Of course, up until recently, I’d dreamt of saying Welcome to Good Vibrations, but…hey! At least people wouldn’t think they were walking into a sex shop.
A cheer made its way through the crowd and the store filled. I greeted customers. Answered questions. Fielded so many compliments on the color of the walls, the products, the tanks and tees, but most importantly, the cash register got a workout. When I first saw the line, I assumed most people were lookie-loos, curious about a new store and looking for something to fill their time. I figured they’d browse and leave but no. They bought.
Oh, how they bought.
Evie finally made her way inside, wide-eyed with excitement. “I had no idea so many people were into woo-woo stuff.”
“Me neither, but who am I to question what works?” I dropped her a wink and gave my attention to a customer with a question about vetiver.
I thought things would die down once the line dissipated, and the crazy energy of having so many people in the store did fade, but customers kept coming in. They’d have a coffee in their hands, or a bag of candy from Sweet Stuff, and peruse, reading the cards I’d put out. Sure there were some skeptics and no, not everyone liked the oils, but a herd of teenagers came in after school and cooed and shrieked over the ‘totally adorable’ clothing and jewelry.
Izzy texted around three. You should have opened your store sooner! I haven’t been this busy in months! Don’t tell Alex, but I might run out of jellybeans. Congrats on a great first day!
It was truly everything I’d dreamed of when I first drove into town. The perfect location. Customers wandering through the store with coffee and candy. The only thing missing was Jack and the kids…though they hadn’t been part of my original daydream. I’d written them in a little bit later…
As if the universe had lined up a cue card and we were all reading from it, the door swung open. Charlie, Connor, and Garrett stepped through with Jack right on their heels. They all had on white t-shirts with Cooper Crew written in puffy paint. The boys wore their bracelets and Charlie’s necklace dangled between the O’s in Cooper. They had cups from Brewhaha in one hand and bags of candy from Sweet Stuff in the other. Jack had something wrapped in tissue paper tucked under one arm.
Our eyes met.
My heart leapt at the sight of them.
He smiled as he approached.
I swallowed hard, because damn it, I would not cry in my own store in front of customers.
“Seems like you’ve had a bangin’ first day.”
I nodded. “Pretty much a dream come true.”
My God, did seeing them feel good…and bad. I missed them more than I could articulate and in a perfect world, they would have been here with me from the second I unlocked the doors.
Jack put his coffee and bag of candy on the counter, then shifted the package into his hands. “We have something we want to say to you.”
“We want you back!” Charlie jumped up and down, clutching her hands beneath her chin.
“Charlie!” Jack looked shocked, then turned back to me with a shake of his head. “I had something a little different in mind, but yeah, we’re here to say we want you back. I’ve been a wreck without you.”
“He keeps staring at everything like this…” Connor slumped his shoulders, staring sadly while letting out a deep sigh.
“I hate to say it, but that’s a pretty accurate impression.” Jack’s eyes searched mine, no doubt studying my reaction, which at the moment was frozen in shock.
I knew I needed to say something, but I couldn’t make my mouth work.
Garrett stepped forward. “I know I was mean to you, but that’s because I was starting to love you and it scared me. But now I miss you and that scares me more.” His words sounded rehearsed, but his eyes looked genuine.
“I love you, Amelia.” Jack smiled and it warmed my heart. “We all love you and want you back. Not as a babysitter, but as my girlfriend.”
My answer was yes, over and over, again and again, yes. But Jack had bolted at the first sign of something going wrong. He hadn’t discussed it with me. He’d lied, then hid, then broke things off. I wanted to talk to him about all of that—but how? Here? In the middle of my store in front of the kids? I didn’t think so.
Jack took my hand. “I understand why you’re hesitating. I’m so sorry for how I acted, Amelia. I know we can’t talk about it now, but we need to. I have so much to explain and a lot to make up for.”
Connor unwrapped the tissue paper and pulled out a fifth shirt. “Will you join our Cooper Crew?”
“Please?” Charlie bounced up and down.
I could feel my higher self whispering. Whatever happened to make Jack walk away, we could work through it. These were my people and I wanted them just as much as they wanted me.
Nodding, I put a hand to my heart and bent down to meet Connor’s eyes. “Are you flippin’ flappin’ crazy? I’d be honored to join your crew! I can’t think of anything that would make me happier.”
I accepted the shirt and slipped it on, then Jack drew me into his arms and kissed me. A cheer went up around the store. Laughing, I pulled away to find that at some point, our friends had slipped in, wearing shirts saying Woo-Woo We Love You in puffy paint, cups of coffee in one hand and bags of candy in the other.
“This was all you.” I stared at Jack with wide eyes. “The line at the door. Everyone walking around with coffee and candy…”
“I wanted your first day to be as special as you are. You’ve worked hard for this and deserved it to be everything you’d ever wanted.”
I huffed a laugh. “How’d you pull it off?”
“I called in a favor with Greta. She had some serious apologizing to do after everything she said about us on Facebook. I set her straight and gave her a chance to show off her social networking skills, which are apparently amazing.”
Reality hadn’t landed yet. It would, soon, but in that moment, wrapped in Jack’s embrace, the kids grinning up at us, and my friends chattering in the background, I sent a dose of gratitude to my higher self and spirit guides. How stupid of me to doubt them. They always had my best interests at heart.
“I can’t believe you did this,” I said with a laugh.
His eyes went wide. “I can’t believe you put woo-woo in the store name.”
“I thought it’d make you smile.”
“Oh, Amelia. You make me smile.” With that, he cupped my cheeks, pulled me close, and kissed me. The love I felt through his touch, the energy of his embrace, the absolute perfection of his hands pressed to my back, it said everything.
Jack hung around until closing time while the rest of the gang took the kids out for putt-putt and dinner at Mike’s. He helped me straighten the shop after an incredible first day, and then I followed him to his house and parked beside him in the driveway. Candles flickered in glass globes on the porch steps, with rose petals scattered along the walk and leading up to the front door.
“I texted Jude when we left the shop to stop by and light these,” Jack said as he unlocked the door and pushed it open. More candles and flower petals trailed through the foyer, hooking around the corner and into the hallway that led to his bedroom. He pulled me inside, his hands slipping under my shirt to skate along my lower back. “I’m so sorry for pushing you away. I’m sorry for not talking to you about what was going on with the kids. I’m sorry for making a decision that affected both of us without discussing it with you first.”