Only Through Love: A Cane River Romance Novella Read Online Free Page B

my manners. You should ask
Paul about the first time we met. I accused him of being a book murderer and
then tried to throw him out of the store.”
                He
laughed, trying to imagine sweet-faced Alice, now with a baby in her arms,
throwing anybody out of her store. “But he came back.”
                “He
did. He actually moved into the apartment you’re renting.” She smiled, a
softness in her eyes.
                “And
when you saw him all the time, you just fell in love?” He’d heard that
opposites attract but he couldn’t think of anything worse than fighting with a
woman for a few decades, no matter how cute she was.
                “Not
quite. I’m actually starting to wonder about that apartment. First Paul. Then
Henry.” She cocked her head and fixed him with a unfocused look, as if she were
seeing into his future. “Anyway, I guess I finally realized life was easier
when you plow around the stump, instead of over it, although it took me a good
while to stop fighting him and just listen.”
                Austin
felt like he’d missed a step somewhere. It had been a long, hard day and right
about now, a hot meal and a good book sounded just right. Rather than ask for a
details, he just nodded.
                “Here,”
she said, switching gears again, “borrow the first one and see if you like it.”
                “You
run a bookstore, not a library. I think we’ve been over this.”
                “Silly.”
She took the book from his hand and walked toward the register. “There have to
be some perks to living in this old place, right? Paul complains that the wifi
is about as fast as smoke signals.”
                “I
have noticed a bit of a lag.” He followed her back to the desk. The building
was beautiful and so much nicer than anything his college friends had at the
moment. Now he was getting free books. Just like his job, he seemed to have
lucked into a situation much better than he deserved. People said cheaters
never prosper. Apparently, that wasn’t a hard and fast rule.
                Alice
gently placed Aurora in the playpen and put the book in a bag. “Let me know
what you think.” She stopped, reconsidering. “Actually, if you hate it, don’t
tell me. I love this book. I might get offended.”
                “I’ll
be sure to make up a glowing critique.”
                “I
bet it’s on Cliffs Notes,” she said, laughing. “Or you could just ask Charlie
to write you a little treatise on its finer points. I’ll never know.”
                He
took the bag from her and forced a smile. Of course Alice was just making a
joke, but Austin wondered if there was something in his face that said he was
simply blowing smoke and crafting pretty phrases wherever he went. “Thanks
again.”
                “Anytime,”
she said and he could tell she meant it. As he walked out the back entrance and
up the wooden staircase to the upstairs apartments, he felt his spirits sink
lower and lower. Just when he convinced himself it was all in the past, it
showed up again, hovering at the edges of every conversation and every new
friendship. He was a cheater and a thief, no matter how hard he tried to
forget.
                He
unlocked the oversized oak door and let himself into the apartment. It smelled
like warm bricks, books, and a late summer’s evening. The large fireplace
dominated the far wall and he slumped onto the one recliner at the other end.
The place was much too nice for someone just starting out but Tom and Gideon
had talked to Alice and everything had been arranged before he’d even seen the
place. He stared at the fancy iron work around the hanging lights and the floor
to ceiling windows that faced the waterfront, and wished he didn’t feel like
such a fraud.
                Opening
the book, he glanced through