~~~Valerie~~~
After dinner that night, I walked back to the bookstore alone, as Anne had said she needed to run an errand before going home. I should have felt scared walking alone in an unknown town, hell, in an unknown world. I was too caught up in my thoughts of the mark on my hand and the indifference Jackson showed toward me to notice if anyone was watching me or was about to attack me. I didn’t truly think the latter was a possibility.
I hadn’t thought to look at Jackson’s hand back at the restaurant to see if he had the mark. I racked my brain trying to remember if he had on gloves or if I could recall him purposely keeping his hand hidden from me. Nothing of the sort came to mind. Instead, I just kept picturing his emotionless stare, his stiff posture, his silence.
Maybe he didn’t have the mark. His behavior was the same as it was earlier that morning—cold and indifferent, not like someone who’d just met their soul mate. Maybe I had touched someone else, or they had touched me, and I hadn’t noticed. My heart broke a little at the thought that Jackson might not be my mate, which was odd considering I didn’t know the man…had never had a two-sided conversation with him.
I couldn’t remember anyone other than him touching my palm. I’d only talked to a few people since I’d been in Greenleaf, and I’d only tentatively touched one or two of them. The mark had to have come from his touching me, but I didn’t see any signs of him having one on his palm.
What kind of sign I was expecting to see, I didn’t know. If I was Jackson’s mate, shouldn’t he be claiming me in some way? How did a person from Valeterra claim their mate? Another thing I didn’t know. Stephanie might, but she said it would be a few days before she came to check on me. I couldn’t ask Azure, she was too young, even if she did seem to know a good bit about the mark.
My thoughts ran on and on that way while I walked. More than once, I wished Gail was with me. I could really use someone to talk to about everything I was going through. We sent the random text throughout the day to each other, but I had to keep those conversations vague and generic.
At the store, I grabbed a random paperback off a shelf before climbing the stairs to my apartment. After locking the door behind me, I went to the front window to peek out at the apartment across from me. The curtains were closed, and the building was dark.
Sighing, I took a shower, changed into something comfortable I could wear out onto the balcony, grabbed my book, and went outside to read. To my surprise, a light came on in the apartment the second I opened the glass door. The rapid pace of my heart at the anticipation of talking to my neighbor also surprised me. My surprise immediately turned to shame. I wore another man’s mating mark on my hand. I shouldn’t feel excited about talking to a man I couldn’t have considering that I belonged to someone else.
I didn’t know Mr. Nichols very well, but he seemed to be a good man, stoic, but good and very attractive. I felt drawn to him. Knew I could probably love him one day, but I’d spoken to the stranger across the road. He too seemed kind, energetic, intelligent, and he came out onto his balcony as my mind raced with contradicting thoughts.
“Hello there,” he said, holding up a wine glass in salutations. “I was hoping you would be out here tonight.”
“Hello,” I said a bit hoarsely. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Your night air is perfect. I love that the sky is bright enough that I can read by the starlight,” I said, looking up at the evening sky and basking in how wonderfully clear and vivid it looked. I was also thankful for the lack of streetlights that would have marred the view.
“It is beautiful,” he said. I looked back at him and smiled, but noticed that he hadn’t been looking up at the sky when he spoke, but at me. For a brief second, I let myself believe that he had been talking about me before letting the thought go. He had seen his sky all of his life. He knew how amazing it was.
“How was your day?” he asked, leaning against the solid railing.
I chuckled a little before saying, “It was a day.”
“Bad day?”
“No. Boring for the most part. I only had two customers. Mr. Nichols came in to check me out and bought a few books out of courtesy.”
“I don’t know about that last part. I’m sure he came in to get a look at you and the business, but I’ve heard he is an avid reader.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“Huh, well, I hope he enjoys the ones he purchased.”
My face flushed at the images I’d conjured of him reading the romance novel and getting turned on from it.
“Do you know him well?” I asked to clear my thoughts.
“As well as most people around here do, I guess.”
“Is he always so… I don’t know… Standoffish?”
“Some say so, yeah. Has Mr. Nichols insulted you in any way?”
“No… I… I don’t think he likes me being here,” I said and started rubbing my palm.
“Why do you say that?”
“He hasn’t spoken to me once.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“It’s true. I’ve seen Mr. Nichols outside the store a few times and inside it once, and not one word has he spoken to me. I know I’m not… I can be a bit… Oh, never mind. Enough about him,” I said, giving my hand one last look before curling my fingers into a fist to hide the mark. “I had one other customer today—a sweet girl by the name of Azure. She bought a few books and talked to me for a long time. She asked if she could do her homework and read at the store after school. I told her I would love that as long as no one minds. Do you think anyone will?” I asked in a rush to keep him from changing the subject back to Jackson.
“I don’t think anyone will. The orphanage has to care for a lot of kids. Having one less to worry about would probably be a relief. I know that sounds cruel, but there are so few of us adults with so little time to give those children the attention they need.”
I stared at him for a long time, thinking through an idea.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked, breaking into my thoughts.
“I thought that maybe I could tell Azure to let the other kids know that they were welcome to come if they wanted. I know kids don’t consider a bookstore a cool place to hang out, and I can’t promise I’ll be able to help them all with their homework—I suck at math and biology—but I can be of some assistance. I can rearrange some things in the store and maybe see about getting a few more tables and chairs. The kids could use the place like a library as well. If they have assignments centered on my world, that is. It will keep them off the streets—Oh. I’m not saying you have a high crime rate or anything. As far as I can tell, you don’t have a crime rate at all.”
I was pacing the balcony at that point and spouting out all the ideas that came into my head, growing more and more excited by the thought as I went.
After a while, he chuckled at me and caused me to stop pacing. “You think it’s a bad idea,” I said crestfallen.
“That isn’t it at all. I think it’s a very good idea. I was just laughing at how enthusiastic you are about it. One thing I don’t recommend is food. You were talking about offering snacks somewhere in all that rambling, but I’m not sure you want a bunch of teenagers eating and spilling things in your store. Bottled water is one thing, but nothing sticky or that will make a mess or stain.”
“Right. I didn’t think about that. You swear you think it’s a good idea?”
“I do. My other bit of advice is to make sure kids that don’t live at the orphanage know they can come also.”
“Will do. Thank you for listening to me. I know I can be a bit much when I get excited about an idea, and I apologize.”
“Don’t. I like how enthusiastic you are about the store and how much you want to be a part of our community. I like listening to you ramble that way. It’s cute.”
I prayed his supernatural abilities didn’t allow him to see how much he made me blush at those words. When I realized that we had locked gazes even though I couldn’t see much of him from where he stood, I forced myself to look away and down at my palm. At the sight of the mating mark, I grew ashamed all over again. I was accepting and liking compliments from another man. Not something I would consider wrong in my world, but something that the people might frown upon in Valeterra.
“Thank you. I should get to bed. Goodnight,” I finally said, picking up the unread book and going back to my apartment.