I dabbed at my mouth with my napkin and sat with my hands in my lap. It was only fair that I told Zach about my ex. Things were getting serious between us after all, and honesty was part of the deal. “Her dad left me shortly after she was born. He wasn’t cut out for the father life. He thought he’d be able to carry on with all his old habits. Drinking. Late nights. Frivolous spending. The reality wasn’t what he thought it would be, and when things got too tough, he started to change. He was an angry person, and he could be destructive. I didn’t want Lily around that. So I bailed and started over without him.”
“Shit, I’m sorry. That’s rough.”
I took a sip of water. “It was, but it was for the best. He wasn’t a good man, and Lily deserved more than that.”
“So do you.”
I gave him a tight-lipped smile and felt my cheeks start to burn. “Thank you.”
He reached for my hand across the table, and I placed my palm against his. He rubbed my knuckles with his thumb. “Thanks for telling me.”
“You’re welcome,” I whispered. Truth be told, it felt better having it out in the open, like I’d lifted a weight off my chest I hadn’t even known was there in the first place.
We finished our food, and Zach paid the bill. Then he collected his suit jacket from where he’d draped it over the back of his chair, and we both left the restaurant to head toward his gate—and the point I couldn’t enter because I didn’t have a boarding pass.
We stopped before he went through security.
He turned to me. “I’m going to miss you. You and Lily watch out for each other while I’m gone, okay?”
“We will.”
“And call me if you need anything. Seriously. Anything at all. I always have my phone on me—”
I put my hand on his chest. “I will. I swear.”
He closed his hand over mine. “This will all work out.”
I smiled. “I know.”
Then I went to the tips of my toes, leaned in, and pressed my lips to his. He cupped my cheek, stroked a strand of hair off my cheek, and then kissed the tip of my nose after our lips parted.
His eyes were still closed when he said, “I knew there was something special about you the minute I met you, Senna Camden.”
I giggled to fight off the tears. “And I knew there was something about you. At the time, I thought it was just arrogance.”
He opened his eyes. They glittered with his laughter. “I think this is where I’d like to leave it.” He took a step back.
My hand fell from his chest, and I clutched it to mine. “Have a good flight.” The words felt hollow and sounded weak, but they were all I could think to say when the real words—the words with truth and meaning and courage—were stuck in the back of my throat.
He smiled, nodded, and turned to walk toward security. I watched him go. After he went through the scanners and collected his things on the other side of the security belt, he looked up at me, lifted his hand in a wave, and then disappeared into the crowd that was making its way out to the gate.
I found a place in the airport with lots of windows where I could watch the planes take off. I knew his flight number and airline, and I watched several planes take off before seven o’clock rolled around.
The plane that I was pretty sure was his took to the sky, and I watched it climb higher and higher until it was nothing but a speck in the distance.
I sighed. “See you when I see you, Zach.”
Chapter 33
Zach
It was weird waking up in my own bed on Saturday morning. Really fucking weird.
For starters, there was no grumbling coming from Jonah’s bedroom in the hotel as he came to in the morning. He wasn’t an early riser. Hell, I barely saw the guy ever get up before ten o’clock on a weekday.
In the hotel room in Austin, I’d wake him up by making coffee or showering every morning.
Waking up in my own home was tranquil and peaceful. Birds chirped outside my window to echo the ones playing on my alarm, which was set for six in the morning.
I rubbed at my eyes and sat up. My house was calm and much too still.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and padded into my bathroom where I started the shower. The hum of the hot water and the rush of it going down the drain broke the silence and made it a little more bearable.
I showered, shaved, and did my hair. Then I brushed my teeth before going back to my room to get dressed and put my glasses on. Once I picked my suit for the day and put it on, I went to my kitchen, made a cup of coffee, and read the paper.
There was no good news. There never was. By seven-thirty, I was bored and lonely.
I couldn’t go in and talk to Ryan or Woodbury until Monday morning, but I could go into the office and drop off the documents so they were one of the first things across Ryan’s desk when he came in to start his week. That would guarantee that my case would get top priority.
It would start the week on the right foot, and I’d be able to get back to Senna sooner rather than later. These things could take weeks to process. Sometimes longer. The more time I could cut off, the better.
I drove myself to the office. It felt good to be behind the wheel of my Jaguar. I liked having my own driver just fine, but after days on end of being chauffeured around, a guy started to get an itch to shift the gears himself.
Taking backroads specifically so I could speed, I arrived at my destination far too soon.
When I parked the car and made my way up to the main floor, I was already eager to get back in the Jaguar and eat up the pavement again.
Pushing open the doors into the office, I passed the empty receptionist desk and walked straight to the door of Ryan’s office to slide the paperwork under the door with a note taped to the front page that said, very maturely, “I told you so.”
Then, feeling like I was on cloud nine, I marched right back out with a pep in my step to race my car down more back roads and feel the rush of the speed and the thrill of the rumble in the seat.
I ended up at the beach, though I hadn’t driven there purposely. I hadn’t really been thinking about where I was going. I was just driving for the sake of driving and enjoying every second of it.
When I realized I was at the beach, I put the car in park and got out. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore echoed in my ears, and I walked down the stretch of sidewalk between the parking lot and the sand.
People passed me by on skateboards, rollerblades, and electric scooters. Others, the real go-getters, were there for their early morning jog before the sun made it too hot to do so.
I passed families claiming their territory for a long beach day ahead of them. They laid out towels and spiked beach umbrellas in the sand. Others brought half tents to provide shade for their little ones, while some even set up their blankets, towels, and coolers just feet from the shoreline.
The swimmers of the group, no doubt.
I tried to ignore the pestering thoughts about Senna and Lily that crept up in my head as I watched the other families go about their mornings.
I missed them a lot, and it had been less than a day.
There was something about the distance between us that made it even more difficult. Before, I could just hop in the back of Bob’s car and be able to see Senna and Lily within twenty minutes. But now? Now, I was hundreds of miles away and at least a three-hour flight.
It sucked. Big time.
A little boy bolted across the sand, kicking it up behind him in great clouds. Had the beach been busier, sand would have sprayed all over people’s towels, and he would have gotten an earful from angry Orlando citizens trying to work on their tans.
He crossed the beach, hopped up onto the sidewalk, and followed the bend in the pavement to come to a stop at the back of a line for a food truck.
I peered down the line at the side of the truck. They were selling snow cones.
It had been a long time since I had one of those, probably since I was close to the age
of the little boy at the back of the line, stretching up on his tiptoes to count how many people were ahead of him.
I joined the line and watched people on the beach and across the street. Everyone was enjoying the morning sun and sharing it with someone special—children, partners, family, and friends. I felt even more alone and wished Senna and Lily were there with me.
I bet Lily loved snow cones.
The line crept forward. A shop across the street caught my eye.
I noticed the picture of a snow cone in the window first. Then I noticed the name written in blue neon letters, “Yo Cone”. From where I stood, it looked like it was a snow cone bar of sorts—like a frozen yogurt shop. You scooped your own shaved ice and then walked around to pour your flavors and toppings on it.
I frowned.
The storefront had undoubtedly opened after the truck. I was sure of it.
The line moved forward.
Had I been overlooking this shit my entire life? Had I been completely immune to the big corporations stepping in and squishing the little guy so they could make a buck?
When I got to the front of the line I was greeted with a warm smile from the man inside the truck. He looked me up and down then chuckled. “Hey there. You don’t look like the sort to order a snow cone, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“I’m not the type,” I said. “I haven’t had one in at least a decade. Maybe two. But when I saw your truck, I had to stop.”
“Well, I’m glad you did. What flavor can I get for you? Blue raspberry? Strawberry? Cherry? Grape? Orange crush? Lime? Mango—”
“Can I ask you something?”
The guy in the truck paused and then nodded. “Well, sure.”
I nodded across the street at Yo Cone. “How long has that business been there?”
“Yo Cone?” he asked disdainfully.
I squinted up at him and used my hand to shield my eyes from the sun as it crept higher in the sky. “Yeah. Were you here first?”
“Of course I was!” He shook his head scornfully. “I’ve been here selling my cones for six years, man. Six years. And this place shows up eighteen months ago, right across the street from where I’ve been selling for all this time. And you know what happens?”
“What?”
“They undercut all my prices for their first three months to win the favor of the locals who’ve been coming to my truck for ages. Now they go to Yo Cone instead of coming to see me. I know them all by name. I offer a good product—far better than Yo Cone. Big corporate money-hungry grease balls.”
I tried to conceal my smile and failed.
“What’s so funny?” he barked.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh. But you and one of my friends would get along freakishly well. Thank you for indulging me, sir.”
He looked confused. Then he shrugged. “So, what flavor?”
“Cherry.”
“Good choice. Excellent choice. My favorite.” He handed me my snow cone, fully prepared. It was a dark shade of red, like blood, but the longer I held it, the brighter it became as the coloring sank to the tip of the cone.
I held it up to him in thanks and started heading back in the direction of my car as I bit off pieces of shaved ice. It was as good as I remembered. And sweet. Lily would have loved it.
As I walked, I thought about what Yo Cone had done to the small business owner I’d just met. He was a hardworking man with a good business, providing an excellent product. It wasn’t right that they could show up and squash his revenue.
It was unethical but not illegal.
There was nothing stopping these big chains from doing shit like that. Now, I understood where Senna was coming from, and I felt like a bit of an ass for not understanding it sooner. Of course, I’d been aware that these big corporations were infringing on the territory of small business owners. In fact, it was happening at a faster rate than ever before, but I had been profiting from it.
Greatly.
I fished my phone out of my pocket while grumbling to myself and called Senna. I hadn’t expected to get through, so when her voicemail message played, I was prepared to leave a message.
“Hey, Senna. It’s me. I know you’re probably busy getting ready for relocation, but I just wanted to call and let you know I dropped the paperwork off at the office this morning. Hopefully, my boss will get to it on Monday. If not, I’ll harass the hell out of him until he does.” I paused, listened to the giggling children on the beach, and watched two little girls get chased around by their father, who was clutching a bottle of sunscreen as he tore through the sand after them. I smiled. “I miss you. Say hi to Lily for me. Talk soon.”
Chapter 34
Senna
“Where the heck did I put that packing tape?” I muttered, lifting up empty boxes and moving piles of clothes stacked up on display tables in my search. “I swear I just had it.”
Edith was on the other side of one of my display tables. She moved things around in search of the tape as Lily dropped to all fours and crawled under the table, declaring that she would help me look.
Over the past few days, we’d gone back and forth between our two shops to help each other pack, and both of us had massive moving-sale signs plastered on our windows. I’d called some of my customers to let them know we were relocating and that a lot of my merchandise was on sale.
Some of them swung by and purchased some items. Others never showed.
It didn’t bother me. I was surprisingly optimistic about this move, and I had a good feeling that everything was finally about to fall into place. I could let all the angst and resentment go that had built up inside me over the years as I watched Woodbury mall be completed across the street. There was no need for me to carry that around anymore.
I felt free, lighter, happier, and it was all because of him. The Suit.
“Here it is,” Edith said victoriously, pulling out the packing tape from under a pile of jeans and tossing it over to me.
I flipped down the top flaps of the box I’d just packed and drew the tape along the seam, sealing it shut. Then I plucked a permanent marker from the table and scrawled across the side of the box, “New Fall Merch”.
Standing back, I planted my hands on my hips and looked around at the shop.
We’d made pretty good progress over the last couple days. About fifty percent of my merchandise was already packed up. Some of the boxes, the ones tucked up against the front window display, were going to be donated. They were older items that hadn’t moved much since I added them to my inventory, and since I was starting with a clean slate, I didn’t want to bring anything with me that wasn’t going to be lucrative.
Edith dragged her hand across her forehead after sealing the box she’d been working on. “Is it time for lunch soon? My back hurts.”
Lily emerged from under the table. “I’m hungry too.”
I nodded. “Yeah, let’s eat. I’ll bring everything out from the back.”
Since we’d been working so close together since we started packing up, I’d been bringing lunches to share. I went to the back, opened my mini fridge, and grabbed our containers with sandwiches for everyone, along with some veggies, dip, and iced teas. I brought it out to the front where Lily and Edith had sat down on the carpet in front of the changing rooms.
I joined them and crossed my legs under myself as I passed out the sandwiches. Lily had ham and cheese, while Edith and I chowed down on veggie sandwiches smothered in cream cheese and Dijon mustard.
We ate quickly. Moving was arduous, and we had worked up an appetite. After our sandwiches were gone, which was a matter of minutes, we dug into the vegetables I’d cut up, happily dunking them into the ranch dip.
“I can’t believe we’re going to be in a new shop in less than a month,” Edith said. “It doesn’t feel real yet, you know?”
I nodded. “Believe me. I get it. This place has felt like home for four years. And it isn’t just that we’re leaving it behind—the build
ing is going to be demolished. None of this will even be here anymore.”
“It sucks,” Edith said.
“Big time,” I agreed.
Lily looked back and forth between us but didn’t say anything as she nearly drowned a baby carrot in ranch dip.
I caught her eye. “Easy on the dip, bunny. More carrot. Less ranch.”
“Okay, Momma.”
Edith sighed and leaned back on her hands. “This still feels like the right call, though. I mean, yeah, moving sucks in general, but it will be fun to unpack and get our merchandise displayed in the new stores. I can’t wait for those big bay windows.”
I chuckled. “And I can’t wait to have more than two fitting rooms.”
“I bet,” Edith said. “Have you heard from Zach recently?”
I nodded. “He called me yesterday morning to let me know he’d dropped off our paperwork. He’s hoping his boss looks at it tomorrow. Well, I didn’t talk to him. He left me a voicemail. He didn’t answer when I called him back. I think he’s probably pretty busy getting back into the swing of things in Orlando.”
Lily popped up to her feet. “I’m going to the bathroom. Be right back.”
“Okay. Don’t forget to wash your hands.”
“I won’t!” She hurried off down the hall to the back room.
Edith caught my eye and took a deep breath. “I’m stressed.”
“Why?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think because everything still feels like it’s up in the air. I mean, we’ve made our choice and started taking steps, but things are still unresolved on Zach’s end and yet to be processed. What if things don’t go the way he said they would?”
“Everything will work out. I promise. Zach is fighting for us, remember?”
“I know. I guess I’d just feel better if we had the money now. Then we wouldn’t have to front our new leases with our own cash.”
Good Luck Charm: A Single Mother Romance Page 20