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I shut the door behind the last customer and locked it before turning around and falling against the surface. Georgiana stood there, a smile so big and bright on her face, I couldn’t help my childlike reaction.
“Oh my God!” I yelled as I jumped up and down and clapped my hands. Georgiana did the same, and we rushed to each other and hugged. Then we both proceeded to talk at the same time while my mother stared at us with a bemused expression.
“You got a custom order! From the mayor’s wife!”
“I know! I don’t even know what to think right now!”
Clasping our hands, we started to jump together now, all while turning in a circle and squealing.
“Oh my gosh, can someone do something? They’re going to blow my eardrums out!” Avery shouted.
My mother laughed and walked over. “I’m so very proud of you girls. Let’s get everything cleaned and locked up. Your father wants to take everyone out to eat.”
“Praise be to the Lord above,” Avery said. “I’m so hungry.”
I pulled my little cousin into a hug. “Thank you so much, Avery. I don’t think we could have managed today without your help.”
She beamed at me. “It was nice having a job where I don’t have to muck out a stall.”
Georgiana chuckled as I hugged Avery once again. She was about to turn sixteen, and I could already tell she’d been bitten by the fashion bug.
I glanced over to where Ryan, Blayze, and my father stood near the back of the shop. The three of them had their heads together…and they all looked very serious.
“Is everything okay?” I asked as I made my way over. All three instantly plastered on smiles. They weren’t fake, but something was for sure going on.
“Everything’s great, pumpkin,” my father said, pulling me in for a big hug. “I’m so damn proud of you both.”
I drew back and looked into his blue eyes. “Thank you, Dad. We couldn’t have done this without you and Jeff.”
Georgiana’s father, Jeff, had gone in with my father on purchasing the building that housed our boutique. It would take a while to pay them back, but if we had days like today at least a few times a month, we’d be paying that debt off quickly. Not that they wanted us to pay them back, but Georgiana and I had decided we intended on paying at least half of it back, if not all of it.
“Let’s head to dinner. I have a surprise for you both,” Dad said as he looked at my mother and winked. “Is the surprise ready, Lincoln?”
Mom laughed. “Indeed, it is.”
“Then let’s head on out!” Blayze said before he dipped Georgiana and kissed her. “I’m so proud of you.”
She blushed and whispered something I couldn’t hear. From the look on my brother’s face, no one was meant to hear it.
Warm arms wrapped around me from behind, and Ryan kissed the side of my neck, sending a zing of warmth down my spine. “I packed an overnight bag for you,” he whispered.
Turning in his arms, I raised a brow. “Really? And why would I need an overnight bag?”
Ryan glanced to make sure no one was in ear shot of our conversation. “I plan on celebrating long into the night, and I wanted to take you somewhere romantic.”
Smiling, I tilted my head. “Anywhere with you is romantic. You don’t think our own bed is good enough?”
I could see his eyes light up. “I love when you say our bed. Our apartment.”
“It is all ours.”
He searched my face and grew serious. “Someday I’m going to give you your dream home, Morgan.”
I reached up and ran my finger along his jaw. “My dream home is anywhere you are, Ryan.”
He leaned his forehead against mine. “I wanted to say this at the right moment, in the right place, but I can’t hold it in any longer. Morgan…I love you. It might be way too soon to say that, and I don’t want you to think I’m casually tossing it out there, because I’ve never told another soul that. Well, except my parents.”
Tears slipped free and rolled down my cheeks. Ryan wiped them away before he kissed me.
“Come on, you two lovebirds! I’m starving!” Avery shouted.
We both laughed, but I grabbed onto Ryan’s shirt before he could step away, meeting his gaze. “I love you, too, Ryan.”
He kissed me once more before something hit me in the back of my head.
“Hey!” I shouted as I turned to glare at Avery.
“Come on! I’m riding with you two, and everyone else has already left.”
Ryan set the alarm while I made sure Georgiana had taken the money from the register. Then we were out the door and on our way to celebrate.
Our celebratory dinner was at Le Vacher, and my entire family was there. Aunt Timberlynn and Uncle Tanner. Uncle Ty and Aunt Kaylee. Uncle Dirk and Aunt Merit, Grams and Grandpa, as well as Lily, Bradly, Joshua, and Rose. Savannah joined us while Bradford went back and forth between greeting everyone and running to the kitchen to make sure everything was okay. My father had booked the entire restaurant for our small private party—last minute, from what Savannah told us.
