Page 77 of As They Are
“I bet Marj and Henrietta remember this,” I said, pulling out my phone. “They ran the library from the day it opened. Then fell in love during the process.”
“You should put it in the group,” Wren said. “I bet all of the locals would love it.”
I nodded and took a picture. Once that was done, Wren told me her plans. She was all excitement. Her limbs moved as she talked and her smile only grew. I couldn’t wait to see what it looked like when it was done.
But mostly, I loved seeing her this happy as she talked about it.
“All right, I think we’ve got what we need.” Madison cut the cameras. “And now we can talk about the future.”
Wren’s hand tightened in mine, but she turned to Madison with a nod. “Okay, what’s next?”
“First, we need to decide what businesses we will showcase in what order. We can do some B-roll in the diner, then have you two shopping for candles at the candle shop. Then a night at the bar.”
“A night at the bar?” I asked. “I’m not sure if that’s my thing.”
“So you wanna skip that one?” Madison asked. “I’m only doing it if you’re there.”
No, I didn’t. I knew Mark would want the publicity.
I would just have to deal with all of the sounds.
“No, never mind, I can do it.”
Wren’s eyes moved to me, and I hoped she didn’t pick up on my misstep.
“Okay, so most of the things I wanna showcase we have plans for. I did notice a clothing shop. Maybe it’s time for a makeover, Wren.”
“I’m not changing my whole look,” Wren said. “I deal with the makeup, but my main goal is towork.”
“You’d be prettier in a dress,” Jude said. “A lot of people agree with me.”
“We won’t be doing that.” I said it flatly. A miracle considering the curling anger in my gut.
“I’m not demoing a library in a dress.Youprobably could, though.” Wren looked at Jude as she crossed her arms. “Since most of your stuff is for the camera anyway.”
I had to cover a laugh with my hand.
Jude rolled his eyes. “I meant for the other things we do around town.”
Madison nodded. “Exactly, we could?—”
“We won’t be doing that.” Now my voice was louder. More firm. “Wren is exactly how she should be.”
A silence stretched across us, and I wondered if I’d overstepped. But then Wren reached for my hand and squeezed.
“Thank you,” she said. “And obviously, I agree with my boyfriend.”
“Your boyfriend isn’t the director.”
“But I have a vested interest in making sure my girlfriend is treated right. The answer is no.”
Madison glared, but I held firm.
“Fine. We can skip the shop.”
“I shop there,” I said. “There’s no need to punish the woman who owns it because Wren doesn’t want a new look.”
“Do you two have any more demands?” Madison asked. “Because the list keeps growing.”
