Page 47 of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store

‘The clues!’

‘Right. Of course. And...’

Hazel gave her head a slight shake, her curls sliding across her shoulders. He wanted to touch them but kept his hands planted on the bar instead.

‘And,’ she frowned, ‘they didn’t seem to know what I was talking about.’

‘So they didn’t do it?’

‘I don’t know. I guess not. But now I really can’t imagine who would have. I guess you could be right about Annie, although I still don’t think she’s sneaky enough.’

‘Does it matter who’s doing it?’

Hazel shrugged, but her gaze slid from his. ‘I would just feel kinda ... silly ... if they’re not meant for me. Or if it’s all some kind of . . . joke.’

‘Haze.’

‘Yeah?’ She turned back to look at him and she was close enough that he could see the silver ring around her pupils.

‘So what if it is a joke?’ He kept his voice soft, not wanting to make it sound like her worries weren’t valid but just wanting to understand why she was so concerned about the origin of the clues.

She shrugged again, the crease forming between her brows. ‘It’s just embarrassing if everyone gets it and you don’t.’

‘I feel like we’re not talking about the clues anymore.’ He straightened and wiped his hands on the towel he kept behind the bar. The dining room had emptied out now and other than a few stragglers it was just him and Hazel at the bar. Marty and Cliff were long gone, thank God. He didn’t need them chiming in with ill-timed comments about him and Hazel.

He poured her a fresh glass of wine.

‘Is this like a bartender thing where you’re going to get me to spill all my issues to you?’

‘Oh, come on,’ he said with a teasing grin. ‘I told you mine.’

Hazel huffed a quiet laugh.

‘It’s not some long-simmering trauma or anything, it’s just we moved here at the start of high school and everyone had already known each other forever and I don’t know ... I just felt left out or something. Or like I didn’t really belong here.’ She sighed. ‘Sometimes I still just feel like ... I don’t know. Like I’m missing something. Or I’m going to commit some kind of Dream Harbor faux pas. I nearly got run out of high school for not dressing up for school spirit week. Anything less than a face painted with the school colors was considered a crime against the town. If Annie hadn’t adopted me, I probably wouldn’t be the well-rounded woman you know today.’ She gave him a self-deprecating smile.

‘So, worst case scenario...’ Noah leaned against the counter behind him, arms over his chest. ‘We’ve inserted ourselves into someone else’s prank and are now having the best summer ever. Even if the Dream Harborians––’

‘Dreamers.’

‘Right, Dreamers. Even if the Dreamers think you’re some kind of ... clue stealer ... that doesn’t sound so bad to me.’

‘That doesn’t sound embarrassing to you?’

‘Nope.’

‘Do you ever worry about what other people think of you?’

‘Pretty rarely.’

Hazel raised her eyebrows like she didn’t believe him, but she lifted her glass and took a sip instead of calling him out on it. Maybe he did care about whatsomepeople thought of him, but certainly not the general opinion of the Dream Harbor residents.

‘You didn’t care that everyone saw us at the carnival together,’ he pointed out, for reasons he couldn’t fathom. Was he trying to make her doubt being seen with him?Real smart move.

‘That wasn’t embarrassing.’

Being ‘not embarrassing’ was something, anyway.

‘But,’ she went on, ‘being the neighborhood crazy, book lady who thinks the books are talking to her so she plans the last two months of her twenties around them . . . is definitely embarrassing.’