CHAPTER TWELVE
“Oh, April,” Emma breathed.
“Are you kidding me?” Izzy muttered under her breath.
April’s nerves were already frayed as she looked at her two best friends, their eyes wide in astonishment. After waiting for what felt like another five minutes to see if they’d say anything more, she finally caved. “Well? What do you guys think?”
“This is incredible!” Emma beamed at her, finally turning her gaze to April’s face, which split into a smile as wide as Emma’s.
“You did this in …” Izzy paused to count on her fingers. “Three weeks? That’s insane! I actually can’t believe how different this place looks!”
The three of them, plus Noah, were standing in what had once been her dad’s run-down old dive bar but had now been transformed into a store that was almost unrecognizable.
The entire shop, barring the floor and shelving unit, had been painted a beautiful, glorious green.
April had also made a start adding painted flowers to the exposed areas of wall, bringing even more joyful color to the space.
Sunlight streamed through the windows, which were framed by plush pink drapes that April had hung the night before.
“Well it wasn’t just me,” said April, modestly.
“As much as it pains me to admit it, I couldn’t have done it without Noah—to be honest, he’s done most of the heavy lifting here.
” She glanced over at Noah, whose eyes were fixed on her face, a small smile playing around his eyes.
She quickly added, “And Ethan Blake, too. He’s so talented.
He basically executed my very sketchy vision perfectly. ”
“Uh-huh,” said Emma, seemingly mesmerized as she wandered farther into the store, running her hand along April’s best thrift find to date: an antique solid-oak L-shaped counter that she was going to use as a cash register and flower-wrapping station.
The fruit of all Noah’s hard work over the last week and a half was positioned against the opposite wall: the custom shelving unit, perfect for storing seeds and bulbs, and bouquets along the bottom in buckets that slotted into the wood.
The structure had been secured to the wall the night before and was ready to be painted.
April had settled on a dusky pink, to stand out against the green walls, and had asked Emma and Izzy to help her out with this final bit of painting that morning.
Izzy had walked over to the back corner, where a few vases were stood in a box on the floor. “These are so cute, April—where did you get them?”
“Oh, my mom and I did a little trip round some of the vintage stores on Sunday and picked a few out. I can’t decide if I just want to use them for displays or if I want to sell them.”
“Definitely keep—they work so well with the store’s vibe,” said Emma decisively, eyes bouncing from the vases to the vintage light fixtures which were hung along the walls. On gloomier days than this, they would cast the store in a warm, inviting glow.
Izzy turned to the right-hand wall. “These shelves are so cool. I wish I could get some for my apartment.”
“That could be arranged,” Noah said, his voice low, positioning himself slightly too close behind Izzy as she took in the huge unit. “Although it’ll cost you.”
“Call it a special favor,” Izzy countered, throwing a sultry smile over her shoulder.
April’s eyes narrowed, taking in the two of them suspiciously. It was usually Emma and Noah who flirted, and Izzy had always rolled her eyes at their nonsense. But this was … weird.
“Get a room, you two.” Emma’s joking tone thankfully broke the strangely tense silence, and Noah cleared his throat as Izzy hastily moved to the other side of the store.
April pushed the suspicious thoughts from her mind; there was still too much to do ahead of the store’s grand opening, which she had planned for Monday.
She couldn’t afford to get sidetracked trying to find out if her best friend and brother were ‘involved’ with each other. The thought alone made her shudder.
“When’s your stock getting delivered, Bug?” Noah asked, pulling his phone out. “I’ll see if I can change my shifts to help you set up.”
“Everything’s coming on Sunday afternoon.
The seeds, bulbs, and other non-perishable things will be fine, but I need to make sure I prep the flowers and store them properly so they’re still fresh for Monday’s opening.
I’d love a few pairs of hands to help me set things out on Sunday, if you’re free? ”
“Yeah, I think I can make that work, Bug. Might mean I have to take an early shift on Monday, though, which is gross.” Noah sounded frustrated, but there was a smile behind his words as he said, “I hate losing out on my beauty sleep.”
“And boy, do you need it,” quipped Emma. That’s more like it, thought April.
“OK, I’ve got to get to the site, but let me know if you need anything else. Otherwise, I’ll see you on Sunday.”
“Sure thing. And hey.” She walked over to her brother as he pulled his jacket back on. “Seriously, thank you. For all of this. For letting me try something new and supporting me. I love you, Noah.”
Noah’s eyes went strangely misty as he took in his little sister’s face, before he spread his arms wide and engulfed her in an enormous bear hug.
“Anything for you, Bug.” A startled laugh burst from April as Noah squeezed all the air out of her lungs before releasing her.
“But hey, maybe as thanks for all my hard work, you could stop making out with my friends in highly inappropriate situations.” He threw a grin over his shoulder as he rushed toward the door before April could swipe at him. “See you later, Em. Izzy.”
April’s mouth was open in shock as she turned back to her two best friends. Their eyes were glued to her face, huge, shit-eating grins plastered on theirs.
“Does that mean—” began Emma.
“Was Noah talking about—” interrupted Izzy, almost gleeful.
“Surely not—” Emma looked both shocked and delighted.
“LUKE POINTER?!” they half shouted in unison.
“Guys,” said April, desperately trying to find something, anything to throw them off the scent.
“Do you seriously think I would get involved with Luke—Luke, of all people? Right after I broke off my engagement to Tyler? Right as I start setting up my own business? Which he’s trying to sabotage, might I remind you, with his stupid development company and stupid suits and probably stupid hard hats—” April broke off, suddenly finding herself slightly breathless at the thought of Luke wearing nothing but a hard hat, all muscle and bulk and—God, she needed to get a grip.
She swallowed thickly, and went to continue her speech, but Emma cut across her.
“Actually, April, yes, I think that’s exactly what you’ve done.” Emma’s tone was so matter-of-fact that it threw April off for a second.
“And why would you think that? I haven’t even seen him for over a week now,” April countered, and it was true. She hadn’t spoken to him since her moment of weakness with those texts, but she definitely wasn’t telling the girls about that.
“Oh wow, a whole week? Your self-restraint is unparalleled,” said Emma, a taunting smile pulling at her mouth.
A masterclass in self-restraint.
April shoved the thought away but could feel her cheeks burning at the memory.
“You and Luke have been dancing around each other for years,” Izzy chimed in, and April’s eyes narrowed at her friend.
Traitor. Izzy held up her hands. “Look, don’t shoot the messenger.
But ask anyone from our high school. You two always had a vibe.
” She said the last word with a particular emphasis that April didn’t like one bit.
“Excuse me, Isobel, what kind of ‘vibe’”—she mimed air quotes around the word—“would that be?”
“A kind of will-they-won’t-they, oh-for-the-love-of-God-I-hope-they-will-so-they-stop-arguing vibe,” Emma said simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Wha—” April was speechless. How had they misread the so-called ‘vibe’ so badly?
Pulling herself together, she retorted, “No, no, Em, that’s not right.
The only ‘vibe’ Luke and I have ever had is a distinct, profound hatred for each other.
We don’t even like each other. We agreed on that the other night when we were ki—” She cut herself off, silently cursing herself for letting on too much, praying that it wasn’t too late. But …
“When you were what, Miss Jones?” Izzy was once again gleeful. “Kissing Luke Pointer, by chance?”
“In a highly inappropriate situation, perhaps?” Emma’s smile was wider than April had ever seen it.
“OK, OK, fine. Oh my God, you guys are relentless,” April finally conceded as laughter bubbled up inside her.
“Yes, we kissed. A few times. OK, fine.” She quailed under her friends’ unrelenting stares.
“More than a few times. And maybe there was a tiny little … moment in my mom’s kitchen.
But that was your fault!” She rushed the words out before Emma or Izzy could interrupt, pointing at them both.
“If you hadn’t invited Luke in for iced tea and then abandoned me, nothing would have happened! ”
“Aha! I knew it!” Emma turned to Izzy, exuding satisfaction as she held her palm out. “Pay up, Iz.”
“Dammit,” Izzy muttered, fishing around in her pocket and eventually handing over a ten-dollar bill.
“Wait, you guys were betting on me and Luke hooking up?” April’s brain was barely keeping up with what she was seeing.
“Well, yeah. As soon as you agreed to that date after you got back to town, we knew it was only a matter of time,” said Izzy simply. “Although you could’ve waited a little longer, April. I’m out ten bucks now.”
“That’s my perfect little slut,” said Emma, pinching April’s cheeks as she stared at them in disbelief.
There was a moment of silence, and then they were all laughing, harder than April could remember laughing in the longest time, clinging to each other until there were tears in April’s eyes and her stomach ached.