Playing with Words (Boggy Creek Valley #2) - Kelly Elliott Page 0,20

me to come help her bake or work in the garden, and I would tell her in a minute. She would laugh and ask me if I was turning pages again.”

“I love that,” Hudson said softly.

“Yeah, I did too, obviously.”

“How did you find yourself owning the bookstore? I read that it’s been in Boggy Creek a number of years.”

I guess Hudson had been doing some research after all. Interesting.

“I made the previous owner promise me—when I was fourteen, mind you—that when he wanted to retire and sell the store, he would sell it to me. He said he would, and from that point forward, I made it my mission to save every penny I could so that when the time came, I could buy it. I even worked for Tom…I mean, Mr. Brooks…during high school, part of college and right after college. He taught me everything I needed to know to take over.”

“That’s amazing. You should be very proud of yourself, Greer.”

“I am, actually. I pushed a lot of other things to the side to get the bookstore where I wanted it, but it’s all been worth it.”

“Like what have you pushed to the side?”

I held up my finger and shook it. “Nope. It’s your turn. Tell me when you knew you wanted to be a writer.”

Hudson drew in breath and slowly exhaled. “That’s also an easy one for me to answer. I was twelve.”

“Twelve!” I asked in a disbelieving voice.

“Yep. My parents decided we were going on a road trip, and my mother stocked me and my sister up with games and books. One of the books caught my eye and I started to read it. I was so pulled into the story, I didn’t even want to get out and look at any of the sites my folks were pointing at.”

“Which book was it?” I asked.

“Harry Potter.”

I gasped. “Oh my gosh, who doesn’t love those books!”

Hudson chuckled. “My sister. She hated them.”

Looking at him, I said, “I cannot be friends with your sister.”

He nodded. “She was a science nerd.”

“Aw…okay. So she was more of a nonfiction book lover.”

“Yes, but I loved me some Harry Potter. Halfway through that trip, I begged my folks to stop at a Barnes & Noble so I could buy the next book.”

“Did they?” I asked as I turned down Lone Mountain Road.

When Hudson didn’t reply, I stole a glance at him. He was smiling. He shook his head slightly. “My God, it just hit me. They did buy me the next book. The rest of the books, actually.”

“Why does that surprise you?” I asked, concentrating on driving down the narrow road.

“It surprises me because they bought the books in your bookstore. I mean, the bookstore that was there before yours.”

I felt my heart pick up in rhythm. “Shut up!”

“I’m dead serious, Greer. They bought them here, in Boggy Creek!”

“What in the world are the odds of that, Hudson?”

“Crazy odds, to be sure.”

We drove for a few minutes in silence before I made a left turn and headed down Larson Ranch Road.

“Um, did you know this road has your last name?” Hudson asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes,” I said with a soft chuckle. “My father did some sweet talking to get that done. Trust me, we don’t own a ranch, but our family does own about seventy-five acres. When I said you were out in the middle of nowhere, I meant it.”

“Did you tell me it was in the middle of nowhere?” Hudson asked as he looked out the window. “It’s beautiful here. I can see why you’d want to live here. It’s hard to believe it’s so close to town since it feels so remote.”

“Well, Boggy Creek is a small town.”

All he did was nod and take in the scenery. I drove for a few more miles and then pulled into the driveway that led to the cabin.

“The cabin has three bedrooms and one bathroom, all up on the second floor,” I said. “There’s a desk in my favorite room. It has a large, floor-to-ceiling window that overlooks the lake. It’s truly beautiful. My folks have someone check on it weekly and keep it stocked and cleaned, just in case anyone gets an itch to come up here for a few days.”

“Will your dad tell the caretaker I’ll be here?”

I nodded. “Yes, I’m sure he’ll let her know.”

“Her?” Hudson asked.

Suddenly, a strange feeling came over me. I didn’t want to tell Hudson about Jean. She was a few years younger than me, pretty, with