Page 19 of Something Stronger
“Everyone’s going to be there,” I muttered under my breath. “Great.”
“Maybe it won’t be that bad,” Carrie chimed in as she placed a bud vase with a single rose in it in the cooler beside me.
Are you delusional?” My head swung in her direction. “You may be able to ignore her, but Gia will make a scene; mark my words.” I stood up straighter as I put the finishing touches on my drawing. “What do you think of this?” I showed her my pencil sketch I’d spent most of the morning working on.
“I love it.” She grinned. “I’m so glad you’re here.” She leaned in to hug me.
It’d been great this last year rekindling the relationships with my sisters. Charlie kept me isolated and made me feel bad when I wanted to spend time with them, but lately it’s all I do. Codie and I were by far the closest, but Carrie came in a close second. Ginny’s just so much younger that I was more of a mom than a sister to her, and then there’s Gia. Gia was about a lovable as a catus. I tried when we were younger but gave up during our teen years. She was just mean, and now that we were adults, I didn’t have to be nice. She’d tried to ruin Codie’s wedding. I could only imagine what she had up her sleeve for tonight.
“So, I was thinking this could be white, and then we could use the green and pink like you have on the front of the shop to accent it. I don’t think we should put any prices on there, though. This way you can change things as needed. We need the lettering to be big and over the top though.” I grabbed some colored pencils to show her what I was talking about.
“I like that. I can help you this weekend with the painting if you want to get a base layer on.” She wiped her hands on the green apron she was wearing.
“It would have to be in the late afternoon after I drop Amy off. She has class starting at three.” I pulled up my calendar on my phone and began tapping away. If I didn’t make note of this, I’d forget.
“That’s fine. I can meet you at your place.” Carrie spun around behind us and opened the small dorm fridge behind the register. “To us getting this done.” She handed me a Diet Coke.
“To us.” I giggled as I took a sip.
“What’s so funny?” She placed her elbows on the counter and stared at me.
“Nothing, really. I guess I’m just happy for the first time in a long time. I can finally do things on my own terms. I have a pretty cool apartment, and I love being able to work for you.” I shrugged.
“Work with me. We’re a team. I don’t need to be your boss.” She sipped her soda.
“But it’s your shop.” I crinkled my brow.
“And just over a year ago, I thought I was going to have to close. You’ve helped me grow this into what it is now. I may own it, but it’s just as much your success as it is mine.” She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and leaned against me. “I’m glad you’re back. I missed you,” she murmured.
“Same.” I sighed. I understood where she was coming from. Except for a few family dinners here and there, I never saw them. My mom would come out and visit and both my parents came to dance things, but my sisters had their own lives.
“Wanna take bets on whether Gia shows up drunk?” I chuckled.
“I’ll take that bet and raise you a ‘she’ll make sexual comments toward one of the farmhands’.” We both burst into laughter as Amy decided to come back up front.
“What’s so funny?” She looked around.
“Nothing. We’re talking about boys.” I wrinkled my nose. Amy wasn’t crushing on any boys yet and still thought they were gross, so any time she started to get nosy, I’d tell her I was talking about boys.
“Ew.” She stuck her tongue out. “Well, I came to tell you that we need to leave soon if we’re going to be on time to Grandma’s.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot as if I were taking forever. I couldn’t help but laugh. One, she looked just like her dad in that moment, and two, I was getting a glimpse of what the next ten years would be like…maybe longer.
“Aunt Carrie and I are finishing up. Why don’t you grab your things and meet us in the back? We’re going to lock up first.” I went around to the front door and flipped the sign to closed and locked the door.
“Fine,” she huffed.
Carrie and I moved about turning off lights, putting flowers away for the night, emptying the register and making lists for what needed to be done the next day, before heading to the back. I grabbed my purse, and Amy and I left.
Ooooooooo
The ride to Sunnybrook didn’t take long. Carrie’s shop was only about a ten-minute drive. When we pulled up, Codie and Hank were walking down from the guesthouse. Ginny was pacing on the porch, and Gia was nowhere in sight. I parked and Amy jumped out. “Jack is already inside helping set the table,” Codie called out as Amy bounded up the stairs.
Codie and Hank went inside, and I hung back to talk to my baby sister. “You ok?” I was genuinely concerned. Ginny never acted like this.
“Mama said I could invite Corey tonight. We’ve been studying together a lot and I think he really likes me.” Ginny sucked her bottom lip in and bit down.
“Ok, so what’s the problem?” I opened the door and held it.
“I’m worried everyone’s going to just be too much. You know we can be extra at times.” She kicked at the floorboards of the porch.
