by Ali Parker
He let out a mock sigh when I walked into Mom’s kitchen, crossing his arms as he leaned with his hip on the counter. The coffeemaker began filling the pot beneath it as soon as I stepped inside.
“Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.” He kept his serious expression on for another second before his lips spread into a wide grin and he offered me his fist to bump. “How was the gala?”
I jerked my head at the coffee. “Mind if we get some of that before we start talking? We were up way too early this morning.”
“Were you, now?” Jordan waggled his dark brows at me.
I elbowed him in the side when I walked past him to get our usual mugs. “Not up like that, asshole. Since when do you care about that stuff anyway? You usually beg me to shut up about it.”
“Yeah, but this is different.” His eyes widened in horror. “Dear God, please spare me the details. I don’t mean different like that. I meant different like I actually want to know what happened with you two.”
Reaching up into the cabinet, I pulled out a mug with “I am a ray of fucking sunshine” printed on it for me, and one with “Fluff you, you fluffing fluff fluff” for Jordan. We’d had to replace his with a PG one when Della began reading lessons with Mom.
Jordan filled them and handed mine over with the very overused line he always said when we had coffee together. “Black. Just like your heart.”
I smirked. “I feel sorry for you. You’re going to have to come up with something new when you find out my heart isn’t as black as you think it is.”
He snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, I won’t start feeling sorry for myself just yet. Speak, bro. Let’s hear what happened this weekend. Then I’ll make a judgment call on whether to feel sorry for myself or not.”
“You’re on.” I held my mug up to his, and we clinked before making our way to the living room.
The remnants of their fire from last night were still burning. It wasn’t so cold out yet that we needed a roaring fire all day, but the air was brisk, and another log or two would only make it comfortable.
After adding a couple more, I took a seat and watched as flames started to lick against the wood before I turned to face my brother. “The weekend was amazing, man. If I could have stayed there with her forever, I think I would have.”
“Forever?” His eyebrows climbed up on his forehead. “Did I hear you right? Did you mean to say forever?”
I nodded. “Yeah. You heard me right. Don’t get me wrong, though. I’m not saying I’m about to drop to one knee. Honestly, I don’t know why people keep thinking that. All I’m saying is that I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay there with her.”
“For the record, when you use words like forever, people are bound to think you’re thinking about asking the question that will mean forever.” Jordan leaned back on the couch and blew on his coffee before he took his first sip. His face scrunched up. “Ouch. Fuck. Better leave that for now.”
“Thanks.” I set the mug down on the nicked and scratched wooden surface of the coffee table that was older than either of us, wondering once again if I could convince Mom to let me replace it. Knowing what her answer would be, I pushed the thought from my head.
“Okay. So, you wanted to stay there with her?”
I nodded. “More than anything.”
“Are you going to make me drag this out of you?” He tilted his head, narrowing his hazel eyes to slits. “I want to hear what’s going on with you and Maggie, but this is like pulling fucking teeth, man.”
I took a deep breath, trying to order my thoughts before launching into a description of our weekend. Since I didn’t really know how I was feeling about it all, or what I should leave out, I started my story from when I collected her on Friday.
By the time I got to dropping her off less than an hour ago, Jordan hadn’t said much. He listened attentively and eventually sipped his coffee without cursing, but he didn’t offer any input at all.
“What?” I asked finally, picking up my own cup of coffee. “Damn it. It’s cold now.”
“Well, that took you a long time, Captain Blow by Blow.” He chuckled but stopped abruptly when I asked him if he wanted a complete and detailed blow by blow. “Fuck no. Let’s get serious, shall we?”
“I’ve been serious.” I set down my cold coffee and decided that, as gross as it was, I’d heat it up in the microwave and have it later. “You’re the one who hasn’t said anything.”
“Yeah, well, I was waiting for one part of the story that never came.”
“You said you didn’t want to hear about that.”
He rolled his eyes. “Not that part, idiot. I was waiting to hear what happened when you two talked about the past.”
“We didn’t.” I sighed. “I kind of figured that was what you were waiting for, though.”
“I know.” He grinned, but it tapered off pretty quickly. “Did you two seriously not talk about the past at all?”
“No, and I don’t think we need to.” Maggie didn’t seem angry at me or bothered about the past anymore. She hadn’t mentioned that I hadn’t attended Ryan’s funeral or asked me why I hadn’t been there. It didn’t seem like she resented me for it.
As for the stuff that happened back in high school, it had been a long time ago. Neither of us had brought that up either, and we seemed just fine anyway.
Jordan smiled, but it was as fake as the day was long. “If you two are going to be anything in the future, you most certainly will have to talk about it. Trust me. It’s going to come up in conversation at some point. I just hope you’re going to be ready when it does.”
Chapter 28
Maggie
“Addie,” I called over my shoulder from my station in the back. “Is it safe to use the pink spray bottle, or does it have bleach in it again?”
The older women cackled in her office. “It’s safe. The ones that contain bleach are now very clearly marked.”
I laughed and reached for the spray bottle but was interrupted by the jingle of the bell I’d placed on the counter. “Coming!”
After making sure I hadn’t left anything uncapped or open near the dress I was busy prepping, I went to greet our customer. Instead of being faced with someone who wanted to hand something in, I was faced with someone who wanted something from me.
“Angie? Hey. What are you doing here?” I smiled and walked around the counter to hug my friend.
“Duh. You just spent the weekend with the hottest man in town, who just so happens to have been the one you pined over all through high school. What do think I’m doing here? I want details, girl. Every juicy detail, please. Thank you.”
“Correction,” I scoffed. “I had a crush on him. I didn’t pine over him.”
She waved her hand in a dismissive motion and winked, a smile playing on the corners of her lips. “Let’s not get caught up in semantics, but you totally pined over him.”
“You’re costing yourself a detail every time you say the word ‘pined,’ just so you know.”
Turning when I heard shuffling behind me, I saw Addie walking up to us. “I came to see who our customer was, but I take it you’ve got this one?”
“I do indeed. Is it okay if I take my break now?” I reached for the strings on my apron, but Addie shook her head.
“You don’t need to take your break to gossip with your friend. You man the counter, and I’ll head back to my office. Just don’t let any of the customers hear the lurid details of your weekend away.”
“There are no lurid details.” I mentally crossed my fingers. “He was the perfect gentleman.”
Both women burst out laughing. Addie recovered first, a smirk wrinkling her cheeks on a disapproving head shake. “If that’s true, then I do feel sorry for you young ladies. Back in my day, men knew when—”
“I really don’t think I want to hear this.” The apples of Angie’s cheeks turned red. “No offense, Addie. You’re my grandmother’s age, and I really don’t want that picture in my head when I go visi
t her later this week.”
Addie winked. “If you’d listen, you might just learn something. I’ll leave you two to it.”
We breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief that we’d been spared details about whatever it was Addie had been about to share about “dearest Danny,” and we grabbed our stools.
Angie propped an elbow on the counter and flipped her red hair with her free hand. “I’ve heard way too many things about Danny that I never wanted to know.”
“Likewise.” I smiled but felt a tiny seed of sadness blooming in my heart. “It’s really sweet how she’s still so in love with him.”
Angie let out a wistful sigh. “I know. I think that’s half the reason I can’t hear about him anymore. To have had a love like that and have lost it hurts me too much. I know it sounds selfish, but I still want to find my great love. I don’t want to go into it constantly thinking about how I’m going to lose him one day.”
“True. I guess it really shows us how much we should appreciate every day we have with the people we love, right?”
“Right.” Her Cheshire grin spread on her lips. “Speaking of our great loves, you were about to tell me about your weekend.”
I rolled my eyes. “I wouldn’t call Noah my great love. Lydia is and always will be that for me.”
“Fine, let’s talk about your weekend away with the great ‘romantic’ love of your life.” She put air quotes around the word romantic and leaned in expectantly. “Again, let’s not get caught up by semantics.”
I blew out a deep breath. “I’m not agreeing with you that he’s the great love of my life, but let’s set that aside for the moment.”
The truth was that I also didn’t know whether I’d agree that Noah wasn’t the great love of my life. I supposed only time would tell. It felt like he might be my Danny, but I didn’t want to put the cart before the horse.
Besides, it wasn’t that part of the weekend that’d had me tied up in knots since Noah had dropped me off at home. After I’d told Angie all about how amazing our weekend together had been, I added the most distressing detail of all.
“I told him that I wanted to open my own clothing design company one day. He asked me to come up with a portfolio of my designs. Apparently, he’s been looking for something new to invest in, and he wants that something to be me.”
Her brown eyes widened before they narrowed when she shrugged. “I’m not all that surprised, actually. Of course, he’d want to invest in you. Didn’t you say the weekend was about him finding new investors?”
“Yeah, but him and I are two different people. It was about finding investors for him, not for me.”
“If he’s offering though, why not take him up on it?”
Averting my eyes to look at everything except her, I tried to come up with an answer that wouldn’t make me sound like I was needy or fishing for compliments. “There are a few reasons, but the main ones are that I don’t want his money and that I’m not sure if I’m good enough.”
“You used to be,” Angie said sincerely. “I remember some of the stuff you came up with when we were at school, and it was good.”
“Maybe, but is it good enough to sell? What if he invests a bunch of money and I lose it all?”
“You won’t.” A thoughtful gleam came over her eyes before she blinked it away. “You mentioned when we went to dinner that this is what you went to school for, didn’t you?”
“It was, yeah.”
“Do you have any of your designs with you?”
I nodded.
She frowned when I didn’t do or say anything. “Well, can I see them? I promise to be honest with you about what I think.”
After hesitating for a beat, I nodded again and reached down under the counter to pull out my latest sketches. I kept them there because I often doodled while I was manning the front and we didn’t have any customers, but I also hadn’t shown them to anyone.
These designs in particular hadn’t been seen by a single soul outside of myself. The last time I’d shown any to anyone was when I was job hunting after college. My most recent job hunt, obviously, hadn’t required me to produce a portfolio of my designs.
Angie came around the counter to stand beside me, putting her hand on the front cover of the book. “May I?”
“Yeah, but you have to promise to be honest.”
“I will.” She put her hand over her heart and tapped it. “From the bottom of this otherwise useless organ right here, you have my word.”
I nodded, then waited in silence when she opened it and examined page after page of my designs. There were some of them that I’d even taped scraps of fabric to that I’d found lying around at home and in the shop—Addie did alterations sometimes too.
Angie was quiet for so long, bent over the pages with her eyes narrowed, that my heart started thundering in my chest. Just when I had convinced myself that she hated them and didn’t know how to tell me, she looked up and flashed me a huge, radiant smile.
“These are fantastic,” she gushed. “These would definitely sell here. I would buy them, and I know the girls who work with me would too.”
Another shuffling noise alerted me to Addie approaching us. She came to stand on my other side and squinted down at the book. “What is that, and what on earth is all the squealing about?”
Angie pushed the sketchbook past me until it came to a stop in front of Addie. “These are your apprentice’s designs. They’re good, right? Tell her how good they are.”
Addie reached for the pair of glasses dangling from her neck and slid them onto her nose. “Let’s see here.”
She pored over the pages almost as long as Angie had before giving me her verdict. “You’re very talented. There are some beautiful designs in there.”
“Do you think they’d sell here in Washington?” Angie asked, excitement making her voice a pitch higher. “I totally think they would.”
Addie considered her question, her head dipping first to one side and then to the other. “I think they would, yes. You’d need a bit of capital and a partner with good business acumen, but the designs themselves are certainly marketable.”
Their praise stole my breath and left me speechless. It had been a long, long time since anyone had said anything so positive about my ideas.
Most people who had seen them back in New York—not these ones, sure, but the earlier versions of them—had barely taken a look at the designs before they saw on my CV that I had a dependent listed, no experience, and they booted me out the door.
I felt my grin start deep in my heart before it finally parted my lips. “You guys aren’t just saying that, are you?”
“Absolutely not,” Addie said, then squinted again when the phone in her office started ringing. “Excuse me, dears. That’s my dentist, I believe. I need to speak to him.”
Angie caught my eye when Addie walked away, her eyes round pools of honesty. “I wouldn’t lie to you about this, Mags. I promised, didn’t I? I really think they’re good, and I think they’re perfect for the local market that you mentioned you’d want to sell them to.”
A surge of excitement traveled through me. “You really think I can do this?”
“You heard what Addie said.” She shrugged and lifted two fingers, counting them down. “Capital and a partner who could help you with the business side of things until you get the hang of it. Where might you find someone who could offer you both of those things in spades? Oh, wait. I know. Noah.”
“I could use the capital,” I agreed, sucking my lower lip into my mouth. “I had some business classes at college, but it would be great having someone to soundboard things with to make sure I’m making the right decisions with our money.”
“Our money?” Angie arched a manicured eyebrow. “Don’t you mean your money?”
“No.” I hadn’t really given it much thought because I’d been serious when I told him no, even if the idea had remained with me. What I did know for sure was that if we did this, I would repay him every cent that h
e helped me with, and until I did, I’d think of him as a partner.
I didn’t want Noah’s money. I wanted him.
The money could be the capital I needed, sure, but that really wasn’t what it was about for me. It was about my dream, building something for Lydia to feel proud of and maybe, just maybe, getting to work with Noah and having him around for a while.
For the first time since I was a wide-eyed design major, a kid at college who still firmly believed that I had the world at my feet, I felt hope blooming in my chest. Noah had said he wanted to do this, and there was really no reason not to take him up on it. Especially not if I paid him back every cent of his capital and made it clear that while I was grateful for it, I really didn’t only want the money from him.
“You know,” I said to Angie, unable to keep my smile from growing even wider. “I think I need to talk to Noah.”
Chapter 29
Noah
Mom’s house for dinner was a family tradition that I’d literally crossed oceans for. They’d invited me once when I’d been in Japan for a product demonstration. I’d wrapped it up a day early just so I’d be able to make it.
It wasn’t like I never missed it. I just didn’t like to if I could help it. Our old dining room was always laden with homemade food that we all pitched in to make. Mom took charge, of course, but we didn’t leave her in the kitchen alone without company or someone to do the grunt work.
Chances were that if she peeled the potatoes and chopped the vegetables herself, the kitchen wouldn’t end up looking like a bomb had hit it. While our intentions were good, her kitchen definitely would’ve been better off without us in it.
I’d mentioned it to her once. She’d said that she could clean stuffing up off the floor but that she couldn’t get precious times laughing with her family back.
