Stacked

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

A NYA

I gave Robert one condition about appearing on Good Morning USA. Before we showed up on national television talking about our viral video and the romance it sparked, we had one person we needed to visit.

Gwen.

She might not understand exactly what was going on, but we owed it to ourselves and to her to at least try to loop her in on what had happened. She’d been incredibly kind to me, so important in my life, and she was too much a part of New Burlington to be kept in the dark about the float contest events.

Robert agreed, and Morgan swore she didn’t mind running the store while we made the quick visit to Gwen’s house. I thanked my friend several times before we set off, vowing to myself that I’d make sure I threw her the best bachelorette party—an event that was coming up in a few weekst and one I’d put off planning while I was so distracted with the Fourth of July contest. Morgan had really proven to be a loyal and caring friend, and I couldn’t thank her enough for all she’d done for me during an equally busy and exciting time for her. Most people would have been too distracted with their wedding planning to help the way she did.

“I’m sure all your fans will be deeply disappointed to find me here instead of you,” she said in the final moments before Robert and I climbed into his BMW. “I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces.”

I scoffed. “Fans? Hardly.”

“They’re coming.”

I shook my head. “We’ve been open for about an hour already, and they aren’t here.”

“They will be.” Morgan gestured to the store. “And when they show up, they’re going to love this place.”

Laughing, we said goodbye. Robert and I didn’t say much during the drive, which wound through New Burlington, cutting through the neighborhood near the high school, and past the country club before arriving at Gwen’s residence. After Robert pulled into her driveway, he turned off the engine and angled toward me.

“I hope we can convince her this is a good thing,” he said.

“She’ll probably be on board with it faster than I was.”

He took my hand. “You didn’t take a lot of convincing.”

“I’m still not totally sure I want to do it.”

“I could tell from your social media you’re not always comfortable in the spotlight.”

I raised my eyebrow. “You studied my social media?”

“I did. And your Instagram hardly has any photos of you.”

“Never got behind the selfie trend.” I wrinkled my nose. “Always felt kind of self-indulgent.”

Robert tightened his grip, moving his thumb back and forth across the top of my hand. “Yeah, I get that.”

“I should see what my following is now. I bet it’s exploded.”

“The last time I checked, I’d acquired five thousand new followers on my account.”

I raised both my eyebrows. “That’s a lot.”

“Before this, I think about one hundred people followed my account and most of them were just my friends from Facebook.”

I let out a low whistle and studied the neighborhood outside the car window. It was so quiet and still, row after row of candy-colored Victorian homes with painted trim and gingerbread gables. This was one of the most well-kept neighborhoods in the community, but there was only one other person out that morning, an older man in a pair of blue gym shorts walking a medium-sized border collie.

“I can’t believe it’s so dead out here,” I said. “Everybody must still be asleep or on vacation for the holiday.”

“Back in the city, everyone who doesn’t have a summer home in the Hamptons is already back to work, pushing and grinding to make that extra dollar, to squeeze money out of whatever sale or advantage they can.”

“That sort of thing never appealed to me. Too much pressure.”

“I liked plenty about it, but I also like this.” He leaned forward until his forehead fell against mine, keeping up the gentle massage of my hand. “And you, of course. You help.”

“Last night helped.”

“A lot.” He kissed me. “Keep thinking about how much I want more of that.”

“Tonight.”

He grinned, the expression lighting his features and softening his eyes. “I’m going to hold you to it, Anya, so you better be ready.”

“I was born ready.” I hooked the fingers of my free hand around the car door handle and yanked it open. “But first, Gwen.”

“Absolutely.”

Gwen answered the door a few beats after we rang the bell. She was using a walker for support, but I still knew immediately this was a good day for her, and her lipstick confirmed it. She was happy to see me and excited to meet Robert, ushering him into her parlor and insisting he stay for tea.

“You don’t have to go out of your way,” he said, sinking into the brocade couch.

When did she last entertain guests in this room? I don’t even get this kind of special treatment.

“You don’t have to overdo it just for me,” he added.

“Oh, I’m not.” She nodded at me. “Anya will get your tea.”

I laughed. “Is that what I’m here for?”

“Certainly.” Gwen seemed to bite back a smile as she sat in the wingback chair opposite the sofa. “He’s this month’s cover model for Living , after all. We need to be on our best behavior.”

Smiling, I agreed and exited the room, heading toward the kitchen. This was going well so far, and I was glad. If Gwen approved of the morning show appearance, that would go a long way toward making me feel comfortable about doing it.

As they talked in the living room, I prepared the tea on a small tray, glad her kitchen seemed much cleaner than it had the day I found her on the floor. Maybe this was another sign. Maybe things were starting to go my way.

I’ll keep hoping.

When I returned to the room about ten minutes later, Gwen and Robert were engaged in what sounded like a lively, animated discussion, their voices and laughter filling the room, trailing down the hallway and into the kitchen. While I’d been preparing the tea, I caught most of the conversation, which covered current events, town gossip, and Robert’s vision for his store. As I set the tray on the coffee table, I took a deep breath. Now seemed as good of a time as any to tell Gwen about what happened at the float contest.

“You’re probably not shocked to learn that Robert won first place yesterday.” I passed Gwen a cup of Earl Grey tea, which I knew she took plain with no additions. Gwen gave me a small thank-you as she took it from my hands.

“I am not surprised, given what I read in the magazine. I know you’re putting a lot of time into your business, so I’ll bet you approached the contest with the same kind of focus.”

Robert reached for his own teacup before I could give it to him and dumped a slash of milk and a dash of sugar into it. “I’m humbled the judges found it outstanding.”

“I’m just sorry we didn’t place this year.” I sank into the chair that matched Robert’s. “I tried very hard.”

“I know you did. You always do,” Gwen replied.

“You should have seen the detail on her float,” Robert said. “It should have placed. Maybe even should have won.”

“You noticed it?” I asked, surprised.

“Of course I did. How could I have missed all that patriotic bunting?”

His gaze locked with mine, and I thought once again about our kiss after the competition. Thank God he took the leap. And thank God, I kissed him back.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do with the rest of the prize money,” Robert said, breaking eye contact with me. “I gave half to the kids who helped me build the float.”

“Five thousand dollars is a lot of money but doesn’t hold as much value as it used to,” Gwen mused. “Shame that inflation has eaten so much into the economy over the last few years.”

I didn’t disagree with her there. Inflation had been a creeping problem and one that showed itself everywhere. Wholesale shipping costs had nearly doubled. One hundred bucks at the grocery store bought about a third of what I remembered it buying just a couple of years ago. Eating out was more expensive too. Even getting help at the store cost me more—with prospective employees demanding over fifteen dollars an hour and expecting a benefits package, even if they had only applied for a part-time position.

All those factors played into why I’d so desperately wanted to win the float contest. Maybe this is the appropriate time to bring up the viral video and our internet notoriety... “I’ve been looking for ways to increase awareness about The Green Frog and the great business district we have here in New Burlington,” I tried.

“I’m sure you’ve come up with some great ideas,” Gwen said.

I glanced at Robert. “Well, yesterday Robert and I were... we were caught on video a few moments after they announced the winners of the contest.”

“We were having a bit of an argument.” A smile pulled at his lips. “Things got a little out of control.”

Gwen sipped her tea and asked over the rim of her cup, “They did?”

“At the time, it seemed like a big deal, but I realize now that I was blowing it all out of proportion. I saw Robert as the enemy, and he isn’t.”

“Never was,” he whispered.

I moved to the edge of my chair, leaned forward, and took his hand. “We realized in that moment the friendly competition between us wasn’t adversarial at all. There was more to it than that.”

“I see,” Gwen mused.

“We kissed,” Robert said.

My boss grinned. “Hope it was good.”

“It was wonderful,” I admitted.

“Trouble is, that was also all caught on video,” Robert said, and I was glad he was the one who vocalized it. Being the one to tell Gwen something like this felt awkward for me. “And long story short, someone posted that video on the internet.”

“I know you don’t really go online,” I interjected. Here was a subject I had plenty of expertise on. Gwen and I’d talked several times in the past about how much she didn’t like it.

“You know I don’t.” She looked at Robert. “There are so many scammers and too many to keep up with. And they say on the news that a lot of screen time isn’t healthy.”

I nodded, seeing the humor and irony in that comment. Gwen watched more TV than I liked. I’d brought that up over the last few months, but she never seemed to take my concern seriously.

“It went viral,” Robert said, summing the whole thing up in just three words.

“Viral?” Gwen asked.

“The video has attracted a lot of attention in the last few hours,” Robert added.

“I keep thinking it will slow down, but it hasn’t. People have taken it and run with it.”

Gwen placed her now empty teacup on the tray. “That so?”

“I think one of the videos on TikTok already has, like, five million views,” I said. “And that’s a lot.”

“A whole lot,” Robert agreed.

“So, you can imagine, there’s a lot of interest in something like this. In us. In the stores that we’re running. In our town.”

“I guess, though I’m not totally sure I understand why,” Gwen admitted.

“You don’t really have to think about it or even try to understand,” I said. “I mean, I’m on the internet all the time, and I don’t understand why some things hit and why some don’t. I suppose it has to do with what’s going on that day, what people notice, and how they share that information.”

Robert laughed and tightened his grip on my hand. “Nobody ever said the internet made any sense.”

“We have to capitalize on this, and there are some ways we can do it that I think will be great for the store and this community,” I said.

“You two would certainly know better about that than I would.” Gwen smiled.

“They’d like to book us on Good Morning USA tomorrow,” Robert said, and I was glad he was the one to tell her that detail. Going on a national newscast still seemed so foreign to me, so against the life I’d built over the last few years, which had focused on being as anonymous as possible as I tried to heal from the trauma of what happened to me in Chicago.

“We think it’s an offer we should accept,” I said. “Lots of viewers, a decent amount of prestige, and overall, the right vibe.”

“Vibe?” Gwen sounded like it was a word she’d never heard before.

“Feeling,” Robert replied.

“These things are so delicate, and while I don’t have a ton of experience in marketing, my impression is that you must make sure you choose your options very carefully when something like this happens because the viral nature of the content can make things spiral out of your control very fast. We only want what’s best for The Green Frog. It’s such a huge part of New Burlington,” I said.

“And no doubt, Robert’s store too,” Gwen replied.

I nodded.

Gwen studied us for a long moment. She didn’t have to say yes, and if she said she didn’t want us to do it, I would back out immediately. We couldn’t control the video that was already out here, but we could control how we responded to it. I wasn’t going to do anything that would jeopardize or risk the important relationship I had with her. Gwen was the closest thing I had to family these days, and her feelings mattered.

“Just because we were offered something doesn’t mean we have to say yes,” I added.

Gwen shook her head. “No, it doesn’t, but I’m also smart enough to realize that people these days shop differently and think differently than they did when I started the store all those years ago. Back then, things were easier and simpler than they are now. People had a sense of community, and they shopped locally. People’s lives were closer.”

“When I was a kid, I didn’t understand or appreciate that,” Robert said.

“If you both think this is the right move for The Green Frog and the right move for New Burlington, I’m okay with your appearance on the show. Honestly, you don’t need my approval to do it—you all are adults and know more about how viral videos work than I do.” Gwen clapped her hands as if the conversation was over. “But I appreciate that you wanted to take the time to seek my approval of this.”

“I wanted to make sure since I’m representing your store.”

“You’ve worked for me so long, it’s almost your store too.”

“That means a lot to me,” I said, the relief sinking in that whatever happened next, Gwen would have my back, and I’d have hers.

“I know it does,” she said. “And you mean a lot to me too.”

With that, it was settled. We were doing Good Morning USA .