Page 38 of Library or Lattes?

Please contact my office at your earliest convenience to discuss next steps.

Sincerely,

Fred Ray, Esq.

Ray & Black Associates

By Thanksgiving? It was too soon. I couldn’t just decide to change my entire life by Thanksgiving. My hands were still shaking when I read the second letter … The letter from Aunt Lisa …

My emotions raced as I read it, her voice—even the little I truly knew of it—ringing from the pages. I shoved the letter back into its envelope. Sat on my bed, got up again. Glanced at the framed photo of me and Mom. “Mom, what do I do?” I whispered.

I slid the letter under my pillow along with my notebooks and walked back into the kitchen. I went straight to the pile of mail again and, well, somehow I’d missed it before: the previous version of the letter I’d just read. Thin and white and now impossible to ignore, it had been here all along. Definitely not a scam.

“Willa? Are you back from your run?” Pop was hanging his coat by the door. “Ah, there you are.” Then he saw what I was reading.

But I couldn’t talk about this right now.

“I’m heading to the Acorn now,” I told him.

“And I’ll see you at the festival later?”

That made me stop, because Pop never went to Harvest Festival. As friendly as he was to everyone in the neighborhood, town events weren’t usually his kind of thing.

“You’re coming?” I was sure he saw that I looked surprised.

But he acted all casual, like nothing was up. “Thought I’d give it a go this year, see what all the fuss is about. You seem to have been working extra hard to make it special.”

I opened the door and smiled. “Thanks, Pop. I’ll see you later.”

When I got to the coffee shop there was already a sign on the door.

CLOSED THIS AFTERNOON

SEE Y’ALL AT HARVEST FEST! ☺

The bubble-writing and the smiley face made me grin. I couldn’t imagine James sitting down to design that. And then, bam, there he was. Walking toward the door in a burgundy hoodie and light blue jeans. Gorgeous. He opened the door and pulled me in gently by the edge of my scarf.

“Quick, I want to show you something.” James led me into the back room, where the shelves were stacked with napkins and takeout cartons. And without another word he took my face in his hands and maneuvered me so my back was against the shelves. He kissed me and I felt my whole body relax. I breathed him in. Woody, spicy. Sexy.

“Well, that was unexpected.” The other day there’d been the flirting but no more kissing. Part of me wondered if James had regretted it or something, but now it seemed there was no reason to worry. He wanted this as much as I did.

“Sorry. You just. Well …” He found my eyes and I stared right back.

I looked at my watch. “We should get out there.”

“I think I’d rather stay here.”

“Come!” I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the storeroom. James sighed and mumbled something about needing more coffee.

“Are you okay? You look tired.”

“Thanks, Red.” James rolled his eyes. “What a compliment.”

I put my hand on his shoulder and never wanted to take it away. “Sorry. What I meant to say was, were you up late?”

“I was, actually. I’ve been fixing up the shed so it’s more like a tiny house. Just trying to make it a bit more my own, I guess. Since I’m here for a while now.” James shrugged and stabbed his finger into a button on the coffee machine.

“Hey, let me do it.” I took over and James smiled gratefully.