Fourteen
Amara glanced around the shop. Only a couple families wandered around, and neither wanted help. She turned to Alex, who was scrolling through his phone.
"Go home. I'll be fine."
"What if there's another rush?" he asked.
She gave him an exasperated glance. "I know you want to get home. Ashley's sick and Ella's too nauseated to make dinner. Get outta here."
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Go. If it gets crazy, I'll recruit Rafael."
"Thanks, Mar." He gave her a grateful look.
"No problem. Get your girls healthy."
Alex gave her a quick hug before grabbing his jacket. "Thanks, sis. I owe you." He ran out of the shop, and Amara felt bad that he'd stayed as long as he had, but the shop had been full of people with a million questions up until just a few minutes earlier. It had been too much even with the two of them.
Maybe Rafael had a point about hiring for just the season. No, it wasn't a typical retail seasonal hire, but they needed the help. Especially if something came up. What if either she or Alex got sick? Or had to fly out of town for some reason? Neither could handle the store on their own. Not in October.
One of the families came to the register, and Amara rang them up, asking the kids about their Halloween costumes. The girl said she was going to be a karate princess, and Amara gave her a high-five. She loved hearing creative ideas like that, and it was a great mixture of sweet and powerful.
People came and went, most having easy questions. Amara could have handled all of it in her sleep. It turned into a slow trickle until by closing, there weren't any customers at all. She went around the store, humming, as she got ready to close for the night. By the time she slid on her coat and wrapped the scarf from Rafael around her neck, she realized how much more energy she had than usual.
As she stepped out into the frigid night air, Amara felt like she could take on the world.
She walked by Rafael's shop, and he wasn't there. Disappointment washed through her. She really wanted more of him, but this obviously wasn't the time.
A little voice in her head told her she was stupid for getting her hopes up. Amara stood taller, staring through the window of his dark shop. No. The voice was wrong—or at least old. She let her mind mull over all the time she'd spent with him since his return.
Her heart warmed and seemed to grow in her chest, thinking about each time. He treated her with a new respect that she'd never remembered from their school days. His kindness was part of what had made her fall in love with him so many years earlier.
Then she remembered him saying she was beautiful when they had lunch earlier. Had he meant it? Her hand went up to the scarf he'd given her. She really thought he was going to kiss her again when he helped her with it. Then later, he'd also seemed rattled at the way Jackson had acted.
Maybe he had been unsure how she felt about him. Obviously, Amara was too good at protecting her feelings if after all those years of being in love with him, he hadn't even suspected how she felt. He actually thought she'd felt the opposite.
But now he knew—she'd told him. Well, she'd told him how she had felt in high school. He had held her hand a few times and had accidentally kissed her. He had to feel something for her.
It might be time for her to step up and make a move. It was risky, but not that much. Given all their recent interactions, he obviously thought positively about her. Why else would he ask her to model his clothes? Keep apologizing for the way kids treated her in school?
Even if she was misreading all his signals, it was worth it to take a risk. If she kissed him—while he was awake—then at least she could live the rest of her life knowing she'd at least let Rafael Hunter know how she felt.
All those years pining away wouldn't have been for nothing. Her heart raced thinking about it.
The door to the wedding store next to Rafael's shop opened. Amara jumped, having been so deeply lost in her own thoughts. Two teenage boys came out, arguing. She stepped close to Rafael's door, not wanting to get in their way.
"You jerk," said the taller one. "You nearly got us caught."
"It's not my fault, stupid. You're the one who said no one would see us."
"You heard what Dad said last time. If I'm suspended one more time, he's sending me to military school."
The shorter one shook his head. "Then stop getting caught, idiot. Don't bring me down with you."
They went in the opposite direction of Amara, continuing to argue and even shoving each other. She watched them until they were out of sight. She waited a minute before going to her car since she had to walk their way. As she passed the bridal store, she glanced in. The owner paced behind the counter. She was on the phone, flailing her arms, and appeared to be arguing.
Amara picked up her pace and made her way to her car. The two boys were probably the sons of the owner. It had been years since she'd seen them, and they'd grown a lot, but she thought it had to be them.
Once she got to her car, she waited while it warmed up. She'd been planning on going home to get more of her online orders taken care of, but she really wasn't in the mood to go home alone. She was still disappointed about missing Rafael. It was really time she make a move while he was awake. Either she needed to tell him how she felt, or show him. Surprise him with a kiss and not let him get away with any apologies. She wasn't going to say she was sorry.
Amara took a long, slow deep breath. Part of her wanted to go to his house, but she really had no excuse. She already knew he was doing fine after the cat allergy. Was there another excuse? Something she could bring over to surprise him with—anything?
Maybe she was being ridiculous. She'd gotten to spend the night over at his house, helping him to feel better. Then she got to go out for lunch with him earlier. Had that been a date? He'd given her one of his scarves. He said it was one of his best ones.
She'd just have to try harder to see him the next day. For now, she'd go home and get her orders taken care of. That would help her to stay busy and focused, forgetting about Rafael for a little while.
Amara pulled out of the parking spot and then remembered she needed milk. She sighed. The grocery store would be packed this time of night, after most of Kittle Falls was closing down for the evening.
She could always stop by the Hunter Family Shop. They carried basics like that, and she might run into Rafael. She didn't know how often he went to the shop, but it was her best shot of seeing him.
After the short drive, she found a parking spot near the front. It didn't look too busy inside, so even if she didn't see Rafael, at least she could get what she needed and get home soon.
Inside, a couple college kids from town were working. One at the register and the other stocking magazines. No actual Hunters. Oh, well. It was probably for the best, anyway. Her orders weren't going to fill themselves. Maybe she needed to hire some kids to help her. Alex had said he wanted to, but he was so busy after hours with his family.
Amara made her way back to the refrigerated goods and picked up some milk and couple other things she would need to make dinner while the chocolate sauce simmered.
While her items were being rang up, Jake Hunter came out from the back room. He, like all of his brothers, was gorgeous—though Rafael was the best looking by far. He seemed surprised to see her.
"Hi, Amara. What brings you in here?" he asked. She was surprised he recognized her. Had Rafael talked about her?
She smiled at him. What did bring her? Rafael or milk? "Oh, I just needed a few things before I head home."
"Did you find everything you need?"
"As always. Thanks, Jake."
"No problem." He grinned. "So, I hear you're going to help Rafael out with his grand opening."
Butterflies danced in Amara's stomach. Rafael had been talking about her. Or his big event, anyway. "Yeah, I'm going to donate some of our best candy."
Jake leaned against the register. "Aren't you going to model the clothes?"
Amara's face burned. "Oh, yeah. Well, he's going to, also."
"He actually agreed?" Jake asked.
Amara nodded. "Are you helping him with the event, too?"
"I'm helping to plan, and I'm going to donate something toward the grand prize. I'm not really sure what yet. We don't have any big ticket items."
"You could always give away a gift card or something," Amara said.
Jake's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea. Thank you. I've really been stressing about this. I couldn't think of anything here that would be all that interesting. We don't have dance lessons or anything fancy like that."
"I'm sure anyone would be happy to have some money to spend here."
"It's no wonder he likes you so much," Jake said, and then his eyes widened. He shook his head. "I don't think I was supposed to say that. Can you pretend you didn't hear that?"
Amara broke into a wide smile that she couldn't repress. "I won't tell him you said anything."
Jake looked relieved.
Rafael had told Jake that he liked her? A lot? She couldn't stop smiling, even though she was sure she looked like a fool. "Well, I should go." She grabbed her bag. "Have a great night."
"You, too."
Amara couldn't feel the ground underneath her as she walked back to her car. Even as she drove, she felt like she was in a different world. The goofy smile hadn't left her face—and she didn't care, either.
Rafael liked her enough to tell his brothers.
After she pulled into the garage and turned the off the car, she slid down in the seat. How was she going to focus on her orders? She just wanted to throw herself on the couch and think about Rafael—his gorgeous copper eyes and his strong jawline. His strong, muscular frame and soft, beautiful lips. But that wasn't even the best part. He had a kind heart and a great imagination. How else could he design such stylish clothing?
Amara sighed, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Rafael Hunter liked her. She actually stood a chance at winning him over. Her. Four-Eyes Fowler. The former pimply-faced, overweight, insecure dork. She had actually managed to catch the attention of the most popular boy in school.
She pinched herself. She was definitely awake.
Fifteen
Rafael paced his living room, unable to get his mind off the bridal shop owner and her two punk kids. Why were they so threatened by his shop? How could they be so closed-minded to not see that working together would bring both stores more business?
He'd been looking forward to an alliance with his neighbor, but he couldn't have been more wrong in his assumptions about small town friendliness. Sure, most people had it, but there was always someone who had to be a stick in the mud. Unfortunately, she was his neighbor.
It wouldn't be so bad if she just left well enough alone and they had a mature competition. That would have been fine with him. But all the immature, underhanded things they'd done… they needed to be stopped. A dead rat with a frothing mouth and property damage crossed the line.
He was wasting time thinking about this when he had so many other things that needed his attention. There were a thousand little details he needed to work out for the grand opening. Not only that, but his real opening on Monday. The days were flying by, and that would arrive before he knew it.
Stopping, he took a deep breath. It was time to do something. Pacing was getting him nowhere. Especially when he had the new cameras burning a hole in his trunk. He needed to install them. Now.
Rafael brought them inside and studied the boxes as he ate. The devices were small, and being black, would hide easily. Those little delinquents would have no idea they were being recorded. He read the directions—it wouldn't take long to put them up. Getting the feed to his phone and laptop appeared to be the tricky part.
He might have to call Jake or Zachary since they both had a lot more technical knowhow than him.
Rafael went down to his front door and examined the window next to it. If he put one near the corner, he should be able to capture most of the front yard and driveway. Not all of it. That might require one more positioned in one of the upstairs bedrooms. He'd only bought one for the house and one for the shop. If they seemed to work well, he'd get more for better coverage. For now, these two would do the job.
But first, he needed to set up the app for his phone and laptop. Once he could see what they did, he would install them. He went up to the kitchen and spread everything out on the table. He sat and downloaded the app to his devices. That was easy enough.
He turned on one device, waiting to see the image on his phone and computer. Nothing happened. He checked to make sure it was on. The little red light on the back indicated it was.
Rafael played around with the apps for about fifteen minutes before calling Zachary.
"Hey, Raf. What's up?"
"Are you free?" Rafael asked. "I'm having trouble setting up some security cameras, and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I can't get either one to work."
"Can you wait a couple hours? I'm out with Jasmine."
Rafael sighed. "I'll ask Jake first."
"Well, if he's busy, let me know. I'll swing by in a couple hours."
"Thanks, Zachary."
Rafael ended the call and scrolled for Jake's number.
Twenty minutes later, Rafael was at the Hunter Family Shop with his new toys spread across the counter. There weren't any customers, so it was the ideal time.
Jake set down the directions. "Let me see your laptop."
Rafael pulled it out, unlocked it with his password, and handed it to his youngest brother. Jake sat on a chair, balanced the computer on his lap, and typed a mile a minute.
"We need to create a login for you to register both of them," Jake said. "What do you want your user name to be?"
"Where did you see that?" Rafael asked.
Jake handed him the laptop, and on the screen was registration page that Rafael hadn't found when he'd been trying to figure everything out earlier. He filled everything out and then glanced at Jake.
"Now what?"
"Hand me one of those," Jake said.
Rafael did as he was told, and Jake took the laptop and started typing.
"I typed the serial number into the app. Let's see if it works." He flipped it on, and then a black and white image of behind the counter showed up on the screen.
Rafael shook his head. "I don't know how you did it."
Jake shrugged, moving the recorder around. "Check your phone."
Rafael logged into the app on his phone and saw the store through the lens as Jake moved it around. Before long, both were hooked up, and Rafael navigated the app like a pro, going back and forth between the two, and even seeing them both with a split screen if he wanted.
"Thanks, Jake. I'd still be at home, tearing my hair out if it weren't for you."
"Hey, what are brothers for? Need anything else?"
Rafael glanced around at all of his stuff. "No, but if I end up getting more of them, I might."
"Just let me know," Jake said. "Oh, Amara came in earlier tonight."
"Yeah?" Rafael asked, not sure where his brother was going with that information.
Jake nodded. "She had a great idea for your grand opening package. I'm going to donate a large gift card for the shop."
"Thank you, but are you sure you can afford it?" Rafael asked.
Jake looked hurt.
"Not that I think you're bad off financially," Rafael said, "but you do have a baby on the way and that new house."
"I appreciate the concern, but we're fine. And we really want to help out. If Tiffany's feeling better, she wants to be there."
"She's been pretty sick, hasn't she?" Rafael asked. "Did the doctor say that's normal?"
"Not exactly, but he's not too concerned," Jake said. "She's just supposed to rest as much as possible, so I've made sure she hasn't had to come in here. Between Cruz and our employees, she hasn't had to."
"Thanks. Between Mom, Lana, and Jasmine, Tiffany has been well taken care of."
Rafael packed up his cameras. "You have my number."
Jake nodded and then glanced up at the wall where a clock had sat for decades. "If you really want to help, you can help me close."
"Sure thing," Rafael said. "Let's see how much I remember."
Jake laughed. "It's like riding a bike."
"I haven't done that in a while, either."
"Then we'll see if the saying is true." Jake grinned while opening the register. He gave Rafael a few instructions, and before long, they had the shop closed.
"I can't believe how nothing has changed," Rafael said as Jake locked the door.
"Good ol' Kittle Falls."
Rafael wasn't so sure it was still good—at least not some of the people he was dealing with. He and Jake wished each other goodnight, and Rafael headed back to his shop, parking in the tow away zone. He smirked at the empty bridal shop as he walked toward his shop.
He went inside his shop—no rat this time. Once unlocked, the door opened easily. He turned on the lights on one side, giving him just enough light to set it up by the window. After it was installed, he studied it to make sure it wasn't too noticeable. He probably wouldn't even see it unless he was looking for it.
"Now for the test," he muttered, pulling out his phone. He opened the app and scrolled around until he could see just outside his shop. It was dark, but he could make out details.
Rafael made sure it was recording before locking up to head back home. Before getting into his car, the candy shop caught his attention. He wished he'd had the chance to talk with Amara again earlier, but he would just have to make an extra effort the next day.
After he pulled into his driveway, he checked the app again. Everything looked good. He couldn't see every angle, but one more recorder would solve that.
He scanned his house. Nothing was out of place. But that wasn't too surprising—he'd already had the dead, frothing at the mouth rat to deal with earlier.
Seaside Kisses Page 10
