe the asshole isn’t that oblivious, because he puts special emphasis on those last words, a silent taunt that I wouldn’t leave Ferndale Falls with him when we finished high school.

But how could I? Mom got sick, and Dad spent every day driving her back and forth to all the medical specialists for endless rounds of tests. The bookshop had already slowed down so much they couldn’t afford outside help. Sure, I’d wanted to leave, but not at the expense of my family.

“Hi, Porsha.” I give her a soft smile. “It’s nice to meet you.” It’s not a lie. Anything awkward about tonight has nothing to do with her.

And everything to do with Matt.

He comes in for a hug, and I sidestep before he can touch me.

And that’s when I see it—the spurt of anger that flares in his eyes, quickly masked. Yep, asshole knows exactly what he’s doing playing Porsha and me against each other. Only question is, which one of us is all of this directed at?

I hope like hell he’s trying to get one last dig at me and truly loves Porsha. Because I refuse to play his game.

“Come on.” I tug Hannah toward the table topped with Luigi’s famous shrimp fettuccini.

“Naomi.” Matt follows on our heels, his voice raised to put on a show for the crowd. “Don’t tell me we can’t be friends. Not after all the years we were together .”

Ugh, did he have to say it like that in front of Porsha? Her eyes get a little shiny and she blinks a lot like she’s holding back tears.

“Sure, Matt,” I say. “We’ll be friends just as soon as you start acting like one.”

He rears back, hand dramatically placed on his chest. “Me? What did I do?”

Oh, no he didn’t! He did not just say that.

His grin firmly in place, his eyes dart around, making sure everyone’s watching. I’ve always known that he likes to be the center of attention, but this is the first time I’ve been on the receiving end of it in a negative way.

I turn to face him, hands on hips. He wants to do this? Fine. I’ll do it.

“You told me I was a fool for staying in Ferndale Falls.” I wave my hand slowly through the air, my gesture taking in the whole room. “The place all of us live.”

His smile wavers a little as everyone in the restaurant shifts to look at him more critically.

“Friends don’t say things like that, especially to people with sick parents.”

“But your mom’s okay now. You can leave like you always wanted.”

A short huff of air bursts from me in something that’s not really a laugh. “So that makes it okay? We didn’t know that back then.” God, did I ever really know him? I knew he was a bit self-centered—he’d been the most popular guy in high school, after all—but this takes things to new lows. It makes me realize he was always a bit of a shit back then, the golden boy lording it over everyone. I simply didn’t want to see it, because I loved him.

“Naomi.” He reaches for me.

I sidestep away and look past him. “Nice to meet you, Porsha. I wish you all the best.” Then I turn on my heel and march for the door.

Hannah’s long legs keep pace beside me easily. “Want me to come with you?”

“No.” I shake my head, my curls brushing against my neck and shoulders. “Keep him from following?”

“Will do. Text me later.”

“You got it.”

It’s twilight out, that magical time when the sun’s dropped but the streetlights haven’t yet kicked on. Main Street is quiet as I stand on the sidewalk and try to get my bearings. Everything’s swirling inside me in a delayed reaction. I kept it together while I had an audience—and especially with Matt watching—but now all the emotions I’ve been squashing for what feels like forever explode.

I’m not upset with Matt because I want him . But in only a few sentences, he’s reminded me of the ache deep within myself. The desire to travel, to do more that continues to go unfulfilled. All my plans of traveling the world, teaching English in foreign countries, seeing the sites and having adventures while I figured out who I am. I shelved all those plans in the back of my mind, on a mental bookcase grown dusty with disuse.

I hate that he’s right, but he’s still freaking right, dammit. Mom’s fine now.

So what’s holding me back?

“I need to change this,” I whisper, grabbing hold of the crystal pendant Nana gave me. It’s always been a comfort. “I need to start really living, to get out there and discover my full potential. I need to finally become who I truly am.”

A light snaps on above me, way too bright to be one of the old orange streetlights, and music starts to play, a beautiful melody full of strings and bells.

“What the—”

A glowing silver ball swoops down and swallows me in light.