Finished with the second decal, he glanced down at me with that look of superiority featuring the arched eyebrow he had probably perfected in a meeting room or wherever. It wasn’t helping that he was literally standing over me.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his hand open, waiting for the last one.
I placed Corner in his palm.
“Just having a conversation,” I answered, shrugging.
“With yourself?”
“With you. Since you don’t find me interesting enough to talk to, I’m making it easier for both of us and just doing it by myself. This way you won’t have to trouble yourself with asking random questions and making small talk. Plus, you’re up there, which means you can’t run away from me. So…win-win.”
For a long time, we stared at each other, and I did my best to look innocent. Then he just sighed and shook his head as if I’d lost my mind and he was astonished with himself because he’d married this weird person willingly. He turned back to the window.
“It’s not about not finding you interesting to talk to, Rose. You are probably the most interesting person I’ve ever met. I just don’t think we should get—nevermind I’ve had a long day, too—a long week, actually. That’s all.”
And didn’t that made me feel like a jerk.
“Oh,” I mumbled, shifting in place. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. Anything you want to share?”
“No need to apologize. It’s nothing specific, just lots of meetings and phone calls.”
“I baked some brownies to test out a recipe for opening day. Would you like some? Brownies always make me happy.”
“Maybe after we finish this. Why Around the Corner?”
I tried my best to keep my grin to a minimum but wasn’t sure if I quite managed it. “As Tom Hanks would say, the entrance is Around the Corner.”
“Tom Hanks?”
“I’m a big fan of the movie You’ve Got Mail. I love Meg Ryan’s character and her bookshop was called Around the Corner in the movie. It’s also simple, elegant, and sweet, not just because of the movie, but on its own. I like it. You’ve seen that movie, right? It’s a classic.”
“Can’t say I have.”
“No, Jack. Just no. No husband of mine can answer that question with a no. You have to watch it. Maybe we can watch it together one day when you’re free.”
“Maybe.” He paused, and I thought that would be the extent of our conversation. “It’s good,” he muttered.
“What?” I asked absently, looking out the window as people passed by with their umbrellas. The rain was starting to pick up.
“The name—it’s good for a coffee shop.”
That had my eyebrows rising and my attention going back to Jack. “Really? You think so?”
“Yes, it suits you for some reason, and it sounds like it has a good memory attached to it. You did a really good job around here, Rose. You should be proud.” He looked down. “This is it?” I nodded and he got down. “Good enough?” he asked, looking up at the decals.
I backed up and stood next to him. “It’s more than good enough. It’s perfect. Thank you. Can we do the same for the window at the front?”
Instead of making up an excuse like any other guy would have and leaving when I kept coming up with stuff I could use his help with, like arranging some of the tables and chairs—multiple times—he stayed put, and he complimented my brownies. When we were ready to leave, it had gotten dark out and the rain had started to fall harder. I still had the biggest smile on my face. Partly because of Jack, partly because of everything else. Like magic, Raymond was already waiting at the curb when we locked everything up, and we headed to Jack’s apartment.
On Saturday, I met up with Owen. Sally wasn’t coming in so I couldn’t introduce them, but it was Owen’s first time at the coffee shop with all the furniture set up nicely. I basically held my breath the entire time he was looking around and let out the longest sigh when he finally said he thought it looked amazing. We spent hours talking about what we wanted to do for the first month and created our menu together.
After Owen left, I sat down in the middle of the coffee shop and started working on the shopfront flower installation, which I hoped would be rather striking. I’d seen it in several shops in New York and in cities like Paris—thanks to Pinterest—and I’d fallen completely in love with the look and the way it transformed a space. Since we were living in a social media age, I wanted to do everything in my power and budget to make my coffee shop eye-catching, comfy, cozy, and beautiful.
Of course, this was all rooted in the hope that I would get actual living customers on opening day, and every day after that.
When Jack knocked on the door, I’d been waiting for him to show up for at least an hour. I had a big smile on my face when I opened the door for him, and he had a bewildered expression on his own.
“Hi. Hey. You’re late. Where were you?”
Those thick and prominent eyebrows drew together, but it still didn’t dampen my enthusiasm. This was Jack—frowning was like his version of saying hello.
“I’m late?”
“You always come around earlier. So…you’re late.”
“You were waiting for me?”
“Jack, I wait for you every day. It’s been almost three weeks.” I shrugged, not even realizing what I had just blurted out. “Come in, come in, it’s cold outside.” I opened the door wider and grabbed his arm, pulling him in since he was too busy staring at me.
“What do you mea—what is this?”
I came up behind him and bounced on my feet. He gave me another look, one that said he thought I was being weird. I ignored it completely. “It’s the flower installation that’s going to go outside. It’ll start on the ground and arch over the door. I’ll also add the group of flowers that’s over there to the back of the door so from the inside, it will look as if the flowers kinda went through the glass and bloomed on the wall inside.”
He nodded and I smiled again. I couldn’t contain it for some reason. “That’s a really great idea,” he said.
I was still bouncing, smaller bounces, but still…I was bouncy.
His forehead creased and his eyes looked me up and down. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked, and I burst out laughing, unable to contain myself.
“Nothing, Jack.” I shook my head, keeping the smile. “Absolutely nothing. Too much coffee, maybe?” I walked around the fake flowers that were covering almost every available surface. “Come help me?”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
I got on my knees and grabbed a bunch of roses from the ground. “You always help me.”
His jaw clenched. “Yes. Yes, I do, don’t I?”
“So? You’re not gonna help because helping with flowers isn’t manly enough? I won’t tell anyone, promise.”
He looked around the shop, around the floor, taking in all the shades of pink. Then he sighed and took off his black coat, followed by the black suit jacket.
“You can sit on the chair,” I said when he looked around as if he wasn’t sure where he should go. After a moment of hesitation, he pulled up the closest one and sat down to my left, his back to the door. “Why are you on the floor?”