“You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going?”
Joel is being super secretive about where he’s taking Cassie. He picked her up at Bookland, then said he had this brilliant idea but wouldn’t say what it was. At first, it was sweet and romantic. But ten blocks later, it’s getting old.
He gives her hand a squeeze. “One more block.” “You said that last block.”
“I was off by a block. But it’s definitely on the next block.” “This better be good, buster.”
Cassie’s phone rings within her purse. Joel doesn’t say anything while she fumbles around, searching for her phone. Her stomach sinks when she sees the blocked number.
For a while, it seemed like the calls had stopped. For almost two weeks, she didn’t get any. But then they started again with a vengeance.
The silence on the other end of the line was bad enough, but a few days ago, that changed. She picked up the phone and a husky female voice hissed in her ear: Whore.
Cassie knows she should change her number. But that will cost money she doesn’t have. And she’s already spent enough changing the lock on the door to the bookstore.
“Who is it?” Joel asks her.
“Nobody important,” Cassie says as she silences the phone and shoves it back in her purse.
Zoe insists she needs to tell Joel about the phone calls. And about her suspicions about Francesca. He might be able to talk to Francesca and get her to stop. But Zoe didn’t see Joel’s face when they were near Francesca’s restaurant. Zoe doesn’t see the way he reacts every time Francesca’s name comes up.
“All right!” Joel announces. “Here we are!” And it’s…
A hardware store?
“Why are you taking me to a hardware store?” Cassie asks. She doesn’t understand this at all. Does he want to build something with her? Like… a coffee table? Or a dog house? Why on earth would they be going to a hardware store?
He tugs on her hand. “Come on.”
She follows him inside, thoroughly perplexed at this point. The smell of sawdust hits her and she lets out a sneeze. It doesn’t start to become clear what he’s thinking until they get to a counter in the back with a sign over it that says, “Copy Keys Here.”
Hang on a minute…
“Joel?” Her heart skips in her chest. “Are you…?”
“I want you to have a copy of my key,” he says with a grin. “Because… I love you.”
He just said he loves her. No man has ever said that to her before, and she hadn’t imagined it quite like this—right in the middle of a hardware store with sawdust tickling her sinuses.
Ever since they visited Anna’s baby the other day, she senses Joel has been eager to ramp up their commitment. Even if he denies it, he wants to get married. He wants to have a baby. Maybe not this year or next year, but soon. Very soon. Before he’s forty. And he’s thirty-seven. So.
Is she ready for that? And is Joel the man she wants to do those things with?
She likes Joel a lot. Hell, she loves him. Kind of.
Joel notices the look on her face, and his smile falters. “We don’t have to move in together,” he says quickly. “I mean, if that’s what you wanted, then… but anyway, that’s not what this is. I just want you to have my key because…”
I love you.
He’s not going to say it again without her saying it. But the message is clear: he wants this relationship to move forward. Now she has to figure out if that’s what she wants too.
“I love you too,” Cassie says.
His shoulders sag with relief. He pulls her close to him and kisses her. “I know you’re at my place a lot, but I want you there even more.”
Cassie feels a smile tugging at her lips. “And I suppose you want a copy of my key too.”
“Only if you want me to have it.” “I do.”
Actually, it’s exciting. She’s given out her key before, but usually just to a friend like Zoe in case she got locked out. Moving in with Joel would have terrified her, but this feels like the right level of commitment. They’re moving forward, but not too fast. She loves him, but that doesn’t mean they’re making babies yet.
Within minutes, Cassie has a copy of Joel’s key. She digs into her purse to get out her keyring, but out of the corner of her eye, she sees a face at the door to the hardware store.
It’s Maureen the Homeless Lady. Dressed in her usual puffy coat with two scarves. Her face nearly pressed against the glass.
Cassie startles, taking a step back. Her heart is beating fast in her chest as she steps behind a display of wood, trying to conceal herself. What is Maureen doing here? They’re really far away from the bookstore
—far from Maureen’s home. Doesn’t she need to stay by her stuff, to guard it?
And why is she staring into the hardware store?
“Are you okay?” Joel squints down at her. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
“No, I just…” Cassie peeks out at the door to the hardware store.
Maureen has vanished. “Nothing. Never mind.”
As Cassie digs her keys out of her bag, she decides she’s been letting her imagination run wild. There’s no reason why Maureen shouldn’t be allowed to take a walk around the neighborhood. She’s just feeling paranoid after everything that’s happened lately.
