Page 37 of Property of BamBam
I nod my head, then shake it because I didn’t consider the fact that he may be too young to have a small cup. “Then it’s a plan. I think we can probably talk Marge and Buddy into coming with us.”
She giggles then says, “Marge runs a tight ship, BamBam. I’m not sure she’ll be okay with him having dessert early.”
I shrug. “Who cares? Today we’re going to celebrate, and they’re coming with us.”
“Why are we celebrating?” she asks, following me to the front door that I’ve opened.
Once she walks through and I close then lock it behind us, I say, “Because you had what sounds like a huge breakthrough today, sweetheart. I’m proud of how brave you were to face it with me.”
“I was really scared,” she admits as we head down the stairs. “But Beth has been telling me that sometimes, in order to get over something, we have to go back through it. I just… I was ashamed and embarrassed.”
“Why?” I question. “Honestly, if you were single and dating, there’s a high likelihood that you might’ve had multiple sexual partners by now.”
She raises her gaze to mine and says, “I’m not even twenty-one yet!”
“Livy, you probably know girls who you graduated with who went through the football team at what, sixteen? Seventeen?” I retort. “What I’m trying to tell you is that your past is just that,your past. It is going to have no bearing on our future together. Do you understand what I’m saying? Besides, it’s not like you were willingly involved.”
“No, no I most definitely was not,” she huffs out as we enter the laundromat.
“We got everything all done!” Buddy exclaims. I smirk seeing a little bit of gravy from his mashed potatoes on his shirt.
“Buddy, go change your shirt, we’re gonna go down to the ice cream parlor,” I instruct.
“But Marge said we couldn’t have dessert twice today,” he whines.
“Eh, we’re celebrating. If you want to hold off on ice cream, you can always get a soda or something,” I reply, grinning at Marge who’s glaring at me. “But, if you decide to have dessert twice today, Marge might not let you have any tomorrow.”
“Everything in moderation,” he recites. “Right, Marge?”
“That’s right, Buddy. But from the look of these two, maybe you can compromise today,” Marge says. “Have a smaller cone now, then another one later.”
Buddy claps right as Theo starts to fuss, causing Livy to move from my side. While I wait for the three adults to get their shit together, I grab the tape from underneath the counter and start putting up the rodeo flyers on the windows, along with one on the huge bulletin board that has appeared. I notice that there are categories for people to put business cards up and marvel that Livy’s already making a difference.
Watching her face as she thoroughly enjoys her ice cream cone has me discretely adjusting my dick underneath the table. Because of his age, Theo is drinking a bottle, happily ensconced in Marge’s arms. Meanwhile, Buddy is going to town on the hot fudge sundae he got. I hide my smirk because Marge was so certain he was going to get a small cone, she left him at the counter to order while she went to the restroom. The look on her face when his sundae was delivered was fucking priceless.
“I probably shouldn’t have had such a big bowl,” Livy says, drawing my attention back to her. “But it was so good, I couldn’t resist.”
Leaning in, I kiss her temple and whisper, “You deserve good things, sweetheart.”
“I’m trying to remember that,” she replies in a murmur since Buddy and Marge are now animatedly talking.
“Then I’ll remind you until you never forget,” I promise.
Seeing that everyone’s finished, including Theo, who is now curled against Marge’s chest in a light doze, I state, “We should probably head back to the laundromat.”
Since the machines are pretty much self-sufficient, all Livy and Marge did was lock up the office and place the finished laundry in the huge-ass lockers that now line one wall. Customers are given a key so they can come in to pick up their finished items at their leisure, because we receive payment ahead of time. As a club, we took a vote and the doors to get inside automatically lock at a certain hour now so that neither Livy, Marge, norBuddy has to be there all day long. The new services offered are only available during the week, but we have the prospects working the weekends to take in any jobs that come in, so our three paid employees have time off.
So far, it’s worked, although I’m sure there are still bugs that need to be worked out. Still, the increase in the profits has already exceeded our expectations in under a month, which makes our coffers quite happy.
“I am going to run Buddy back home,” Marge states, “then head on back to Hope House.”
I nod and grin at Livy. “Looks like it’s me and you, sweetheart.”
We follow behind Marge and Buddy, who veer off to the parking lot at the back of the business. Once I’m sure they’re safely inside and all, I nod to Marge then lead Livy back inside. It doesn’t take long to ensure the laundromat is secure for the night, and soon, I’m leading the way up the stairs to her apartment.
Even though we have a lot of security measures in place, I motion for her to stay outside as I thoroughly check the apartment to ensure there’ve been no intruders. Once I’m sure that all is well, I let her come inside.
She huffs then says, “As much as I appreciate you watching out for me, I don’t think anyone could break into Fort Knox.”
