Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
We reach the restaurant, a tiny Italian place, and James holds the door open for me. I step inside and immediately feel transported to the streets of Rome, or so the décor implies. The walls are decorated with photos of the Italian countryside; there’s a display of masks and an ornate vase with an olive tree in it. Along the left side of the restaurant are a few booths; at one of them I recognize Piper and Harrison. Her eyes go wide when she sees me, and she smiles, while Harrison twists in his seat to look as we come over.
“Laila,” Piper says. “I didn’t know you’d be coming.”
She gets out of her seat and comes and gives me a hug. I go stiff and lightly pat her back, surprised at her sudden affection. I only talked with her and Harrison for a little bit when they were visiting Eddie and Monica, but I guess she’s the hugger type. I’m definitely not.
“She’s on her fourth glass of wine,” Harrison says good-naturedly, getting to his feet.
Piper sighs and releases me before reaching over to smack him on the arm. “Hey, I’m not drunk, I’m friendly,” she scolds him, exaggerating the last word.
Harrison gives her a wry smile and then nods at me. “Nice to see you again, Laila. Glad you could join us.”
“Finally convinced her to leave the house,” James says.
I give him a puzzled look. “Finally? This is the first time you’ve invited me.”
“There were others. Perhaps I wasn’t direct enough,” he says.
“James? Not direct? That’s a new one,” Harrison says with a laugh.
James sits down beside him, and I slide into the booth beside Piper.
A waitress who has been hovering nearby pounces on us with the menus, rattling off the specials, but I’m not listening to her. I’m thinking of what James just said. When on earth had he invited me out to town with him? Sure, he did so the first day we really met, but after that…
And then I realize he’s been doing it all this time, and no, he wasn’t direct enough. There was one night when he asked me what I was doing and I said I was going to bed. Another morning I passed him in the halls and he said I ought to go out and enjoy the fresh air. Yet another time after dinner he announced he was heading into town and followed that with an awkwardly long pause, as if waiting for me to say something.
“Miss?” the waitress says to me.
I tear my eyes away from James and blink at her. “Sorry, what?”
“What will you have to drink? Wine with the table or…?”
“We got another bottle of red,” Piper says as she nudges me and nods at the empty bottle in the middle of the table that the waitress is removing. “It’s delicious.”
I give her a quick smile. “Red wine can give me a headache sometimes,” I admit, then tell the waitress I’d like an Aperol Spritz. Trendy, yes, but a drink that’s perfect for the last days of summer.
“Looking forward to going home?” James asks the couple.
Piper sighs. “Yes and no. It’s been amazing here. It’s the first time we’ve done anything like this since…”
“Since I moved to the island,” Harrison finishes. “It’s hard to find staff on the island, so I’ve been reluctant to leave the bakery. But now I’ve found a worker I can really trust. Hopefully she’ll still be there when we return.”
“And I’m looking forward to fall and being back in the classroom,” Piper says. “New year, new students, the fall fair, pumpkin spice everything. But I have to say, it’s been so nice to just be overseas, in a big city, seeing life through other people’s eyes, you know? Sometimes I start to feel closed in if I stay on the island for too long. Like I can’t think clearly, like I don’t have a lot of freedom to be…me.”
Even though I’ve never lived on an island, I know exactly what she’s talking about. The feeling of being caged, of not being able to be your true self.
“What about you?” I ask Harrison. “Island life affecting you the same way?”
He manages a small smile, his gaze focused on Piper and soft with affection. “Not at all. It was good to come back to Mother England, but I don’t feel closed in, not with her by my side.”
“Aw, come on, mate,” James says with a derisive laugh. “No one wants to hear how happy you are.”
He’s right about that. Don’t get me wrong, Piper is adorable and Harrison is the strong, silent, sexy type, and I’m happy for them because they’re very clearly in love. But sometimes when I’m around happy couples, it just reminds me of how I’ll probably never have that in my life.
Harrison scoffs at James. “Right, as if you aren’t breaking women’s hearts left and right every time you come to the city.”