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“I’ll think about it,” her mother said softly and Ginny knew that was ahard no. “But I was calling to find out how you’ve been.”
“Good! Moving jobs and getting into this groove with Frankie has been really good. The work is intense, but I absolutely love it.”
“That’s wonderful, chakkare—” the Malayalam term could be translated tosweetheartand her mother loved using it, even if Ginny hated it “—I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself. Are you working on anything exciting?”
Ginny grinned, nodding even though her mother couldn’t see. “I’m planning my first ever Indian wedding!”
Elsa gasped on the other end and then laughed as Ginny squealed. “Congratulations, my heart. Are we talking South Indian or North Indian wedding?”
“North Indian, Marwadi in fact. But it’ll be fun and maybe I can wear one of my sarees,” Ginny said, returning to the sketch on her iPad. Growing up in Houston as one of many Indian families, Ginny had attended many North Indian weddings with all of the glitz and glamor, the rich food, the dancing and music. That was the one thing Bollywood movies got right—North Indian weddings were quite the spectacle.
“I’m also working with Gavin,” she added quietly.
Another long silence before her mother cleared her throat. “Juniper’s Gavin?”
“The very same. He needs some help with his animal shelter, so I offered my services.”
“Is he still in love with you?”
Ginny went still, eyes wide as she let that question roll around in her head. “What?”
“Tell me you knew that,” her mother said slowly. “The way he felt about you wasn’t a secret. In fact, Juniper and I placed bets to find out when you would become a couple.”
“Amma.”Unbelievable. How did everyone else know about these feelings?
Her mother continued to speak, ignoring her. “You should have seen the way his face lit up whenever you walked into a room and how he’d follow you like a lovesick puppy. It was so cute.”
“Okay, that’s enough.”
“I’m sure he’s grown up very well. Those Rhodes boys were all so handsome,” her mother continued and Ginny could hear the smile in her voice.
“All right! It was good talking to you,Mom. I’ll call you later.”
Elsa laughed, clearly aware of how this had affected Ginny. “Be good, my heart. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
* * *
Four days later, armed with a presentation full of ideas and confidence that she wouldn’t buckle at the sight of Gavin, Ginny walked into the Rhodes Pet Shelter to find kids running around, pop music playing and happy barks. The lobby area, which had been empty the first time she came around, was now teeming with people. There were two young people at the front desk, one frowned at their phone as the other typed furiously on one of the computers.
Knocking on the counter, she smiled at the two exhausted faces. “Hi, is Juniper here?”
“Who?” They looked at each other and then back at Ginny in confusion.
“Right, how about Gavin?”
Before either of them could respond, another voice answered, “Welcome back.”
Ginny found herself looking into the beautiful face of the blonde who she thought Gavin was dating. Her tattoos were on full display and her curvy figure was tucked into ripped baggy jeans and a black tank top.
“Bronte Laurie, I am ahugefan,” the blonde said, pointing at herself, beaming as she stopped in front of Ginny. “I’m Gavin’s right hand woman. I get shit done around here. Andyou…you are an inspiration.”
Ginny’s heart soared at the admission, then faltered as she looked around to see if Gavin was anywhere in the vicinity. Because he could not know about @GinLife and definitely not like this.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize it was a secret,” Bronte continued and Ginny shook her head, swallowing her slight panic. “Uh, Mrs. Rhodes is in the office. I’ll go get Gavin.”
“Right, yeah…look,” Ginny started and blew out a shaky breath. “I’d appreciate you not telling Gavin about…it.”
