She did have this, but it still felt good to hear it from someone else—especially from Tim. He’d been there every step of the way, letting her vent about timelines and contractors, and offering her advice and encouragement. He’d propped her up when she needed it and made her take a break when she didn’t think she needed to. He’d been everything she hadn’t known she needed and more.
“Thank you.” She lifted her head from his chest and craned her neck back to look at him. “I don’t think I would have gotten through this without you.”
“I’ve seen your checklists, remember? You’d have been fine.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think I would have been as sane.”
“Who said you were sane now?”
She poked him in the ribs. “Jerk.”
Tim smirked and flinched to the side. “You ready to stop procrastinating? Elba’s looking for you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that to begin with?” She pushed against his hips so he’d let her go.
“You looked like you needed a hug,” he said.
“You just wanted to feel me up.” Zoe turned and walked between the bookcases toward the side of the store.
“Maybe…”
His voice was filled with amusement and she glared at him over her shoulder. She found Elba opening the large, folding doors that separated the bookstore from the Cafe
“Hey. You ready?” She slid the last of the panels into the wall recess.
“As ready as I can be,” Zoe said. “You?”
Elba rested her hands on her hips. “Absolutely. Let’s do this.”
Zoe wished they had a complicated hand-shake high-five they could do, but neither of them knew one and she wasn’t coordinated enough to come up with it on the spot.
“See you on the other side,” she said.
“I’ll have the wine ready,” Elba replied.
The crowd was considerably larger than the first time she’d opened the doors to the bookstore, but she and Elba had heavily advertised the grand re-openings of both the Cafe and the bookstore. She was glad she had scheduled all the clerks she had hired, including the part-timers.
She’d seen Bree and Denise in the restaurant while helping a customer find a book so it was no surprise when they entered the bookstore from that direction.
“Zoe, it’s gorgeous!” Bree hugged her. “I love what you and Elba did with the space. It feels very old-world Europe.”
Zoe smiled. “Thanks. We went round and round with the architect the owner hired on how to transition between the two areas so that it felt like one cohesive space, but were still two separate stores.”
“I’m glad you went with the folding doors instead of the gate,” Bree said.
Zoe cocked her head. “How did you know we discussed putting a gate in?”
For a second, Bree looked panicked. “Um…Tim must have mentioned it to Jase.”
Zoe might have believed her if it hadn’t been for the hesitation in her voice and because, “I never mentioned the gate to Tim. Elba only talked about it once and neither of us liked the idea.”
Denise looked anywhere but at Zoe or Bree, even going as far as glancing at her empty wrist.
“Bree…are you the owner?” Zoe asked.
“Yes! I bought the building. It’s a good investment and it helped out a couple of friends.” She leaned forward and braced her hands on her knees, then straightened and rested them on her hips. “Whew. So glad the cat’s out of the bag. It was killing me.”
Denise shook her head. “How did you ever get a clearance? You suck at keeping secrets.”
Bree shot her a withering look. “Shut up. I didn’t want to keep this secret.”
Zoe flung her arms around Bree’s neck. “Thank you. I don’t know why you thought you had to keep it a secret, but thank you, thank you, thank you. I promise you won’t regret it. We’ll be perfect tenants and we’ll make sure it stays a good investment.”
She hugged Zoe back. “Tim was worried you wouldn’t accept the terms of the offer if you knew they were coming from me.”
“You know, he was probably right. Now I don’t care.” She let go of Bree and looked at Denise.
“No offense, but I’m not a big hugger,” she said.
“None taken,” Zoe said.
Bree leaned close. “I’ll get her for you later.”
Denise rolled her eyes. “God, I hate you people.”
Bree shook her head and mouthed, “She loves us.”
“I’m leaving.” She turned away but called over her shoulder, “Zoe, your store’s awesome.”
Zoe grinned. She’d spent enough time with Bree and Denise the last few months not to be offended by Denise’s brusqueness.
Around two in the afternoon, the crowd began to thin and gave everyone a chance to relax a little. So far they hadn’t faced any major issues other than running out of a couple of the most popular children’s books, but she’d issued IOUs to the customers with promises of a discount on future purchase. All-in-all, not a bad problem to have.
“Zoe.”
Zoe looked up from the tablet she was checking inventory on and found her mom and step-father on the other side of the counter. “Mamãe? How—? What are you doing here?”
She set down the tablet and walked around the counter to hug her parents.
“Tim called us and told us about the grand opening. Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Mamãe, you haven’t supported me this entire time. I honestly didn’t think you’d be interested.”
“Oh, querida. Of course we’re interested. We love you.”
Brian, her step-father, wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We’re very proud of you. Your mother and I are sorry you’ve doubted that—we only want the best for you.”
The backs of her eyes stung. Her mom had apologized for telling Mark where Zoe was staying, explaining she thought Zoe had still been in love with him, but it had been hard feeling like she couldn’t talk to them about what was going on with the bookstore.
Her mom hugged her tight and Zoe squeezed her eyes shut as her familiar scent surrounded her. Letting her go, she wiped at the moisture under her eyes.
“Would you like a tour?” she asked.
“We’d love one,” her mom said.
Hours later, she climbed the stairs to her and Tim’s bedroom. They’d finally moved in together two months ago when her parents had found a buyer for the house, and she still had to pinch herself sometimes that everything was so perfect.
Pushing into the bedroom, she paused on the threshold. “Cheating on me already?”
Tim grinned. “She’s keeping my feet warm.”
“When are you going to admit you don’t want to give her up?” She sat on the edge of the bed and scratched Mitzy behind the ears.
“I already told Denise you’d fallen in love with her and couldn’t bear to see her go.”
“Of course you did. She’s going to have to move if you want me in bed with you.”
“I have something for you.” He leaned around her and rummaged in the nightstand. Sitting back against his pillows, he held out whatever he’d retrieved from the drawer.
Zoe blinked at the small gold ring between his thumb and forefinger as the deep green emerald sparkled in the light from the lamp.
“That’s my grandmother’s ring.”
He tilted it toward him, then back at her. “Yes.”
She looked at him in shock. “Where did you get my grandmother’s ring?”
“Your mom brought it with her. She said it was your favorite when you were a little girl.”
“It was.” She was having a hard time catching her breath. Was he doing what she thought he was doing?
Tim sat up. “Zoe Mariana Olivera Acevedo, will you marry me?”
Meu Deus. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes!”
He slid the ring onto her shaking hand. “I love you.”
Zoe pressed her lips to his. “I love you.”
He smirked against he
r lips. “You remember when you were stuck in that window?”
“Yes…”
“I have this fantasy…”
The End
Acknowledgments
As always, there is a whole list of people I want to thank.
My children who are just beginning to understand what it means when Mommy says, “Let me finish this paragraph.”
My sister for inspiring the frappuccino scene in the market. Yes, it really happened. Yes, she handed me the cup and walked away. It wasn’t as bad as I made it in the book. Also, there wasn’t a hot cop standing behind me when I turned around.
Elisabete - thank you for being the inspiration for Zoe, for not giving me too much grief for not remembering any of my Portuguese from twenty-six years ago, and for answering every “How do you say?”
Elba - for coming up with the most popular title.
My fantastic editor, Jessica for your guidance, feedback, and always amusing comments.
Kelley - Thank you for jumping into this series at the very end. For giving me the focus I was lacking. I can’t wait to see what we can do next.
Lori - Wow! Thank you for my beautiful, gorgeous, drool worthy covers!
Eric - your photos are always beautiful. Good luck on wherever life takes you next. I, for one, am sad to see you go but I’m so happy to have me you and I can’t wait for #LAYBOMAE2020!
As always, you the reader. Whether you’re in my FB reader group, in the A2T2 reader group, or randomly found this book and gave it, and me, a chance. I wouldn’t be able to do this without your continued support.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Happy Reading.
Also by Tarina Deaton
The Combat Hearts Series
Stitched Up Heart
Half-Broke Heart
Locked-Down Heart
Rescued Heart
Holiday Heart (only available to newsletter subscribers)
* * *
Coming Soon
The Jilted Duet
About the Author
Tarina has spent her entire life in and around the military - first as a dependent and then as an enlisted Air Force member.
In 2015, a friend challenged her to complete NaNoWriMo. She dusted off one of the many stories she had started over the years, threw it in the trash, and started all over.
Tarina is still active duty and a single mom of six-year-old twins. Her favorite hobby is sleep. She has delusions of retiring from the military and being a stay-at-home mom.
You can connect with Tarina at www.tarinadeaton.com and email her at [email protected].
Imperfect Heart Page 19