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My heart thudded at that thought. I’d imagined it, of course. But seeing it was going to be the best feeling in the whole wide world.
“Yeah, it’s cool, I guess,” Derek joked.
“You’re such a dick,” I said, punching him in the arm.
“Be nice to your sister,” Kasey said with an eye roll. “Isn’t he the worst?”
“I was kidding. I mean, you’re a Ballentine. Our name is on the store. Can’t be anything but excellent,” Derek said.
“Ballentines are always excellent,” Dad agreed.
I tried not to cringe. To hold on to the buoyant feeling I’d had all day. I was more than the sum of my parts. I’d put Ballentine on the store because it was a known entity. It was my last name. Amelia’s just didn’t sound as strong from a marketing standpoint. And yeah, I was proud of my last name. I’d reclaimed it from my father.
“But what am I wearing?” a voice called through the crowd.
My eyes widened and then snapped to my mom. “You didn’t!”
She grinned. “I did.”
And then my cousins were barreling through the crowd, heading right to me. Marina crashed into me first in cutoff jean shorts and a baseball shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a baseball cap.
“Rina, I missed you,” I gasped.
She laughed. “I missed you too. Should have come to visit.”
I gestured to the store. “Not enough time.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“We’re proud of you,” Daron said. He was well over six feet tall with muscular football-player shoulders and a deep, dark tan from days spent out on the water, running the family business.
“Thanks, Dare.” I gave him a hug and then turned to Tye for one as well. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it,” Tye said with a smile. He was shorter than Daron, and even though he had been adopted, they still looked alike. Dark tans and curls in their hair and wide, bright smiles. But Tye was the artist to Daron’s athlete. Since Tye was the same age as me and Marina, we’d always run around together in the summers. Until he decided he wanted to be as cool as Daron and hanging out with two girls wasn’t cool. It was around this same time that Tye had realized he was bi.
I ruffled his hair. “Didn’t bring your boyfriend?”
He blushed and rolled his eyes. “He’s flying this weekend.”
“Ah, that pilot life,” I said with a laugh.
Tye shrugged and started to explain the situation to Kathy. My dad’s face pinched at the details. I wanted to hit him for it. Why even were men?
I had to get inside and work soon, but part of me had been waiting for one more person to complete the day. The one person who had helped me get prime real estate on Broughton for the shop. Except I didn’t see Ash Talmadge anywhere.
And though I had let my old crush on him die for my own sanity, I couldn’t help wishing.
Ash’s parents were here. Mr. and Mrs. Talmadge had already come over to congratulate me. That had been nice. His mom was a bit … neurotic, but despite the hundred-dollar curtain fiasco of our childhood, she’d always liked me. Probably because I’d done all the “right” things. I had the right family name. The right debutante ball. The right pageants. All of that. The only thing that could make me better in her eyes was for me to quit working entirely and get married to someone respectable.
“All right,” I said, giving up on Ash showing up for me … even though he always had in the past. “I should head inside. There’s already a line!”
Everyone wished me luck. Derek insisted we go out after I closed. And then it was just me trekking into the shop to work for the day.
My newest cashier, Sasha, seemed to be the best of the lot. I could definitely see her moving up in the company if she kept at it.
“So exciting,” she gushed.
I laughed. “It really is.”
“But, oh my God, look at that hottie with flowers at the entrance.”
“Who even says hottie anymore, Sasha?”
She laughed, but I followed her gaze to the front door. And damn it, there was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen in my entire life, holding a bouquet of red roses.
“Hold down the fort,” I said as a wide smile hit my face.
“Your boyfriend?” she guessed.
“Just a friend.”
“My friends don’t bring me red roses, looking that hot,” she muttered under her breath.
I laughed and walked over to Ash. “You made it!”
“Sorry I missed the big opening ceremony,” he said, passing me the roses and pulling me in for a quick hug.
“It’s okay. It was boring anyway. Your parents were there.”
“Ah, fun times,” he said. “Was Mom … okay?”
“You know how she is. She asked why I wasn’t already married.”
He shook his head. “She’s very traditional.”
