59. Set up
FIFTY-NINE
Set up
TARA
“Did you tell him you’re moving back to Chicago?” Celeste asked after Tara told her all the romantic details leading up to her surprise date.
“He already knows, but yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That he’ll take whatever time he could get,” Tara admitted, shifting behind her laptop set up on the counter in the recently vacated retail space next to Between the Lines. They’d already covered the plate glass windows with newspaper and were now on a Zoom call with one of Tara’s coworkers back in Chicago.
Celeste squealed in delight.
A voice sounded via the laptop speakers. “Yeah. That definitely shouldn’t be too hard to do.”
Tara unmuted herself and smiled into the camera on her laptop. “Thanks, Rashid. You’re the best.”
“You know, Tara. I’m glad you realize that because I really am the best.”
“Hi!” Celeste had walked up behind Tara and was peering over her shoulder.
“Celeste? Rashid. Rashid? This is my best friend, Celeste.” Tara introduced her coworker to her best friend. “He’s the website guru I told you about. He’s helping me overhaul Mom and Dad’s website.”
“Can he help fine-tune mine?” Celeste asked. “I mean, I think it’s pretty good, but I wouldn’t mind having an expert confirm that and make suggestions on how to make it even better.”
“I’d be happy to take a look at it. Just get my info from Tara.”
“You got it, thanks!”
“Tara - you’re all set,” Rashid confirmed. “Just let me know when you want to go live.”
“Sounds good. Give Karina a kiss for me.”
“Always happy to do that!”
Tara waved and closed her laptop.
“Mmm…mmm…mmm. What’s his full name again?”
“Rashid Asfahani,” Tara said as Kiro and Steve passed through the glass door off the sidewalk.
Celeste fanned herself. “He is hot.”
“Who’s hot?” Kiro asked, looking back and forth between Celeste and Steve. “I mean, I’m hot, right?”
“You are, baby,” Celeste assured him with a gentle pat on the shoulder.
“He is totally hot,” Tara confirmed in a matter-of-fact tone, nodding toward the laptop monitor at the frozen picture of Rashid.
“Wait.” Now, it was Steve’s turn to have cause for concern.
“What?”
“You agree with her?”
“Oh, yeah.” Tara said matter-of-factly. “He is one good-looking man.”
“Mmhmm,” Celeste agreed.
Steve and Kiro exchanged glances while Tara and Celeste exchanged mischievous grins.
Tara could no longer fight back her laughter. “He’s also very happily married with two kids who are just as gorgeous. I think they might even have a third on the way.”
“Yeah, okay.” Kiro wrapped his arms around Celeste and gave her a sweet kiss.
“Hey, you two,” Tara laughed. “Stop being so cute.”
“What’s with all this new-found insecurity you two boys have anyway?” Celeste wondered aloud.
“You’re both going on about how hot this guy is,” Kiro explained.
“He is,” Tara agreed with Celeste. “We’re just appreciating his good looks, that’s all. Don’t you ever appreciate a good-looking woman who walks by?”
Steve and Kiro both exchanged knowing grins as they bobbed their heads. “Yeah.” They laughed. “Yeah, we do.” They turned back to Tara and Celeste, both of whom stared back at them with disapproving looks and eyebrows raised.
“I mean, no.” Kiro cleared his throat and dropped his smile.
“Never.” Steve cleared his throat, too, but laughed at Kiro, “Whipped.” He brought his hand to his mouth to cover a fake cough as Kiro smacked him in the arm as he attempted to appear serious.
Steve wrapped an arm around Tara’s waist. “You know you’re going to hear about this later, right?” He said in a husky voice. She could feel his breath on her ear when he leaned in. He dropped a kiss on her neck.
“Oh, I’m sure I will.” Her grin was filled with hopeful mischief.
The front door opened open and Tim and Emerson walked in. Emerson scanned the room as if looking for someone while Tim spread his long arms wide. Always the tallest man in the room, he called out, “The muscle has arrived.”
“Thank you so much for coming!” Tara bounced up and greeted them both with enthusiastic hugs.
“Sink’s fixed,” Derek announced as he entered the main room from the back, tools in hand. He set them down to greet the new arrivals. “Hey! Glad you boys finally made it.”
“What do you mean, finally?” Tim joked.
“Some of us got our to-do lists in advance and had to start early,” Derek explained.
“The joys of having a dad who renovates houses for a living,” Kiro joked as he and Steve walked up to greet their fellow firefighters with handshakes.
“Well, I appreciate it,” Tara gave Derek a half hug, “That’s for sure. Oh. Here they are!” Her face lit up as Aimee and Lydia walked past the plate glass window to the door.
Emerson and Tim jogged to the door to relieve them of the boxes they were carrying.
“I have pastries!” Lydia announced as Tim set down the box labeled Jenna’s Boulangerie, with a big, purple JB logo in the corner.
Celeste helped Lydia set out the pastries on the banquet table against the wall that already held a couple of coffee dispensers and some bottles of water. Aimee helped make sure all the food was set up, then grabbed her own coffee cup as the others lined up behind her to fill their own as well.
“Okay, everyone. Gather around.” Tara clapped her hands together. “Here’s the plan,” She went over the details about moving the last of the big stuff out of the retail space and then painting it. Once painted, they could move in some tables and display racks for the books the authors would be selling.
“Seems simple enough,” Emerson said, as she finished running down the to-do list.
“Exactly! But…” Tara pressed her lips together. “I have good news and bad news.”
“What’s the good news?” Steve asked her.
“The elevator to the third floor works.”
“So you don’t need all this muscle, then?” Tim gave a disappointed look while flexing his arms.
As if on cue, all the men rolled their eyes.
He held his arms out wide in mock exasperation. “What?”
Tara laughed. “No. We definitely need your muscle, Tim. Don’t worry. The elevators work, but they’re not big enough for the furniture and displays we need to bring down.”
“So we can go up,” Emerson asked, to clarify, “but not back down?”
“Right.” Tara’s enthusiasm was infectious. “But you’re used to this, so it’s all good, right?”
“I’ll start on the small stuff.” Celeste offered.
“I’ll help you.” Kiro volunteered.
The four women in the room all sent him pointed looks, eyebrows raised. There was no way he was going to get out of doing any heavy lifting today.
“Really, K?” Derek shot him a look of disbelief. “Taking the easy way out?”
Derek and Steve each grabbed one of Kiro’s arms and dragged him backward toward the elevators in the back and away from the women’s laughter.
“Uh…” Kiro looked at Celeste with his palms facing out. “Sorry, ladies. Seems they can’t do this without me.”
Once Tara showed them what needed to be brought down, the men of GC Fire made short work of bringing the tables and display racks down to a makeshift staging area near the dock in the back of the building. With everyone pitching in, they had the new space cleaned and painted in no time. The pizza arrived just as they finished setting up the tables for the Between the Lines Annual Author’s Showcase.
“I don’t know, Tara,” Tim said between mouthfuls of pizza. “The name for your event is kind of long. Maybe you should shorten it a bit?”
With one eyebrow raised, Tara stared at Tim for a long time while she finished her piece of pizza. “Thanks, Tim. I’ll keep that in mind. Oh,” she wiped her mouth as a mischievous smile grew on her face. Tara wondered if his fellow firefighting friends knew he bought steamy romance novels on the regular from her parents’ bookstore. Time to find out. “Your ro… I mean, your books are in. Mom has them in a bag behind the counter.”
“Oh,” Lydia said as she raised her hand. “I can get those for you.”
Tim’s eyes widened, but he quickly recovered. “Between the Lines, Annual Author’s Showcase sounds great. Perfect name for your event.”
In a sugary, sweet voice and with a smile, Tara thanked him. “I thought you’d like it.”
All the other firefighters there helping exchanged glances while Lydia and Tara giggled. Even Celeste and Aimee shared in the confusion. Steve turned toward Tara, who shook her head and laughed.