In a weak attempt to run from her past, Valley moves away from home after she graduates high school. She keeps to herself in this new small town like she plans and she thinks she is doing fine this way. That is until she comes across a boy who won't...
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I closed the car door behind me, Wes coming up next to me as we watched Bernard sluggishly climb out of his little truck and shuffle around the front of the hood.
"I haven't seen you in over a week, girl," he said grumpily.
"Hello, Bernard," I said, shaking my head at the old man.
Bernard looked over at Wes who was standing next to me and gave him a once over. I saw his lips twitch under his wiry beard. "Ahh, you left me for a boy," he nodded stiffly. I blushed deeply, avoiding Wes' grin. "I see."
Bernard turned around and climbed the steps of his home he converted into an adorable used bookshop. "Get the bags out of the truck and bring them inside." He dropped the keys from his hand as he climbed the last step, not bothering to look behind him as he continued into his home.
"Why's he so grumpy?" Wes asked after Bernard shut the door behind him.
"Come one," I said, walking over to the keys hanging off a step. I picked them up and made my way over to the passenger seat to pull out bags.
"You visit this guy that often?"
"Didn't you hear him? Not for a week."
"Yeah," Wes nudged my arm, "because you ditched him for me." Wes winked.
I rolled my eyes, comforted by the fact my blush was hidden by my already reddened cheeks due to the cold. "Good job, you won favorite over a grouchy old man. What an accomplishment."
He nudged me playfully. "He is kind of a grouch, though," Wes said lowly.
"Oh, yeah. " I laughed. "He's definitely a peculiar guy. Here." I start filling Wes' hands with bags full of books.
"Wow, how much does this guy read?"
I looked up at Wes to see he was genuinely amazed. "I don't know how you missed it, but his house is also a bookstore." I pointed to a sign on the street reading 'Recycle Book Store'.
"Oh," he laughed awkwardly.
I grabbed the rest of the bags and bumped the door shut with my hip. Walking up the front porch with Wes by my side, I struggled to pick up the keys that Bernard so inconsiderately dropped. With Wes' help, I managed to lock his truck and make it into the house without dropping anything. I lead Wes to the room where Bernard sat to take inventory. We set the bags of books down on a long table for him.
"Where did you get all of these?" I asked Bernard.
"People get old, and their idiot kids who don't want to use the brains God gave them." It was clear how he felt about younger people, though, his explanation took a little longer to decipher. I chuckled as did Wes. "So is your friend going to buy any books?"
