The Comfort of Favorite Things (A Hope Springs Novel) Read Online Free PDF

it was real. It was also stunning. “I work next door. At Bread and Bean. Well, I don’t work there yet. When it’s open, I’ll be in the kitchen. I bake bread.”
    It was a lot of information delivered in a quick rush of words. Lena wasn’t used to talking so much. She was the straight-and-to-the-point type. The less-is-more type. If she had her way, she’d be the completely silent type. She wondered if opposites really did attract. “Cool.”
    “So . . . apologies again. And I guess I’ll be seeing you.” A tentative shrug. Nerves, maybe? “I mean, if you like bread. Or coffee.”
    “Sure thing.” Hope Springs was a small town. It was hard not to see the people who worked nearby. “And I dig both.”
    “I really like your hair, by the way,” Ellie said, waving the hand holding the spools. “I’ve always wanted to put color in mine. I mean, fun color. Not the color it is. Your pink and purple are great. Oh, and there’s blue, too. Really great.”
    “Thanks,” Lena said, pretty sure she’d never had anyone compliment her hair. Comment on it, sure. And Callum joked when she changed it up. But not call it great. Never that. “I’m thinking of going with orange and green next time. Maybe some turquoise.”
    “Yeah? Those colors will be perfect together. So tropical. And they’ll totally suit your complexion. Orange and green are both secondary colors. One is warm. One is cool. For the most part, anyway. It can vary depending on the shade, of course. I mean, emerald green isn’t the same as spruce.
    “Here,” she said, digging through the fabrics draped over her forearm. “This is what we’re using for the shop’s curtains. It’s mostly brown, but the rusts and greens keep it from being overwhelming. Thea—she’s the shop’s owner—says it reminds her of the desert. I think it looks like a gorgeous fall day.”
    Lena would’ve said it looked like an old couch, but she didn’t. Also, she was still wondering if the scars on Ellie’s forearm were cigarette burns because that was exactly what the puckered circles looked like. She struggled to find her voice. What the fuck was wrong with people?
    “I can see that,” she finally said. “The fall thing. And the desert thing, too. Perspective, I guess.”
    “That’s why it’s going to be perfect.” Ellie’s grin pulled at the corners of her mouth. “It can be interpreted so many ways.”
    “Makes sense,” Lena said, pocketing her phone and reaching for her books. She hated to go, but she needed to get to work.
    “What are you studying? If you don’t mind me asking.” Ellie rushed through the words as if she was afraid of Lena leaving her alone on the sidewalk. Or as if she hadn’t had anyone to talk to in too long and didn’t want to lose the connection.
    Whatever it was, it made it even harder for Lena to leave. She wanted to keep talking, to have a cup of coffee or something, grab a burger and a beer. Not that Ellie seemed like the burger and beer type. “I’m taking a couple of business courses. Basic accounting stuff. I’m not so good with money. And my mom needs to do a better job keeping a record of her income and expenses. Seemed an easy enough way to help.”
    Ellie nodded, her green eyes focused and bright above her nose that was as freckled as her bare shoulders. Her skin looked so soft. “What does your mom do? If you don’t mind me asking. Again.”
    Lena came close to telling Ellie to ask her anything. “She’s a midwife.”
    “Really? Here in Hope Springs? That is so cool.”
    “I guess. But not in Hope Springs, no. I mean, we live near Kyle . . . or she lives near Kyle.” She was going to blow this if she didn’t get a grip. “I just moved not long ago. But she works anywhere and everywhere she’s needed.”
    Another nod, and another question. “You weren’t drawn to follow in her footsteps?”
    That made Lena want to laugh, though not at Ellie. Just at the thought. “I’m not much for getting