Page 47 of Capture The Moment

Chapter 12

The end. Two words that could be the happiest or saddest in the English language depending on the situation. Harper set down her book and sighed. In this case, the words were bittersweet. The widow and her husband’s friend got their happy ending, but Harper didn’t expect that to happen for her. For the past two weeks, she’d successfully managed to avoid any contact with Finn, although it hadn’t been easy.

He’d tried calling her a few times, but she hadn’t answered. And afterwards, she’d listened to his gruff voice reminding her that she couldn’t avoid him forever and to please call back. But she hadn’t. She couldn’t. Not after what had happened at Blake’s memorial dinner.

Finn had also come to her house a couple times, but the only way she’d known was because her driveway had been cleared when she’d returned from her photo shoots. He might have tried to catch her at home, but luckily, she’d been out both times. She knew she was being immature about the whole mess, but she also knew that she wasn’t equipped to deal with it. She still felt too vulnerable, and she was afraid of what might happen if she saw him again. Because she missed him, damn it. Try as she might to forget about the kiss, she couldn’t, and it scared the shit out of her.

She hadn’t dealt with the Will situation either. They’d talked on the phone once since he’d returned from his ski weekend, but they hadn’t made any plans to see each other. Truthfully, she was relieved. The idea of sitting down with him and explaining that she just wanted to be friends sounded almost as daunting as talking to Finn. Almost, but not quite.

And so, desperate for an escape, she pulled into the parking lot of A New Chapter on a Thursday night in search of a new book, although this time, she planned to stay away from the romance section altogether.

When Harper walked into the charming bookstore, she instantly felt at home. There was something so comforting about being surrounded by books and by people who enjoyed reading as much as she did that she was able to set her worries aside.

“Hello, there,” the owner said, shooting her a friendly smile. “We met a few weeks ago, right?”

Harper nodded. “I’m Harper, and you’re Emma, right?”

“Impressive. You’re better at remembering names than me! Is there anything I can help you find?”

Peace of mind would be nice! “No thanks. I thought I’d just look around.” And then she heard a chorus of laughter coming from the back of the store and exchanged a curious look with Emma.

“Sorry about the noise. Kelly’s leading a romance book club meeting tonight. You’re welcome to join in if you like.”

“Oh, no. That’s ok. I was just going to…”

“Hey, Harper,” Kelly said, walking up to them with an enthusiastic smile.

“Hi.”

“Are you here to join our book club?”

Later, Harper decided that Kelly had caught her in a vulnerable moment, because she found herself saying, “Ok. Sure. Why not?”

“Great! Come on back!”

Just like before, Harper followed Kelly’s swaying hips to the back of the store, where there was a circle of eight to ten other women talking and laughing.

Pulling another chair into the circle, Kelly said, “Ladies, please welcome Harper to our group.”

Harper smiled and nodded as everyone shouted out hellos.

Once Harper was seated, Kelly stood in front of the group and said, “Tonight, we’re being joined by a local romance author who’s here to tell us about her new book. Please welcome Kate Stephens.”

Everyone clapped as Kate took the floor and introduced the next book in her series about office romances. While Harper listened, her mind wandered to Finn, as it had been doing every day since the kiss. Good thing we don’t work together, she thought, tying her musing in with what Kate was saying. It would have been impossible to avoid him in that case.

After Kate’s presentation, she offered to stick around and sign books for anyone who was interested, and then Kelly took the floor again. “Now it’s time to hear your recommendations for our next book club selection. And if you don’t have one, just tell us about the last book that you read.”

When it became her turn, Harper wasn’t prepared to recommend a new romance book, so instead, she gave a synopsis of the book she’d just finished. She didn’t usually have trouble speaking in front of a group, but tonight, she felt nervous because of the subject matter. After she’d finished talking, a spunky older woman spoke up and said, “Well, that kind of thing happens every day when you get to be my age! In fact, my friend Irene just got engaged to Henry, who was her husband’s golf partner for years before he passed.”

Interjecting, Kelly said, “Harper, this is Mrs. Simmons, the woman who’s responsible for getting this book club off the ground.”

“Oh, I can’t take all the credit,” Mrs. Simmons said, but she looked pleased at the compliment.

Harper was relieved when it became the next woman’s turn, and she’d managed to avoid divulging any personal information. These women were strangers, and she wasn’t prepared to air her dirty laundry with them. Although, they all seemed kind and receptive to having her there, and it couldn’t hurt to make new friends.

A short while later, the meeting started to break up, but several of the women milled around to have coffee and snacks. Harper was debating about sneaking out when Mrs. Simmons approached her and laid a bony hand on her arm.

“Excuse me, dear, but I sensed some sadness in your voice when you were telling us about that book. Did the story hit a little too close to home for you?”