buy one for someone?”
With a nod, I pulled out my wallet. “Yes. There’s a young girl sitting in the back corner. She mentioned she can’t afford to buy the book she’s reading, and that you let her come in and read.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s Jenny Mills. Her father has been raising her on his own after his wife died giving birth to their second child. The baby didn’t make it very long after Jennifer—Jenny’s mom—passed away. It’s just been Jenny and Milo. He tries his best, and honestly, he would give her money for books, but Jenny tries not to burden him. She’s saving up for college. She wants to be an English teacher, and with her father being a teacher himself, money is…tight.”
I glanced back over my shoulder in the direction where Jenny was sitting, most likely still reading. “Well, I’d like to buy her a gift card, so she can buy some books.”
Something on Greer’s face changed, and she stared at me for a moment before she placed her hand over her stomach.
“That is so sweet of you!” Candace said when Greer didn’t acknowledge my request. “How much did you want on the gift card?”
Greer was still staring at me, so I turned my attention to Candace. “Um, six.”
“Six dollars?” Candace asked.
I let out a nervous laugh and said, “No, six hundred.”
“Six-hundred dollars?” both women said at the same time.
“Is that not enough?” I asked.
“Not enough! Hudson, that’s more than generous. Jenny would be happy with twenty,” Greer stated.
“Well, I know what a voracious appetite I had for books at that age, and she had a pretty long list of books on her phone. That should give her a good start. I know how expensive print books can be.”
Both women stared at me. Greer had that weird expression on her face again, and I moved my gaze from her to Candace and then back to Greer. “Are you two okay?”
Candace took a step back and held up her hands. “I totally just swooned. You made me swoon—and let me tell you, I do not swoon for just anyone. Denzel Washington. Regé-Jean Page…they make me swoon, but you just got added to my list.”
With a confused look, I replied, “Um…okay?”
Greer cleared her throat and shook her head. “That is so very kind of you, Hudson. She’s going to be over the moon.”
“It’s my pleasure. Do you have something I can write on to give to her? She told me that I looked like Hudson Higgins, but cuter,” I said with a wink.
Both of them looked at each other and then gave me a slow once-over. “Well, she spoke the truth. You do look cuter than your profile picture on Instagram. What was with the blond hair?” Greer asked with a slight chuckle.
I hoped my surprise that Greer had looked me up on the Internet hadn’t shown on my face. “It was summer. My hair always gets lighter in the summer.”
She raised one brow as if she didn’t buy what I was saying.
After paying for the gift card, I wrote Jenny a quick note and listed a few other books I thought she might like from lesser-known mystery and suspense authors. Then, I signed my name. I handed it to Candace.
“Will you wait to give it to her after I leave?”
With a nod, Candace said, “Of course. Greer, are you going up to the cabin?”
Greer looked at me. “Did you want to see the cabin now? I know it’s last minute and all.”
“Yes, I would love to see it.”
“Great! Um, I need to grab my things, so if you want to wait for me outside, I’ll just run upstairs and get the key to the cabin. Do you mind if I drive?”
I shook my head. “Not at all. You are officially my tour guide.”
Another brilliant smile. I loved that this woman smiled so much. It was fucking infectious. “Excellent! Give me two minutes.”
I watched as she quickly made her way through the shelves to what I was guessing was a private entrance to her place above the bookstore. In my research earlier—which was fishing for information from Joanne—I’d found out that Greer lived upstairs and had since she’d bought the bookstore about five years ago.
Turning, I gave Candace a quick nod and said, “I’ll be back later! You sure you don’t mind holding down the fort for a bit?”
“Of course not. Have fun!” she called out before the door clicked behind me and I stepped out onto the sidewalk. I looked