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"Okay. Thanks."
Shianne gathered the dress wrapped in a big puffy plastic bag into her arms and carried it out to the shop. He started the coffee pot and exited the back room to watch the front happenings. The doorbell above the door chimed again and another older woman entered the shop.
Three hours passed and Myles found himself ringing up customer's orders as Shianne continued to help women get their dresses. He'd have to make sure to tell Maya he had worked in the dress shop today. He couldn't even believe this shit himself.
His stomach growled and he looked at his watch. Twelve thirty. Past lunchtime. Shianne laid a dress on the counter. "Myles will help you with your order Ms. Woodson." Shianne's eyes met his, he could see the silent plea.
"I sure will. Nice to meet you Ms. Woodson."
"Nice to meet you too, Myles." Ms. Woodson giggled. He'd gotten a lot of that today. "Boy, you must really love Shianne to help her in the shop like this. My husband would never help me out if I owned a dress shop."
Shianne was on her way to the counter carrying another dress and stumbled when she heard Ms. Woodson. Their eyes met. He winked at her and then said, "I don't want to get tongues wagging in town, but she's special for a fact."
Shianne's cheeks bloomed a pretty pink as she set the next dress on the counter.
He rang up Ms. Woodson's order, collected her credit card payment, and thanked her as the next customer waited.
He rang up that customer and then another. There was finally a lull in the flow of customers. He glanced at Shianne, and she smiled but looked exhausted. "I'm starving. Where would you like me to order food from and what would you like?"
The door chime sounded again, and he chuckled. Figures.
He turned to see Lara walking toward them with a bag in her hand and drinks in another.
"Hey you two. I heard you were swamped so I thought I'd bring you lunch."
Shianne hugged Lara. "Thank you so much. Myles just said he was starving."
Lara grinned at him. "I heard you were Shianne's new shop boy. As Ms. Woodson said."
"I'm hardly that. And I'll tell you this, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd be checking out ladies’ clothing orders in a boutique at any time in my life. Maya is going to hoot over this one."
Lara laughed. "She likely will."
Shianne opened the bag. "Who’s watching the bakery?"
Lara laughed and looked at Myles. "Tate."
He chuckled. He wasn't the only one out of his element today. Shianne pulled sandwiches and napkins from the bag. And, of course, two giant cookies.
Myles pulled his wallet from his back pocket and gave Lara money. "Nope, it's on me."
"I insist. The delivery alone is worth it."
Lara stepped away from the counter, a huge smile on her face. "And, seeing you two together and watching Myles behind the counter, is so worth it.”
He shook his head but opened a sandwich and bit into it. "I'll get you back."
Lara hugged Shianne and whispered something in her ear. Shianne whispered something back and he grinned. Girl secrets between best friends. Likely about him. And it made him feel stupidly happy about that.
Shianne waved goodbye to Lara as she walked toward the door. "Bye, Myles."
"Thank you, Lara." He called out with food in his mouth. His grandmother would have cuffed him in the back of the head had she seen that.
Shianne opened the second sandwich and took a big bite. "Mmm." She said as she chewed.
He opened the bottles of sweet tea Lara brought and set one in front of Shianne. They ate in silence for a while and his stomach began to forgive him the absence of food. Drinking the last of his sweet tea, he tossed the bottle in the wastebasket behind the counter, realized it was full, and started pulling the garbage bag from the can. He then shook the contents to the bottom of the bag and waited for Shianne to finish her sandwich. He went to the back room and office to gather those garbage bags and replace them with clean bags.
He went back out to the front of the shop and saw Shianne looking around at the order slips she'd had from yesterday. She turned to the back counter and began pulling out boxes and tissue paper to continue packing orders.
