Chapter Twenty-Four
Unsurprisingly, Ben and Aylin worked well together. Apparently, Aylin ordered furniture as efficiently as she ran her business, Ben realized when he bought carry-out and spent Saturday evening with her while she was finalizing several design details inside the boutique.
He helped her move a few things around when she asked, but she seemed to have nearly everything ready to go.
When they sat to eat on the comfortable couch that had just been delivered for clients to relax in the fitting room, they talked about her online sales, and he was stunned to realize how much she brought in during a single week.
“ A. Lynn Originals ?”
“It’s more generic,” she answered, munching on some of the fried onion rings he’d brought along. “These are really good. I’d better watch it when I eat with you. I might put on some weight.”
“Somehow, I can’t ever see that happening since you’re always so active,” he answered dryly.
“Gee, thanks,” she muttered, smiling as she reached for more of the onion rings they were sharing before sipping on her milkshake.
He cocked his head. “What do you mean by generic?”
Aylin sighed. “Mom’s been getting threats because of her heritage, and sometimes I do too.”
“I’ve never even had to consider anything like that,” he replied, frowning. “There does seem to be an awful lot more hate crimes happening these days. I’m going to have to be thinking more about that now if I want to keep you safe.”
“It’s been manageable, but you never know.” She shrugged, turning away.
He could tell that the situation was much worse than she was letting on. Ben wanted to know more, but it wasn’t the right time to continue the discussion. She had a lot on her plate with the store opening Monday.
She continued, “Politics are playing a huge part in profiling these days too. I pay an agency to handle opening my fan mail.”
Ben sighed. It was definitely a sensitive situation.
“Are you still planning on doing any modeling?” he asked. “I used to see pictures of you everywhere.”
“Only if we have any local fundraisers, I’m thinking. I much prefer working behind the scenes,” she answered, slurping down the rest of her shake.
“Same here,” he agreed, reaching for all the empty food wrappers. “We’ll take the trash with us, so the smell of onions doesn’t linger.”
She agreed with a nod of her head.
“What else have you got to do before Monday?” he asked.
“Not much. I purposely chose a weekday to open because I was afraid it might be overwhelming if I did it on the weekend. Since we’re going to be moving around furniture at the house tomorrow for a few hours, I brought the two girls I hired in for some additional training yesterday, and they both seem to have a handle on everything.”
“They ought to. Both of them worked here as Inn employees before applying for a job with you.”
She grimaced before smiling. “Sorry.”
“No, you’re not,” he muttered.
They both started laughing.
* * *
Their tasks were completed quickly at the house the following day since Aylin had already printed the furniture placement plans for each room. All the delivery people had to do was simply put each piece in place and then set up both of the beds before bringing in the mattresses.
“What do you think?” she asked, her hands on her hips as she studied the family room.
“I especially like the big screen TV over the fireplace and the comfy chairs and couch you chose for us to watch it.”
“Well, I know that sports is kind of a thing for you. My brothers were really into football. I miss those days when we all parked in front of the TV together.”
“When this is all over, you can invite them here to stay with us.”
Aylin didn’t comment. She really liked the idea that he was looking at their relationship as long term, since she was too. Everything had felt right from the moment he’d reached for her hand, taking her for a stroll across the beach before hiking to the top of Crystal Rock.
“Well, since we’re done here, why don’t we head back to the Inn and just have lunch there?” she asked.
“Sure. I know that you feel like you still have things to do before tomorrow,” he answered. “Let’s see how you’re holding up on Tuesday evening. If everything is running smoothly, we’ll go on a grocery run if you’re ready to move in on Wednesday.”
“Do you cook?” she asked curiously.
“Not really.” He grimaced. “How about you?”
“Not at all. We’ve always had a housekeeper or a chef.”
“We’ll just have to wing it. Maybe we can take a cooking class together. We often invite celebrity chefs to do demonstrations.”
“I think I’d like that,” she replied as they walked through the back door, heading towards Ben’s truck.
She turned, glancing at the magnificent view across the lake. “I’m going to love living here.”
“Me too,” he answered.