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I perched on the edge of one of the chairs instead of sitting.
“How was Charleston?” he asked. “When did you get back?”
“It was … enlightening. I got back yesterday with Ash.”
My dad smiled. “I like that boy.”
“So do I. We’re moving in together. He hired movers to pack up my townhouse.”
“That’s great to hear, Amelia. Wedding bells in your future?”
I laughed. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. We’ve not been together that long.”
“Well, it’ll all happen in time. He should know that he has my blessing, of course.”
“I don’t think he needs it, but I’m sure he’d be happy to hear that.” I reached into my bag and removed a stack of paperwork. The real reason I’d come to his office. “Here.”
I dropped the stack on his desk.
He looked down at it in confusion. Then, his lawyer brain went into full effect, and he thumbed through the pages.
“Think you could look at that and tell me what I should change?”
“This is a contract for a commercial property in Charleston.”
“It is.”
My dad glanced up in surprise. “I thought you and Ash were moving in together.”
“We are.”
“In Savannah?”
“Yep.”
My dad’s confusion continued. “Then, what is this?”
“I’m opening another boutique. I found the perfect location, and the rent is a satisfactory rate. If the contract looks good, then I’ll sign and spend the summer setting it up.”
“So … you’re going to run it from here.”
“That is still in the works. I don’t want to leave Ash, but this is my dream.”
“I’d be happy to look at it. I want you to follow your dreams.”
“Thank you.”
It was an olive branch. Ash could have had any one of his lawyers look at it. I could have called Derek. But I wanted my dad to do it. I needed something to try to fix what was broken between us.
My dad frowned and looked down at the paperwork again. “I’m glad you’re here, Amelia. I wanted to apologize for what happened at your charity event. But then you were in Charleston, and I didn’t know how to talk to you about it.”
“Mom did,” I admitted.
He winced. “I’m sure that was colorful.”
“It was actually. She told me everything about what happened with Kathy and the open relationship. Which … ew. I see why y’all didn’t tell me to begin with. I wouldn’t have understood. I still don’t understand, if I’m honest.”
“I love Kathy,” he said softly. “I knew that I shouldn’t love her, but I did, and I still do. I’ve never … I’ve never hurt her like I hurt your mother. I never would.”
“I know.”
And the first realization hit me. He’d hurt my mom. It had been wrong. But he’d never hurt my bonus mom. I loved her so much, too, and I didn’t want anything to happen to her. But she never would have been in my life if they hadn’t divorced.
“I’d really like to find a way to begin mending this. You’re my baby girl.”
“I don’t think it will happen overnight or anything, but maybe we can start with the contract.” I smiled shyly back at him as I stood. “See where this all takes us.”
He nodded once. “I’d like that.”
“This is my queendom, and I am its queen,” Sasha announced as she stepped foot into the mayhem of the new store.
I snorted. “You’re ridiculous.”
“In the best way.”
“Well, obviously,” I said.
Once the terms had been finalized and the contract had been signed, I’d been in full-tilt planning mode. The biggest impediment was how I was going to train people to run the place while I was still in Savannah. And that was fixed by my Sasha. She’d volunteered to move to Charleston and handle day-to-day operations there. Meanwhile, she trained up a new manager for the Savannah store so that I could also work from here.
And today was my official move-in day. I had boxes upon boxes of clothes. Not everything for the launch coming this fall, but all the extras from the Savannah store as well as the first arrivals for the fall line. Also all the equipment and racks and tables and counter. Everything to run a functioning business.
It was the second move-in day in a matter of months. I’d officially left my townhouse and into Ash’s much larger house. I didn’t regret it one bit. I had so much love for that townhouse that had gotten me through my twenties, but this was the right move. It was exactly where I wanted to be.
“One, two, three,” Ash said, and then he and Daron lifted the table for the cash register together.
It was a hefty thing with a white marble top that I’d found at an antique store. I’d painted the bottom a shiny gold to match the rest of the store.
I dived in to the moving van, lifting equipment into the store until someone forced me to stand in place and direct people. I was doing just that when my dad of all people walked inside, holding a chair.
