Page 65 of Our Lips Are Sealed
“The second one isn’t exactly a store,” he said, his face softening. “My dad wants to talk to you before finalizing anything, but he hasn’t had a chance with everything going on.”
“Why would he want to talk to me?”
“Because it’s an art studio.”
Evie said nothing for a long while. “Continue.”
“The studio will hold lessons for all different ages and skill sets. The owner will have control of what programs they’ll do to generate revenue, but my dad had one stipulation for his financial backing,” he told her. “He wanted it named LJ’s Haven. He said your mother always talked about opening an art studio.”
Ben was right. It had been her mother’s dream to teach art to those who wanted to learn. Laura Jean had given up pursuing her art degree when she married Albie, resigning herself to the role of doctor’s wife.
“Are you okay with the idea?”
“Mom would have adored having a studio on her beach.”
He smiled, relieved. “And the third one is my idea.”
The excitement in his voice made her heart flutter. “And what is it?”
“A bookstore,” he rushed out. “And it’s for Annabeth. We could call it Key Lime Books like she wanted.”
The grin on her face evaporated. “What?”
“Hear me out,” he said, thinking she was upset. “For now, she can handle ordering inventory from the house while you deal with the day-to-day management and hiring employees until she’s ready.”
Samuel’s eyes darted back and forth between the road and her, trying to gauge her reaction. “And she will be ready one day. Annabeth is improving, and I feel like she’ll thrive with something like this,” he said. “When we went for our walk on the lawn, I could hear it in her voice. Her tenacity knows no bounds, even shut up in that house. The thought of owning a bookstore is something she’s truly hanging on to in her healing process, and if I can give her that, then I will.”
Evie turned away to look out the window, crying quietly at the beauty of the idea. He didn’t try to stop her, knowing she needed to release the storm of emotions coming at her all at once.
This was turning out to be a hell of a day.
Taking one breath, and then two more, she collected herself and turned back to him. “You’re a genius, Samuel Fairweather.”
“Hell yeah, I am.” Samuel removed his hand from her lap to graze his knuckles over her cheek. “Annabeth is one of the most important people in your life, and I want to make sure she understands that you and I will always be there to take care of her.”
You and I.
Samuel and Evie.
Annabeth wasn’t getting a bookstore at Firewater because Samuel had an empty spot to fill, or for Simone, or for Ben, or any obligations he might feel towards his brother or Abe.
He was doing it because Annabeth was hers.
Unbuckling her seatbelt, she crawled over the console and kissed him. “If I didn’t already love you, doing this for Annabeth would have sealed the deal.”
Struggling to buckle her back in, Samuel kissed her with the side of his mouth as he tried to keep the SUV on the road. “Jesus, if I would’ve known that’s all it would take, she would have had a bookstore a long time ago.”
Chapter 18
Liamlearnedofthefire threatening Firewater less than thirty minutes before they arrived at Haven House. Sometime between the endless conversations with his father, Mathis, and Hawkins, Samuel’s call came in with the news.
“Up ahead is a turnoff heading north,” Samuel told Liam. “Have Jamison take it. The main highway is closed due to a fire between Port Michaelson and Firewater.”
The highway was the only way to reach Haven House, and if it were shut down to the west, that meant they had to loop through Hollingsdale to get there. A slightly more complicated route than the one they were currently on.
With an audible gulp, his gaze cut to Jamison stooped over the steering wheel, wearing the largest pair of black sunglasses in the known universe. Keeping two hands on the wheel, she focused intently on driving, mumbling to herself regularly. Once the adrenaline of meeting Judy had worn off, the inevitable hangover sunk its teeth in, leaving her miserable and grumpy.
Very. Grumpy.
