Page 9 of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store

And maybe she’d inhaled too much woodsmoke but the fact that she’d ended up right where the crooked books had pointed her just felt like too much of a sign to ignore. The books were the key to her adventure. It was time she started paying attention.

ChapterFour

Noah found Hazel a little bit drunk in the small garden. The air smelled like dirt and woodsmoke. It was full dark now and Hazel was sitting at the edge of the garden holding a half empty bottle of wine.

‘Hey, we got worried about you. Thought you might have been eaten by goats.’

Hazel gazed up at him. ‘It was in the book.’

Maybe she was more drunk than he thought. ‘What was in the book? You sure you’re okay? Want me to get Annie?’

Hazel wrinkled her nose and tugged him down next to her. ‘There was another book.’ She was looking at him like he should know what she was talking about but he definitely didn’t and frankly all he could think about right now was how close she was and how sweet she smelled and that she was wearing shorts which he’d never seen her do and the beautiful, soft skin on her legs, and...

‘Another clue!’ she said, dropping her voice like it was a secret. He wanted to have secrets with Hazel Kelly. ‘I found another book with another clue.’

‘Oh! Right. The book clues.’

‘Yeah.’ She nodded her head and her curls bounced around her shoulders. ‘And it was about eating blueberries and look!’ She flipped up the leaves of a nearby plant and exposed the fresh fruit underneath. ‘Blueberries.’ Her tone was hushed, like these berries held some kind of answers for her.

‘That’s ... cool.’ That was an inadequate response but Hazel nodded again and plucked one of the berries.

‘They’re really good, too.’ She brought the fruit to her lips and popped it in her mouth and Noah’s world ground to a halt. The only thing that existed in that moment was Hazel’s mouth and her little sigh of happiness and the fireflies lighting up around her head.

Her eyes closed as she ate the berries and Noah just stared. Anyone that didn’t realize that Hazel was hot as hell had their head up their ass.

‘You want one?’ she asked, her eyes fluttering open again. She picked a few more berries and placed them reverently in his palm.

‘Thanks.’ The word came out strangled and Noah cleared his throat.

‘Here.’ Hazel passed him the wine and he took a long swallow before eating the berries. The combination was tart and sweet and summery.

Hazel smiled at him. His head spun.

‘I think I need your help.’

Anything. ‘Okay.’

She pushed her glasses up her nose. ‘I need help with my summer... I mean... I need help having fun.’

‘You need help having fun?’

‘An adventure.’ She waved her hand around, gesturing to ... everything? ‘I want to follow the clues, assuming there will be more, and I want to just ... I don’t know... I want to be reckless. I’ve spent my whole life being safe and now I want ... adventure, excitement. I want a good story to tell over drinks.’

‘And you want me to help you?’

Hazel shrugged, looking away from him now. ‘It seems like you’d be good at it. At fun, summer adventuring. That’s what you do, right?’

‘Are you ... hiring me?’

‘No!’ Hazel’s eyes went wide. ‘No, that’s not what I meant. Sorry, I’m messing this up. I just thought you seemed excited about the clues and you’re just more ... I don’t know ... interesting than anyone else I know ... and I thought you might want to help me. Sorry I shouldn’t have said anything.’

‘Hazel.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Of course I’ll help you.’ Did a part of him wish this help had something to do with anything other than reckless fun? Sure. But Noah recognized his strengths.

‘You will?’