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“Are you sure you can get coverage for your stores and restaurants?” Remi asked.
“I think I speak for everyone when I say that we’re in this together. Whatever anyone can afford to do will be respected. All our brands will be associated with the event,” Max said.
“Thanks, Max,” Remi said.
She was looking at him with admiration and respect when I wanted her to look at me like that.
“We should still plan something with just us,” Hailey said.
“Yeah, I love that idea,” Savannah said.
Max raised his hand to get everyone’s attention. “I wanted to talk to you guys about something really quick before I have to get back to work. There’s a mechanic’s shop, Harbor Auto, between here and the newer development on the west end of town. I took my truck in there the other day, and they’re looking to get to know other business owners. I know they don’t own a shop or a restaurant on Main Street, but do we want to invite them to our meetings, to participate in the fundraiser?”
“I don’t see why not. At our core, we’re a group of business owners. We don’t need to limit our members to Main Street stores or Harbor restaurants,” Sophie said.
“We need more men. We’re getting outnumbered by women,” Easton said playfully.
“So, we’re all in favor of inviting Harbor Auto into the group?” Max asked at the same time someone called out his name at the bar. “I’ll be back.”
The others started talking about ideas for the fundraiser.
I lowered my head so my mouth was near her ear. “I told you they’d love the idea.”
Remi smiled, spinning on her chair to face me. My hand dropped from her shoulder to her thigh. It was too personal, but I let it rest there for a few seconds while Remi’s eyes widened in surprise, then darkened with heat.
“It was your idea too. You’re going to partner with me on this.”
“I said I’d help.”
“Good. I’ll invite my parents to come too.”
“It will be nice to see them again.” I wasn’t sure what they’d think about me being back in the picture.
Remi rested her hand on my bicep, and my attention hyperfocused on the contact.
The muscle under her palm twitched. Her adoptive parents were amazing people. When we were in high school, they lived on a farm with chickens and were involved in church. I remembered them being kind and loving.
“My mom told me when we were older that we weren’t healthy when they first got us. We were malnourished, probably scrounging to eat whatever we could. Relying on free school meals to get by. We weren’t used to parents interacting with us, playing with us, or eating meals together. Delilah was a little mother to me.”
That last statement was a good reminder that Delilah wouldn’t appreciate me lusting after her sister. She would want to protect Remi from me. I was a good boyfriend to her, but I wasn’t that same guy anymore.
“We were accepted into their life, their family, and their church. It was nice. She said that, within a few months, we were calling them Mom and Dad.”
“I remember you saying that was hard on your bio parents,” I said, using the word that Remi used to refer to her real parents.
“They hated it, but they had no one to blame but themselves. I understand the system favors biological parents. The courts want to reunite kids with their parents, but sometimes—”
I rested my hand on her thigh again, wishing I could gather her closer. “It’s not healthy for anyone.”
She nodded, her eyes shiny.
“You were so lucky to have them.”
Her face pinched. “I don’t believe in luck or magic, but it was a good situation.”
“Why don’t you believe in luck?” She didn’t talk about, or probably even remember, what it was like living with her bio parents, but it might have been bad.
“I believe life is what you make of it. There’s intention and action and a whole lot of follow-through. Things don’t just fall into your lap.”
I tipped my head to the side, considering her words. I didn’t expect her to be a realist. Not with her meditation and affirmations. “I don’t know… I like to think you ending up with your parents was fate.”
“They were exactly what we needed.”
My heart was overflowing with emotions for this girl. I was proud of her, sympathetic to her past, and longing to know more. I wanted to know everything, her fears, her desires, her needs. I wanted her, and more than just her body. I wanted her soul.
The shock of that thought had me moving to the side when Hailey touched Remi’s arm to get her attention with a question about the fundraiser. My heart was racing, palms sweaty. I was getting in deep with this girl, and I still had no idea what I was doing.
