“She said that for now, we should focus on becoming good friends.That maybe in the future, when we’re older and more mature, if we feel that way about each other, we can discuss dating.But for now, she says she’s not interested in anything beyond friendship with me.”
“Damn,” Maverick said.“That girl is eloquent and knows what she wants.”
“It actually takes a lot of pressure off,” Damon added.“I’m cool with just being friends.The idea of more terrified me.”
I smiled at my nephew’s honesty.It seemed that not only was Mabel introducing him to the flora and fauna of the island, but she was also helping him explain and understand his feelings better.As well as discuss them openly with his family.
Women really were powerful creatures.
The conversations in our little party moved on to other topics as we all laughed, filled our bellies with pizza, and reflected on the expected chaos that came with opening day.
There were always hiccups on opening day.
We’d never gone a year without one.
This year’s hiccup was that our POS system wasn’t working properly.For whatever reason, the sales of everything from a bottle of wine to a flight of glasses weren’t going through.It took Maverick and Damon three hours to sort it out.Luckily, Raina was able to set up a quick QR code, and people were able to pay via a payment app instead.It wasn’t ideal, but it meant we didn’t lose out on any sales.
I was on my third slice of pizza—well-deserved after I skipped breakfast and lunch today—and chatting with Amy about a few things I wanted her to focus on as assistant manager, when her eyes darted to the front door behind me and a cute, knowing smile curled her mouth.
Nosy as hell, I glanced over my shoulder to find Lennox standing there.
Maverick, Tom, and Jagger surrounded him, shaking his hand and welcoming him, but his eyes found mine and ignited a pleasant heat in my lower belly.
Gabrielle bumped my shoulder.“You’ve got company,” she whispered.
My heart did a little pitter-patter as he broke free from the guys and came toward me.Instantly, he looped his arm around my waist and pecked me on the side of the head.“How’d opening day go?”he asked.
I grinned up at him, a little breathless just from being in his orbit.Was this what it felt like to truly fall for someone?To get this winded and giddy when they walked through the door?
“We never have an opening day without a glitch or two, but all in all, it went well.”
“That’s good.”
“Mabel here?”I glanced around to see if she’d found her way over to Damon, but Lennox shook his head.“No.She has requested that for the next three days she see only me and birds.”
My brows narrowed.“Did something happen?”
He heaved a small sigh and thanked Raina, who had placed a half-glass of merlot in his hand.“She confronted Jolene at the farmers market today.”
It was like a record scratched; the entire room went quiet.Someone even dropped the volume of the music.
Then he told us what had happened and how Mabel had marched right up to The Island Mouth and told her to leave them alone.She even called her “The Island Mouth” to her face, which made more than a few of us gasp and snicker.
“Woman seemed shocked that that is her nickname,” he said.
Gabrielle and Jagger snorted.
“Oh, she knows,” Jagger said.“She’s just playing dumb.”
Heads bobbed.
“But we’re hoping now that Jolene has met Mabel, she will leave us alone.”
Faces around the room didn’t seem convinced.Neither was I.The fact that Jolene asked Mabel her father’s age, and it didn’t sound like Mabel told her, meant that The Island Mouth would just keep digging until she got what she wanted.She was relentless in her quest for gossip, which she called “information for the good of the island.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Danica said softly.
“That’s my fear,” Lennox confirmed.“I’m proud of my kid either way though.She drew a bit of a crowd telling that old biddy off.”
