LITMIR.BIZ

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there it was. The reason for all this charm. I straightened my back and lifted my chin. I’d give him the information he wanted, but I’d make sure he knew it was because it was my choice, and not because I fell for any of his lines.

      “She’s introducing an app for my cousin Jamal.”

      “Who’s he working for?”

      The fact that he believed Jamal couldn’t do something like develop a computer software program, lifted my chin even farther. I probably looked like a giraffe reaching for the top of an acacia tree. “This is his app,” I said with a wagonload full of pride. “His idea, and your mom loved it.”

      His eyes narrowed. “Why is she the one announcing its release?”

      My pride fell a smidgeon. Cade of all people would know what it took me to ask his mom for help. “Because I asked her if she would.”

      “What’s in it for you?” he asked.

      “That’s something you’re going to have to find out for yourself at the news conference at ten o’clock…tomorrow.” I turned back to my work.

      “Okay, I’ll be here. What time can I come by your apartment tonight?”

      I hadn’t expected that. I’d anticipated Cade canceling by text now that he had most of the information he wanted. I glanced back over my shoulder, unsure of my judgment. “You still want to come?”

      “Asking to come by your place was not a ploy to get information about what you’re up to.”

      If I believed the look on his face, he was genuinely insulted. I ignored it and chose to believe Cade would appear when I saw him standing at my door. “I should be done around nine fifteen or so.”

      “I’ll be at your front door at nine fifteen…sharp.”

      Cade said goodbye and headed to the front door as my dad walked in. The conversation between them was easier. It had the flow of friendship that made it warm and inviting. It was nothing like our conversation, which had been filled with pain and passion that neither one of us was ready or willing to except. I listened to them for a few minutes and realized I was jealous of the years they’d had together. Yet at the same time, I reveled in their friendship. That relationship had gotten my daddy through some rough times while I’d been gone. Any woman would be thankful for that.

      “Are you ready for the press conference, Princess?” my daddy asked.

      Cade stopped before exiting the store, pausing long enough to glean a bit more information.

      “Almost, Daddy,” I said with my back turned to them. I was not giving Cade any more information. The announcement was supposed to be a surprise.

      “Jamal said the app is completely ready. I just collected my first book and it worked wonderfully.”

      Daddy hadn’t been able to go with us when Jamal showed me how to play, and he’d been dying to try the app ever since. I just hadn’t realized how excited he’d been. At the rate he was going, he’d be telling the whole town about it before we even gathered the press for the release.

      Cade preyed on his enthusiasm. “It’s a game where you collect books?”

      “It’s not just a game—”

      I interrupted before he gave away the Barn too. “Daddy, we have to save the details for the media.”

      “Hogwash. This is Cade. He’s our friend and our mayor. He has a vested interest in the app succeeding.”

      Who was this blabbermouth? And where did he hide my daddy?

      Dad turned to Cade, using his hands so much I was beginning to think he had bugs in his pants—of the fire ant variety. “It’s going to launch a business venture between the Book Barn Princess and Jamal’s Book Seeker app. We hope that it will bring business from across the state to our store.”

      I saw Cade’s face light up as he slowly turned to look at me. A couple of months back when he’d asked me what my intentions were for the Barn, I’d said I was happy to return home and keep it small. My daddy had just proven Cade’s point—he couldn’t believe I would settle for one store in Hazel Rock when he thought I could create a chain.

      Somehow, I couldn’t get anyone to understand that I didn’t want to expand the store and make it grow nationwide. That wasn’t why I’d stayed in Hazel Rock. I’d stayed because I found my roots once more. I’d stayed because I was working with my dad in my hometown, and I finally felt comfortable in my own skin.

      I didn’t want to leave Hazel Rock for anything but vacation. This was where I belonged. I didn’t need to be rich and successful. I was comfortable making a living and being right where I was. But Cade was ambitious; he always had been. And that was one of our differences—one of the wedges that would always come between us.

      “Are you looking to expand the Barn?” Cade asked in that all-knowing tone.

      “No,” I said before my daddy could answer.

      “Yes!” my dad said, despite my denial. Both our answers were full of passion. I had no idea he wanted to expand the business. Apparently, he didn’t either, because he seemed somewhat embarrassed by the admission. It was like we hadn’t communicated about it at all…which, in hindsight, I guess we hadn’t really discussed the possibilities, we just always said we liked out business the way it was—family run.

      “You do?” I asked.

      Cade smiled like a pet raccoon. “Is that what my mom is going to announce? The collaboration between the app and the bookstore?”

      This time I made sure my dad didn’t answer. I held up my hand to halt his response and approached our mayor. “Cade Calloway, what we plan with our business is none of your business. You’ll find out when the rest of Hazel Rock finds out—tomorrow morning.”

      “At ten o’clock in front of the Barn.”

      “Ten o’clock in front of the Barn,” I repeated.

      “Does Mateo know?” he asked.

      “He knows about the press conference. The rest is between my dad, my aunt, me, and my cousin.”

      “And my mother, apparently.”

      My dad finally got the clue that Cade and I were at ends. Opposite ends. He cleared his throat, the look of total discomfort showcasing how much he hated to be caught in the middle of our arguing. “Excuse me. I think I’ll disappear into the back room.” Princess scurried across the floor after him, limping just a little bit as the two pushed through the curtain into the stockroom at the same time.

      Cade and I looked at each other. He was pleased. I was annoyed.

      “You’ll have to come back tomorrow. I hope we can trust you not to say anything.”

      Cade held his hand up to his heart. It was his way of saying I could trust him.

      Part of me did. The other part rolled her eyes.

      “I’ll be here, and I’ll make sure my dad is too.” His smile and exit were full of male bravado. If he’d done it at the beauty salon across the street, all the women would have looked at each other and burst out laughing.

      I sighed and went back to work.

      The last thing I wanted was J. C. Calloway standing next to his wife and trying to take all the limelight from my cousin and my daddy during the press conference. There was no doubt in my mind he would do it—none whatsoever. J. C. had a need the size of Texas to be the center of attention, and if Cade couldn’t see that about his daddy, I wasn’t sure we’d have a whole lot to say to each other later that night.

      I had a lot of books to get out in the next couple hours and the tearoom needed to be restocked. The door reopened with a swish and a ding, and I’d had just about enough of the Cade Calloway charm. “Cade Calloway, I am too busy to answer any

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