Page 74 of The Affair
If eyes could bug out of a head, mine would have at that moment.
“Shit!” I echoed his sentiment, realizing the store had to be opened in exactly thirty minutes.
“You go get ready. I’ll run home and change. I can make it. Promise.”
“Okay,” I said, almost stunned. I’d forgotten about the store.
When have I ever forgotten about the store?
As he sensed my mini panic, Sawyer’s hands cradled my face. “I won’t be late.”
I nodded. It was all I could do.
I didn’t ask if he knew how to get in.
He’d find the keys downstairs, I was sure.
I didn’t even check to see if he knew about the tricky lock or where the lights were or if I’d even shown him how to flip on the register.
I just let him go.
Shuffling into the hallway, I headed into the bathroom, still decorated in the same seashell design from my teens. Stripping my clothes off, I stepped into the shower, not bothering to wait for the water to warm, and as I stood there, I thought about the store and all the struggles my parents had endured to keep that place afloat.
To keep the doors open day after day.
This had all been so much easier when it wasn’t mine. When I was just the daughter helping out my aging parents. When the responsibility wasn’t mine alone.
But now, everything felt bigger. There was no one to catch me when I made a mistake. No one to run the place but me. I wasn’t the errand girl anymore, just there to help out my mom. I was the boss, and I had to stop acting like I wasn’t.
The woman from this morning needed a wake-up call, and I was about to give her one.
* * *
Feeling fired up,I was ready in a flash.
With a new outlook and a desire not to fail, I stepped into the store that morning with a plan to shake things up.
Sawyer wasn’t going to know what hit him.
“See, I told you I’d get the store open on time,” he boasted as I shed my coat and walked toward the register. “Made it here just in the nick of time. Although we might want to plan for a late dinner, so I have a chance to shower.”
Giving him a once-over, I shook my head. “Only you could look that good with so little effort.”
He laughed. “Why do you say it like that?”
“Because it’s annoying! Your hair isn’t brushed. Your shirt is faded and probably from another decade, and yet somehow, you look like God’s gift to women while I have to pile on a pound of concealer to cover my giant eye bags!”
Looking rather proud of himself, he sashayed forward, wrapping an arm around my waist. “I’m going to ignore the fact that you insulted yourself on the account of the fact that you’re sleep-deprived and focus on that whole part about me being God’s gift to women. Can you elaborate a little?”
Rolling my eyes but loving the feel of him so close, I ran my fingers down his arm. “I don’t think you need any encouragement.”
“Definitely not when you’re around.”
The familiar ding of the chimes had us instantly splitting apart like horny teenagers as I tried to act nonchalant, turning my attention toward a set of antique barstools.
“Am I interrupting?” Candace’s voice was high-pitched, which wasn’t abnormal but the tone told me she’d definitely caught us.
Pivoting around, I saw her grinning from ear to ear like a loon.
