“Then that means it’s time to drink,” Kash declared just as he popped the cork of a bottle of champagne.
The lot of us jumped and laughed. Laney provided plastic cups, and Jett popped a second. And around the bottle went until we all had a bubbling glass raised, ignoring the early hour in the spirit of celebration.
“To all that’s old and new,” I said, smiling down at my mother. “May we be immortalized by the deeds we do and the love we give.”
Hear, hear, we cheered before joining in silence as we drank deep from the well of beginnings and the familiarity of home.
Chatter rose as everyone began to talk among themselves, wandering around the shop to point and nudge and smile at every corner of the space. Dad scooped Mom into a hug, whispering something in her ear that made her smile-cry again. And I took the opportunity to put myself in Tess’s space.
She smiled at me over her champagne, taking a deliberately delicate sip as I approached.
We’d left the shop the night before in a trail of kisses, neither of us wanting to go. I couldn’t speak to her reasons, but as for me … I wasn’t sure if that was it. If she wanted me for anything more than last night.
A flash of fear shot through me, as it had a dozen times since last night, at the thought that it might have been the only time. That all she wanted from me was the use of my body, the blanket of my charm, the comfort of companionship for a moment, nothing more.
But Tess was different. The things she wanted. The way her body sang to mine. Tess didn’t fling. And I didn’t want to.
I wanted to build things for her and watch her face light up. I wanted to surprise her, wanted to give her the unexpected. I wanted to discover her, and I wanted to live in every little joy that discovery would bring. But I wanted more than just that.
I wanted to be the man she didn’t believe me to be.
Tess’s eyes were deep and dark, touched at the corners with mischief.
“Well, cheers to making her cry,” I said, extending my glass for a tap.
She obliged. “It’s all thanks to you.”
I made an argumentative noise and took a sip. “You’re the brains. I’m just the brawn.”
Tess made a derisive face, though it was soft with affection. “Please. You did more than me, and your ideas were even better than mine.”
I chuckled. “Mom’s right. We even argue when we’re getting along.”
Her face lit up when she laughed. “If we’re not insulting each other, we’re trying to out-compliment each other. It’s sick, really.”
“Disturbing,” I agreed, stepping closer without meaning to. “Also, for the record, I never insulted you.”
“That’s true,” she admitted, her eyes flashing down to the golden bubbles in her cup. “I’m sorry for that, Luke. I’ve been cruel.”
“Well, I did forget I’d kissed you for ten years.”
A chuckle, but she didn’t meet my eyes. “It was just a kiss, and it was forever ago.”
“It wasn’t just a kiss, and I shouldn’t have forgotten.”
“I just … I’m sorry for judging you unduly. I shouldn’t have assumed so much.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s the general consensus that I’m a shameless flirt and an irresponsible slacker. You aren’t the first one to be wrong, and you certainly won’t be the last.”
The joke, the one I always told, the one with the kernel of truth I usually ignored. Easier to own it than to fight it, I figured.
But something made her look up at me with earnest intentions lining her face. “I was wrong. I was wrong about a lot of things.”
I smirked against the squeeze of my ribcage . “So does this mean it’s your turn to make it up to me?”
She rolled her eyes as she laughed. “You’re impossible, do you know that?”
“I do, and is that a yes?”
An arch look colored her face, followed by a flash of indecision. “Luke, I don’t think we should—”
But before she finished, I leaned in, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence. I brought my lips to her ear, my breath moving her hair in puffs when I whispered, “Because if you really want to make it up to me, I’ll be in the back of storage in ten minutes. The spot where I saved your life.”
Her breath was shallow, her pulse fluttering in the soft dip behind her jaw. I wanted to kiss that spot, to feel the heat of her skin under my lips. But not in front of my mother. God knew what sort of proposal she’d make if she knew.
No, for now, Tess was all mine, if she’d have me.
I leaned back, taking a moment to soak in the surprise and desire on her face before I turned and walked away, leaving her stunned behind me.
My heart tha-dumped as I ambled through the store, wondering if she’d meet me. Wondering what she’d say. Wondering if I would kiss her again or get rejected.
I brushed the thought away and hugged Mom again, kissed her cheek, modestly batted away her praise. Because the truth was, without Tess, none of this would be what it was. I had ideas, sure. But what I didn’t always have was the motivation to follow it through.
Tess, I found, was the greatest motivator of all.
My siblings congratulated me even though they’d all seen the shop at various stages of production. I had to admit, the full effect was staggering. As I stood, admiring the shine installment, I noted the faces on the other side of the window as people stopped, smiling into the shop.
It was going to work. I knew it would.
It had to.
I glanced at the clock on the wall behind the register, noting the time. Everyone had begun to disperse. Mom and Laney headed back to the worktables where Ivy had been hard at it for hours. Dad and Kash wound their way toward the greenhouse. Jett and Marcus chatted behind the register, talking about point of sale and conversion rates and a bunch of other nonsense that sounded like noise. And I caught Tess’s eye as she moved pots around on the display table without purpose.
“Tick-tock,” I said, smiling sideways at her to cover my uncertainty as I passed.
I somehow avoided being stopped, everyone engaged in their own conversations. Mom, Laney, and Ivy bent over a vase of zinnias. Dad and Kash talking about the pH levels of the yarrow beds. And silently, casually, inconspicuously, I walked down to storage.
The building was dark, and I was greeted by the smell of earth and old wood, the sharp scent of fertilizer and mulch, the sweetness of a hundred years of memories and age and familiarity. And I leaned back against the shelves next to the ladder where I’d caught Tess.
Had it only been a few days ago? It seemed like years. Too much had changed for it to have only been days. Days ago, I’d been convinced she hated me. Hours ago, I’d had her body at my disposal. And if I’d learned anything from last night, it was that a taste wouldn’t be enough.
Not when it came to Tess.
I couldn’t understand why. Because it was true—she had been shitty to me and for no other reason than she thought I was impervious to pain. Which was fair enough … that was armor I wore quite often and with great purpose. Maybe it was that I’d won her over, and that battle had been hard-fought.
But on inspection, I knew the real reason was this: Tess Monroe was a mystery to me, and I wanted to unearth the answers to all my questions. Like why she was so averse to adventure. Or why she wanted to do the same thing, day in and day out. I wanted to know what it had been like for her all these years, taking care of her dad, living without her mom.