AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, at any rate, I’m just glad Melanie can do what she does best,” she said. “Be the heart of this place and check in on everybody else to make sure we are being the brain.”
“She’s good at being the heart of operations,” I admitted. “She’s good at everything really.”
“Yeah, yeah, you have a perfect fiancé,” she said, laughing. “I’m going to head up the door to help usher people out before you gross me out talking about how perfect the two of you are together. Newsflash, we already know.”
I laughed as Norma walked away, heading to the front of the store to open doors and try to get the wall of shoppers to calm down and start filtering out. Slowly, the store became quieter,and when the last one was rung through, we shut the door, and Melanie embraced me in the center of the store.
“How was that?” I asked. “You looked amazing out there.”
“Maybe I looked that way today but give me a week and I’ll be back to putting out fires with some of these people, I swear.”
“Stop being modest,” I said. “You are a natural at being the face of the company.”
“Dad was too,” she said, growing misty-eyed for a moment. “I remember he always used to greet people at the door with a big smile. He remembered names too. Like I saw him call this one customer by name and they had moved away and come back, gone for something like five years. Dad’s mind was like a vault. You couldn’t get anything past him.”
“Sounds like an interesting man,” I said. “I wish I would have known him better than as the grown-up who owned the store.”
“Me too,” she said. “He would have loved you.”
“And he would be so proud of you,” I said. “I’m positive of it. Everyone here loves you, and I’m just the lucky one who gets to take you home.”
Just as the last of the customers filtered out, Mark, Camden, Ryan, and Graham made their way inside. They looked like they were still as energetic as they had been that morning during the game, and I wondered just how many of the cupcakes and coffee they had gotten into.
“All right, buddy,” Camden said, “time to get a move on.”
“What?” I asked.
Ryan had his hands on my shoulders and was pulling me away, the rest of them forming a wall between me and Melanie.
“It’s time to go,” Graham said.
“Go where?” I asked.
“Your bachelor party, stupid,” Mark laughed.
“But the wedding isn’t for another week!” I exclaimed.
“We know that,” Camden said. “Which is why it’s much more surprising to kidnap you now. Plus, if we do it tonight, you can’t chicken out on us at the last minute later.”
“Who said I’d chicken out?” I said, still trying to stop the horde that was now dragging me almost to the door.
“She did,” Mark said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at Melanie.
As I looked past him to Melanie, who was now being surrounded by Allison, Mallory, Carmela, Amy and Norma, she winked and waved. It looked like they were gathering her up to take her out as well.
Once in the limo that had inexplicably shown up outside of the store, I whipped out my phone to text Melanie.
Did you know about this? I texted.
It was my idea, she texted back.The girls and I are going out too. Go have fun. Be silly. I love you.I love you too,I texted back.
It was a permission slip to go be dumb and act up with the boys, and yet, all night, I found myself texting her. I wanted her to know how much I loved her, and how much that even in a moment of fun with my best friends, I still thought of her.Plus, it was fun to send her pictures and to get ones back of the shenanigans the girls got into. Apparently, Norma knew how to party. I wasn’t sure if I would ever see her the same way again after some of the stuff I saw in those pictures.
By the time midnight rolled around, I was sure that not only had I had enough to drink, but that there was nowhere on earth I would rather be than in bed in Melanie’s arms.
28
MELANIE
