Page 30 of The Snowflake Effect
Raven lifts her arm, twisting it to show off her ink. “Sure is. Both Shay and Lily designed something for my sleeve.”
“It’s amazing,” I say more to Shay than Raven.
Shay’s eyes spark back to life as she plucks the book from my grasp and tucks it into her purse. “Thanks. I’d kill to incorporate the idea into an actual room. Like design a modern tattoo shop or funky store. One day,” she says, frustration edging into her tone.
My phone buzzes, and I nod to Shay, stepping away to get a bit of quiet by the back wall. I smile at Jackson’s name lighting my phone. “Is that you, bud?”
“The spelling show’s on, the one we always watch, and they’re doing H, Daddy. H. And I’m not tired. Not one bit. I probably don’t even need to sleep tonight. Or ever. And Aunt Stella said I can stay up as long as I want. So if I stay up all night, like the whole thing, will you be here soon? They’re doing H!”
Jackson and his show. Marina was smart, planning on a nursing degree, and I can work Excel with my eyes closed, but neither of us were language geeks, obsessed with words and dictionaries. We weren’t the types to separate our clothes by color or only eat green foods on Thursdays. If Jackson didn’t have my brown eyes, the mailman would be having a conversation with my fist.
I check my watch. They’re one hour behind at home, only a few minutes past the little guy’s bedtime, but Stella will likely let him stay up as long as he wants. Asking my assistant to babysit a couple of years ago wasn’t my finest decision, but I was desperate and Jackson knew her. Now, if I ask anyone besides her or his nana Caroline, he starfishes in the kitchen and won’t get off the floor. “I’ll be back tomorrow, bud, but not early. I suggest you get some sleep. Can you do that for me?”
Static fills my ear then, “’Kay.”
“Thanks for being such a big boy. I’ll be home tomorrow by dinner. Can’t wait to see you. Love you tons.”
“Love you, too.”
I pocket my phone and turn to find Shay’s eyes on me, her lips turned down. I walk over. “You okay?”
She furrows her brow. “Fine.”
Her body language says otherwise.
Ever since the phone-call incident the first night we hooked up, she gets weird and distant when I step away to take a call. Each time, I try explaining it’s not some girlfriend, but she shuts me down with her I don’t want to know. Not that I try hard to explain. It’s been nice existing in this bubble for a spell, not having to explain about Jackson and my widower status. I guess we both have history we’ve preferred not to unearth.
Tomorrow, it’s back to Vancouver, and although I’ll have piles of work to deal with, fires to put out, and an expansion to Toronto to plan, I get to see Jackson. I’ll likely forget about Shay in a couple of weeks.
Sawyer checks his watch. “You ladies need to leave soon if you want to make your flight.”
“Yeah, we should go.” Shay nudges Lily’s thigh.
A weird scratchiness irritates my throat. I better not be getting sick.
Taking my time, I help Shay with her coat, hug her, and bury my nose in her hair. Peppermint. “Thanks for skiing into me,” I say.
She chuckles, her shoulders shaking in my tight hold. “Thanks for tossing your poles over the chairlift.”
I press a chaste kiss to her lips and step aside so she can leave. Sawyer and I watch as the ladies zip their coats and open the door. Shay pauses. She glances back, our eyes meeting one last time, then she’s gone.
When I turn to Sawyer, he looks like someone punched him in the gut. “So you’re not into Lily?” I ask.
“Fuck you,” he mumbles and orders a double bourbon on the rocks.
“Make that two,” I say.
CHAPTER 13
SHAY
Two Months Later
I should’ve left work fifteen minutes ago. Normally, the store is tidied and mopped by now, but every time I refold a bath towel or fluff the pillows on the display bed, I zone out. Finding my landlord’s eviction notice pushed under my door this morning hasn’t exactly won me Salesperson of the Day.
Five times tonight, customers have had to ask if I heard their repeated questions. I’d apologize, then glaze over again.
Evicted. Me.
