Home for Christmas

Sophie Davenport, who had been using her maiden name of Miller for the past two years, was shelving hundreds of used paperbacks the bookstore had just gotten in when she saw Flirty Guy walk into the shop.

He’d been coming in for the past few weeks, ostensibly to find more books to read. Most of the time, however, he spent trying to chat her up.

She ducked her head and pushed the cart to the far corner of the store, hoping he wouldn’t see her.

She was in the religion section now, so she leaned over to the bottom shelf of her cart to reach the books she’d organized for this part of the store.

Maybe if the guy didn’t see her, he would just leave.

She was staring at a shelf of inspirational romances, marveling that so many of them were about the Amish, when she heard the unwanted voice behind her. “There you are! I was looking for you.”

Hiding a sigh, she pasted on a fake smile and turned around. “Good afternoon. Can I help you?”

Sophie usually had a warm, friendly manner with patrons of the bookstore. Running an independent bookstore in a small town like Willow Park was an uphill battle, and she knew great customer service was absolutely essential. But with this particular guy, she’d gravitated toward extraprofessional and slightly cool since she didn’t want to encourage him to keep hanging around.

Her strategy didn’t appear to be working.

Flirty Guy was nice-looking, well dressed, and intelligent. She was pretty sure he must be working somewhere nearby and was dropping by on his lunch breaks since he always wore good trousers and a dress shirt. If she’d been single, she might even be interested in him.

Sophie wasn’t single. She just hadn’t seen her husband in two and a half years.

“I was hoping you might help me find another good book to read. I really liked the last one you suggested.” The guy was grinning, as he always did, and he clearly wasn’t in any hurry to leave.

“Oh. I’m a little busy right now.” She gestured down at her cart of books.

“I’m sure the books currently on that shelf can hold the fort for a little while longer before you get the other ones up there.”

She stared down at the neatly organized paperbacks in the stack, trying to figure out what to do. She didn’t want to be rude, but she’d flashed her engagement and wedding rings at him as often and as obviously as she could.

Surely he could see that she was married. Surely he would understand that meant she was unavailable. She occasionally had random guys come on to her—she was small, slender, dark-haired, and pretty enough—but few had been as committed as this guy.

“What kind of book were you looking for?” she asked at last.

“I don’t know. Something exciting.”

Great. That told her absolutely nothing. She was going to be here forever, trying to find him a book that he didn’t really want.

“What about espionage? My husband really likes those.” There. He couldn’t possibly mistake that.

He didn’t mistake it, but he didn’t react the way she’d been hoping. He leaned forward, bracing himself against her cart. “Are you really married?”

“Yes.” She stiffened her shoulders. “What kind of question is that?”

“I don’t know.” He still looked casual, laid-back, definitely flirtatious. “Someone told me that you live alone, so I figured maybe you were separated.”

Sophie was separated from her husband, but not in the way this guy meant. She felt rattled and slightly emotional, and she didn’t like the feeling. She didn’t like this guy at all for making her feel that way. “I’m married for real,” she said coolly.

He sighed and straightened up. “So where is your husband?”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but that’s not really your business.”

“So there’s no chance for me then?” He looked disappointed, which might have been flattering—instead, it was a huge relief since it meant he was finally getting the picture.

“No. I’m happily married.”

That was a lie, but there was no reason to explain it to a stranger.

Sophie loved her husband, Mark, as much as she ever had, but nothing about their marriage was happy right now. It was looking less and less likely that he would ever come home.

Before Flirty Guy could respond, another voice came from the aisle. “Sophie! There you are. How are you doing?”

Sophie blinked in surprise. She recognized the voice and the pretty, pregnant blonde who was approaching, but Abigail Morgan wasn’t in the habit of being so loud and in-your-face cheerful.

Flirty Guy used the distraction to make a quick escape.

Sophie sighed in relief as he slipped away, hoping she’d seen him for the last time.

Abigail frowned. “Are you okay? Was he bothering you?”

“He was just coming on to me. Nothing too bad.” Sophie smiled at her friend. She’d only known the other woman for six months, but Abigail was one of the few women in Willow Park with whom Sophie had really gotten close since moving here.

“You looked upset.” Abigail was still glowering toward the front of the store where the guy had disappeared.

“Not really about him,” Sophie explained, lowering her voice. There was no one else in the shop right now except her grandfather, who owned the store and was presently dozing behind the cashier’s desk. “He was just asking about my husband, and it… It upset me for some reason.”

“Of course it would upset you.”

“Yeah. Of course. I just mean, I’m used to it now, and it doesn’t usually get me so emotional.”