1. Skye

FIVE MONTHS LATER

1

SKYE

I was tired.

I'd never felt exhaustion like this in my life.

Change was never easy. Loss was even harder.

But some things were necessary.

On the bright side, I'd done it.

It was, by far, the most difficult thing I'd ever done, but I was beyond proud of myself for doing it.

I moved on, and I never put up a big fight.

But it wasn't a walk in the park. I'd been struggling for months to get a full night of sleep. Unfortunately, I hadn't been successful in that area of my life.

As sad, angry, and hurt as I had been, I picked up the pieces of my broken heart and walked away, never once looking back. Sure, I thought about all the things I could have done or should have said to both Simon and Maria in the situation—most of which came to me when I was awake in my bed at night—but the truth was, I thought taking action to confront them with any of it would have been a waste of my time.

Why should I have approached either one of them to tell them how I felt, to ask them why they did it, when it was clear they didn't care about me at all? Simon had emailed me to break up with me, for crying out loud. He didn't even have the guts to tell me the truth to my face.

If he believed I was only worth an email that likely took him a matter of minutes to write, he didn't deserve another second of my time.

Yes, I was typically a timid person, but in a situation like this, it had nothing to do with being shy or introverted. I knew I deserved better than I'd gotten from him, so he'd get nothing else from me. Neither would Maria.

As far as I was concerned, Simon and Maria could have each other.

It hurt.

God, it hurt, but I knew I was better off without them.

And now I was here, focusing time, effort, and energy I forced myself to muster up on the only thing left that mattered to me.

The Next Chapter.

The Next Chapter was the used and indie bookstore my grandmother had opened forty-three years ago and ultimately passed down to me.

This store was the place I'd spent so many hours as a kid, getting lost in the pages of hundreds of books.

It had become like a second home to me. I was, for lack of a better word, a book addict. Maybe that was who I was always meant to be, or perhaps it was the result of falling in love with so many fictional worlds over the years. Reading gave me a place to escape to when dealing with the reality of my personal situation became too much to bear.

I'd needed to go to that place when I was a little girl who'd just lost her parents, a lonely teenager in high school, a young adult who lost the last of her family, and a woman who'd been betrayed by her boyfriend and best friend.

Between the pages of a book was the one place I could go for comfort. And there was nothing quite like having a physical book to hold in my hands when I needed that.

But since I couldn't just curl up in a ball and read all the time, I thought I was rather fortunate to be able to work in the best place in the world. Every day I walked into my store, I inhaled the scent of books and smiled.

And while I smiled because it made me happy simply to be here, that wasn't the only reason. I smiled when I thought about my grandmother and how she would have reacted to some of the changes I'd made. If she'd still been alive when I created what I believed was a better experience for my patrons, I was certain she would have thought I was crazy.

I'd invested in carts for my customers to wheel around behind them while they were shopping. They weren't traditional shopping carts one would find at a grocery store—that would have been a logistical nightmare—but they were much better than a dinky basket that would hang off someone's arm and never fit enough books.

That was the one thing I never understood about bookstores. I had yet to visit one that provided an easy way to carry books. Either you were expected to lug them around in your hands or a tiny basket slung over your arm.

Call me crazy, but I had yet to meet a reader that was ever satisfied with just one book. As a result, wheeled carts were part of the experience at The Next Chapter, and it had been a huge hit with nearly everyone who walked through the front door of the store.

My grandmother had built what I believed would be a legacy I could pass down to my own child one day. I'd have been lying if I said the thought hadn't crossed my mind on more than one occasion. It saddened me now to think all the work she'd put in to build the place and the work I'd done to make changes to it would all be for naught.

Because after learning what I did five months ago and going through the painstaking process of attempting to heal my heart from a betrayal and loss of two people I'd held dear to me, I didn't intend to put myself in a position to be hurt again.

My store was my life now. It was all I had left.

And maybe there was a part of me that was saddened by what I'd lost, but I was better off this way. Well, except for the lack of sleep.

That was a whole other mystery I couldn't seem to solve.

I couldn't figure out why I was suddenly unable to sleep.

Obviously, over the course of the two years I'd dated Simon, there were plenty of nights we spent together. But in any given week, we spent more nights apart than we did together, so no longer having him in my life shouldn't have impacted me the way it had.

The only thing I came up with was that I finally realized I had just myself. I was alone without a best friend or a boyfriend.

But I could be happy with my store. I could find plenty of enjoyment in meeting new customers and helping everyone who walked in to find wonderful books to read and enjoy.

My days could be filled with my work, which had increased a bit for me since everything went down. Maria had been working at the store with me for years along with one other employee, Joan, but after I'd learned of her betrayal, I changed the locks on my door and gave Joan a new key.

With my days being jam-packed with work, I only needed to worry about my spare time, which often came in the evenings. And I already had a plan for that. My nights could be occupied by stories that had happy endings.

Of course, I had a few extra things I would continue to do for fun and for myself, at the same time there were things I'd have to give up as a means of self-preservation. It wasn't what I'd hoped for, but it was what it was.

And I was going to accept it.

I knew it'd probably take a bit more time to really come to grips with the reality of losing my boyfriend and best friend, as well as accepting that all the dreams I'd had for my future were gone, too.

That was another thing I found myself thinking about when I couldn't sleep at night. The future I had envisioned for so long was gone.

At this point, I was at a place where I was finally not consumed completely with thoughts of what Simon and Maria had done behind my back, and by some miracle, I was excited about where the next several months would lead in my business.

It was a week and a half into June, and things had started picking up as they typically did at this time of year. Joan and I were doing our best to manage the day-to-day tasks, and I was actively trying to find someone to fill Maria's position. Even though Joan and I were managing okay—The Next Chapter was a small enough store that one person could handle the usual load—it was certainly a little easier to have that extra set of hands around, especially to cover us in case someone got sick or had an emergency.

Joan had been wonderful. She obviously knew Maria was no longer employed at the store, but she never pried for information I didn't willingly provide. I had a feeling she figured it out anyway, considering Simon never stopped in anymore, either.

Fortunately, I could confidently say I was the best I'd been in months. And I was settling into this new vision I had for my life moving forward.

But I should have known the chaos wouldn't simply end for me.

Because it was at that very moment I heard a loud crash at my front door. My eyes flew in that direction to see something zooming through the air. As the glass from the window that made up most of the door shattered and fell to the ground just inside the store, the unidentified object landed with a thud.

In the shop alone, since I was the one scheduled for the opening shift today, I felt my heart pounding. I moved toward the front door to see what exactly had happened, and by the time I'd realized there was what looked to be about a two-foot-long piece of two by four sitting on the floor, a pair of boots came to a stop on the other side of it.

My body tensed as my eyes traveled up from the boots and over the jean-clad thighs to the black T-shirt and finally the face of a man I'd never seen before in my life.

Even if I couldn't miss just how striking his blue eyes or dark hair were, I was mostly focused on how utterly menacing the man looked.

And I was suddenly terrified that I was about to suffer the same fate as my parents had. Was I about to be the victim of a robbery gone wrong?

The man's broad chest was heaving, and he looked like he could snap me in two with his bare hands if he so chose.

I took an uncertain step backward, my eyes remaining pinned on the man's face. His eyes ran the length of me, and something washed over his expression. I didn't know what it was, and I was too terrified to speak.

I was about to die. This man was going to kill me.

But why would he throw something through the window when the store was open, and he could have just walked through the door? And was he really here to steal books?

I felt like I was losing my mind.

Finally, the man moved, but he did it by bending down to pick up the piece of wood. I watched with my eyes transfixed on every part of him. I noted the way his jeans pulled taut across his thighs as he crouched down. I took in the sight of his toned forearms and large hands. And I couldn't miss the way his shirt molded around his shoulders and biceps.

My gaze remained pinned on him as he stood and finally said, "I'm sorry about what just happened here." He held up the wood. "This is mine, and I'll get your door fixed immediately."

His voice was unbelievable. It was buttery smooth and firm. Like every word was spoken with intention. Like he was the kind of guy who could take charge of any situation, because he had a voice that would coax anyone to bow to his whim.

If I was a woman who was much more outgoing and confident, I might have told him how sexy I thought his voice was.

But that wasn't the kind of woman I was, so I kept that little nugget of information to myself. Instead, I asked, "What exactly happened?"

My voice was small, barely a touch over a whisper.

Just then, a gust of wind blew past the shop, sending a rush of air through the hole where my door used to be. The man threw his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the outdoors, and explained, "I had some things in the back of my work truck. The rain is supposed to hit within the next hour, but it's been drizzling on and off, so I covered it with a tarp. I thought a couple of two by fours would easily hold the tarp down, but the wind is brutal, and unfortunately, a piece went flying through your door."

My eyes widened. "It's going to rain?"

The man nodded. "Yeah. Which is another reason I need to get this door fixed for you. I hate to say it, but I'm going to have to put up a temporary solution, so we can prevent the weather from winding up inside here. Then I'll take care of replacing your door completely."

"Are… are you capable of fixing it properly?" I asked.

"Yes."

Such confidence came through in that single word.

"Do we need to deal with insurance or something? I don't really know how to handle this, but I know I can't fix that."

He tipped his head to the side, assessed me for a moment, and asked, "What's your name?"

"Skye."

The man stepped forward and extended his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Skye. I'm Cooper. This wasn't exactly on my list of things to do today, but I assure you I'm completely capable of fixing it. There's no need for insurance. I'll pay to fix it."

I placed my hand in his, and suddenly, I had no concerns about his ability to fix my door. Cooper's hands were rough and calloused, an indication he worked with them every day.

When he released my hand, he went on. "I'll do my best to get something to cover this hole where the glass used to be for now. I may need a few days to get the permanent solution in here, though."

"Okay. Um, I should probably clean up this glass before someone walks in here and gets hurt," I noted.

Cooper shook his head. "Absolutely not. I'll take care of it. This isn't your mess, and I don't need to add having to take you to the hospital to get some stitches to my already full schedule as well."

Wow.

I couldn't quite figure this man out. He was kind enough to take care of everything that was technically his responsibility, but he was also clearly annoyed in this situation.

I guess I could understand it. If I'd had my day planned out and something unexpected happened, I probably wouldn't have liked it very much. The difference was that I would not be as forthcoming about my displeasure as Cooper was.

"Alright. Do you need anything to clean this up, then?" I asked, figuring I'd be nice and offer.

He shook his head. "Nope. I'm going to run out to my truck to grab a few things, and I'll be right back in. Just pretend I'm not here, and I'll be out of your hair as soon as possible."

I thought it was laughable Cooper believed I could pretend he just didn't exist for the next however long it took him to get the mess cleaned up and my store secured. But that was another thing I didn't tell him.

Instead, I offered a nod in return and quickly turned around to get back to what I'd been doing before that piece of wood came crashing into my bookstore. But if I was honest, my belly was a bunch of trembling nerves the entire way there.