Page 23 of Always Been Yours

“No, I would put that up there with terrible, Lex.”

“Whatever, I’m cursed,” she dramatically whines but there’s humor in her voice. “Make me tea and love me. Don’t I deserve it?”

“Fine, you can sleep in my bed tonight. But I’m watchingParks & Recand working on my planner.”

“Your pillow talk is unparalleled,” Lexi says with a cheeky grin over her shoulder as she goes to change into pajamas before hogging my bed for the night.

Chapter Eight

Grady

“Sorry I’m late,” Vivi says as she turns the corner into my classroom.

Her arms are full of two bags of classroom decorations, a tote bag completely full of who knows what and a bunch of artificial flowers. Her cheeks are red, I assume, from walking as fast as she could from the parking lot.

She’s wearing a loose pink sweater, the sleeves rolled up her forearms and tucked into a white floral print skirt that hangs just above her knees. Her tan wedges add a few extra inches to her short height but still not enough to bring her to my eye level. And just like everything else she wears, it’s demure but with the right amount of femininity to even it out. I would even say it’s a little bit sexy with the way everything clings to her curves. Her face is bare of any make-up except for a light shimmer on her cheekbones and the inner corner of her eyes.

She’s radiant. There simply isn’t another word to describe her warmth and beauty.

“No reason to apologize. I was just writing down someof my ideas.”

She sets all of her bags down on a nearby desk and turns a raised eyebrow at me. “Your ideas?”

There is a teasing lilt to her voice, but I know she’s not totally joking.

“Calm down, killer.” That gets me an eye roll. “Just come sit down and let me show you what I was thinking. You can veto anything and everything.”

I hook my foot around the leg of the chair I placed next to my desk and pull it a little closer.

She narrows her eyes at me and crosses her arms, not taking a single step forward.

I huff out an exasperated breath and kick the chair back a couple inches.

She smirks at me and finally takes a seat. She pulls the chair closer to my desk, right where I had positioned it, getting a better look at my laptop.

Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes.

“Well? Are you ready?” she asks in an impatient tone.

“I wasn’t the one who was late,” I say matter-of-factly. She tilts her head in a way that reminds me of a predator—albeit a small one—sizing up their prey. As fun as I’m sure going down that road would be, I move the conversation along to save us both time.

“Did you have an idea of where you wanted to host the fair?” I ask as I take a small, careful sip from the mug Daisy made me about six months ago. It’s disfigured and barely holds half a cup of liquid in it, but she seems to love pottery and I don’t want to ever discourage her from that. The way Vivi’s eyes twinkle as she watches, I know she thinks the tiny dish is just as humorous as I do.

She leans back in her chair, crossing her arms and thinking it over. “Yes, but I don’t know if it’s possible.” She hesitates,seemingly not sure if she wants to tell me more. “I don’t know much about city permits and things like that, but I thought it would be perfect to have it on the pier. They used to host block parties and events on it all the time when we were kids, remember?” I nod. The end of the pier was where Vivi found me for the first time at that Fourth of July party. “I don’t know why they stopped but I’m assuming it was just easier to do it closer to the businesses. I think it would be really fun and nostalgic if we could host it there…” She scrunches her nose and gives me an unsure look.

“I think that’s brilliant. I was thinking about the sitting area across from where the food trucks set up daily. What is that called again?”

“The Loop,” she answers quickly. I’ve been there a couple of times since moving back and I recognize most of the trucks from when I was a teenager but the small property some of the owners bought and turned into an outdoor seating area a few years ago opened about two years after I left for college. It’s a local and visitor favorite though, according to Blake.

“Right. But the pier is more family friendly and would probably attract a larger crowd.”

She sits up straighter. “That’s what I was thinking. If we make it a High Tides-only event, we are turning away a lot of potential guests and donations before we even start.”

She’s right. Summer is the busiest time of the year in Amada Beach, much like it is along the entire coast of California. The weather doesn’t change drastically throughout the year, but the cold water is still only appealing to the most committed surfers during the winter months. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, the community typically gets a small spike in tourists who are looking for a West Coast winter rather than a White Christmas.

The conversation flows for a while and Vivi is much more opento suggestions than I had anticipated. I promise her that I’ll take care of the permit and getting access to the pier, and she will focus on reaching out to the faculty members. Some of the teachers, and most likely some of the students, won’t be thrilled about having to participate. It’s impossible to make everyone happy. I say that they have to get over it. Vivi says that we should try to meet them halfway where we can, starting with letting each club choose what they want to do for their booth at the fair. She’s right… like always. And it’s another thing that hasn’t changed in all these years.

By the time we are wrapping up our first meeting, I’m feeling confident and even a little excited about this project. Partly because it allows me time to spend with Vivi without really having to ask. It’s more than that though. When I started teaching at the school in Phoenix, Arielle and I were already having problems in our marriage. I was too focused on that to put much effort into making a name for myself there. Once we divorced, I knew that I was in limbo while I figured out what was next for Stella, Daisy, and me. There was never a reason or time to become attached to my position there.

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