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The coffeehouse we went to was right down the street from Raya Sunshine, and when I got inside, Raya was sitting at a small table by the window. She had two drinks and two pastries, which made me smile as I headed over. “Vanilla latte?”
“Of course. It’s what you always get,” she replied, standing to give me a hug. “How was your trip?”
I gave Raya the highlights while we drank and ate our cinnamon rolls. She shared some about her and Kim and things that had been going on here. Like always, I enjoyed my conversation with her, was grateful for her friendship. I thought Brian and I would have a lot of fun with her and Kim.
“Oh! You’ll never guess what! Kim found the most incredible building. It’s really great—white brick, sorta funky but cool. The rooms are not only bigger than the ones I have now at the studio, but I could have two rooms for classes. I want it so bad. I’m thinking about putting an offer in.”
Her words were like a bolt of lightning to both my brain and my heart, jump-starting it.
“Let’s do it together,” I said.
“Do what?”
“Go into business together.”
“I can’t ask you to do that. I don’t want you to go into a business because I’m your friend and you know I likely can’t afford it or get approved on my own.”
My heart thudded happily, and I was getting more and more excited at the idea. “That’s not what I would be doing. I’ve been trying to figure out what I could have in North Carolina that’s for me. I can’t sit at home every day waiting for Brian, and I don’t want to practice law anymore. I love yoga. I miss it. Let’s expand Raya Sunshine together. I can take care of whatever I need to do to instruct as well. I mean, there are two rooms, so you’ll need another instructor.”
Raya’s eyes widened along with her smile. “Holy shit. Are you for real? I would love to do this with you! How fun will that be? We can create something really great together.”
All her words did was make me even more excited, if that was possible. We would have a lot to decide, but yoga had been such a big part of my life, and the thought of making it even more so—and giving people that peace yoga brought me—was simply perfect.
“Do you want to think about it?” I asked her. “I sort of bulldozed into this idea. Raya Sunshine is your business. I wouldn’t want to take that away from you.”
Raya reached over and squeezed my hand. “I might not have known you long, Charles, but I can see that. I would never think you wanted to take anything away from me. I’m excited about this in a way I haven’t been for a long time.”
Me too. This felt right for me, similar to how being with Brian felt right. I knew it was the best decision.
We hammered out some details before calling and setting up an appointment to see the building together. Raya made sure to tell me that if I didn’t like it, we could keep looking, but I had no doubt I would.
After yoga, I stopped by the flower stand.
“You’ve sure been giving me a lot of business the past few months.”
I smiled at her. “I like to bring flowers to my boyfriend.”
“I heard about you and Brian Manning.”
“You have?” I didn’t know how it was getting around. We were still pretty careful in public.
“Yeah, this is Ryland. Everyone knows everyone’s business. It’s good to hear he’s happy. He deserves it.” She handed me a bouquet. “On the house. You tell Brian that Martha Brown said hello.”
“Thank you. I will.”
I screwed around the house for a while, looked into getting a new upright piano delivered and things like that. When Brian got home, I grabbed the flowers and met him on the porch. The second he saw me, he gave me a smile that hit me straight in the chest.
“Those are real pretty. Thank you.” He took them from me and smelled them.
“Martha Brown says hi. She gave them to me for free and said she’s glad you’re happy.”
“I’m glad I’m happy too.” He leaned in and kissed me before we went into the house together.
“Guess what?”
“Uh-oh. What did you do?” he teased.
“Nothing bad. Raya and I are going into business together. We’re going to get a bigger building for Raya Sunshine and be partners. And I’ll start instructing my own yoga classes.”
He cocked a brow. “No shit?”
“No shit.” I wrapped my arms around him, kissing his throat. “I want this. The second I thought about it, I knew it was right. You were right. I need my thing here, and this is it. I know it.”
He squeezed me tightly, his relief clear in the way he held me. “I’m so happy for you.”
