Page 28 of Everything Has Changed
“Huh,” my brother says. “When you put it that way, you’re right.”
Piper sighs to my left. I know exactly what is going through her mind as I reach under the table and give her thigh a reassuring squeeze. She tosses the rest of her drink back, then jumps down from her seat. “I’m going to grab another round, anyone else?”
But she’s already headed toward the bar before we can respond.
“What crawled up her ass?” Jackson asks, his eyes staying locked on my best friend until she reaches the bar. Even then, he can’t keep them away from her form for too long.
“She’s been feeling a little behind these days.” I weigh how much information I want to give them before continuing on. “I think she’s feeling the pressure of figuring out what she wants to do with her life.”
“I thought she was doing well with that online art shop.”
“She was,” I nibble on my lower lip as I track my eyes back over to my best friend to find her chatting with a man at the bar. “But after that first burst of orders when she opened, everything kind of fizzled out.”
Piper was an incredibly talented artist, something she always enjoyed but never knew what to do with it. When you’re younger, it’s always the pressure of what do you want to be when you grow up, but when you answer ‘artist’, the responses are never that exciting. So after the first few teachers told her to be more realistic with her dreams, she tried every job under the sun to see what would appeal to her enough to stick to it for life. Nothing ever did, but her love of art never wavered.
I turn toward Logan, a thought forming in my mind that I don’t want to lose.
“Not to talk shop, but I have an idea for the festival.”
Logan grins. “Always working. Alright, lay it on me.”
I’ll lay something on you, my mind conjures up the thought, along with a mental picture of exactly how I would do that as I watch his tongue peek out, tracing a wet path over his lower lip.
“Um,” I shake my head to clear it. “I was thinking maybe we use social media to our advantage this year. We can make some online posts for ads to get some more attention than just making flyers to send out to the local towns.” I look over at Matt. “Didn’t you do that recently?”
He nods. “Worked pretty well, too. I’ve got a new house build a couple hours away set up for after the new year.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Logan says. “I’m shit with social media though.”
I look back over at my friend, who is now hand in hand with the guy she was talking with at the bar, leading him to the dance floor as an older country ballad plays over the speakers. “Me too, but I know just the girl for the job. Not only could Piper easily handle the social media side of things, but she could design all of the material too. Not to mention, we could use some fresh banners to spruce up the town.”
“Sounds like a great plan to me. Include it in the proposal for my mom and see if we can add some extra marketing to the budget.”
I grin up at him, loving the way he chuckles as he reads my face.
“Planning really does do it for you, doesn’t it?”
“You have no idea.”
“Alright, alright,” my brother puts his hands between our faces. It’s only when he almost touches my nose that I realized how close I was to Logan in our shared moment.
“No shop talk tonight. Gwen, you need to turn that brain of yours off for a bit before you break down.”
My mouth falls open. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Seems like I’m not the only one that has noticed all you do is work.” Logan leans over, whispering loudly to me.
“You have no idea,” Matthew chuckles.
“I’m not some workaholic, you know.”
Jackson rolls his eyes. “Whatever you have to tell yourself.”
“I’m not!” Offended, I think hard for proof that I’m not. “I took the day off the other day!”
Matt cuts his eyes to Jackson. “Was that the same day she helped Bernie paint some rooms in his house?”
“Yup. And don’t even say you had a free evening the other day when I know you were babysitting for the Erikson’s.”
