Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
LUCA
“You motherfucker. You did not do this.” Pearl clutched the sides of her head in shock.
She stood in Luca’s shop staring at the cute, all-black Airstream trailer with a Blackbird Bakery logo on the side.
Seeing Pearl’s dumbfounded look at the surprise was all the thanks Luca needed.
Confusion melded into shock, which then melded into surprised anger on his little sister’s face.
He smirked. It’s okay. She just does that to mask her feelings.
“I did. Well, we did,” Luca said, nodding at Reed beside him.
“And Angie helped source it, Ritchie did welding, and Braden installed the sink.” His team waved, embarrassed, standing along the side of the shop.
Pearl used to be a regular there when she took care of AB.
They’d been happy to do overtime to get it finished.
Pearl blinked quickly, trying not to cry. “This is for me?” she asked quietly, still confused.
“That’s your logo, ain’t it?” Angie said with a gruff laugh.
“Thought we could haul it to the fall festival in a few weeks so you can stay warm,” Luca said, crossing his arms to stave off the emotions trying to leak out of his eyes.
Reed gave Pearl a tissue. “You can put it outside of bookstore whenever you want, or we can keep it in the parking lot until we can get your store open.”
“My own space,” she whispered gently, stroking the glossy side of the Airstream trailer.
She peeked in before walking through it, open-mouthed, and gasped. “A register,” she said, hitting Reed’s chest in excitement.
“All set up and ready to go,” he said, fixing his glasses as he beamed at Luca.
Luca thought his heart might burst from his chest in happiness. He had never in his whole life seen Pearl this speechless or happy. And to help Reed give her something like that?
He got a little choked up thinking about it.
People in his family weren’t able to do things like this. Big, grand, expensive gifts. He’d certainly never gotten anything big, but he was proud to give it to someone who had helped him so much and never asked for anything in return.
Pearl barreled from the back of the Airstream into him, throwing her arms around him.
“I’m so mad at you,” she murmured into his chest as he squeezed her back, pulling her off her feet.
“Pfft. For being an amazing brother?”
“For making me cry in public.” She punched his side playfully. She squeezed him tighter. “Love you, buttface.”
He rubbed a hand on her back. “Love you too, little monster.”
Pearl pushed off of him. “And you,” she said, pointing a finger at Reed.
“Hey, I tried to convince him to do this in the dead of night where no one would see and just mail you the keys—”
But she yanked Reed down to her mouth, and Reed’s arms wrapped around her tight, squeezing her possessively.
And that’s my cue, blech.
Luca busied himself with the drinks to avoid watching his sister make out with his best friend. Reed had brought some sodas and beers for the big reveal.
Luca went to go join his team. This would be one of the last things they did at the shop before everything was moved to Fairwick Falls. Felt like a good going-away party for all the work they’d done here.
The side door opened, and his favorite tornado ran through, followed by the woman he thought about every eight minutes.
Olivia took his breath away as she sauntered through in a sage-green off-the-shoulder sweater and figure-hugging jeans that looked expensive. So fucking elegant.
A good reminder, like most times he saw her, that she was too good for him. Too good for living a small life here when she wanted to go capture her dreams.
“AP, AP, AP!” Annabelle yelled, running in.
“AB, AB, AB!” Pearl parroted back.
Annabelle jumped up and down. “I knew the surprise, and kept it secret the whole time.”
Luca snorted. He’d finally told Annabelle about it that morning and swore her to secrecy, but he wasn’t going to tell Pearl that. Let her have her wins.
“This is so cool, Pearl,” Olivia said, peeking in the trailer’s door.
“If it isn’t Barfly Ballerina,” Pearl said with a warm smile back at Olivia. “Cool jeans.”
Olivia twirled, looking down at them. “Thanks, they were on sale in the wrong size, but I tailored them so they’d have that trouser look.”
“What’s a barfly?” AB asked Pearl.
Pearl bent down to AB’s level. “You see sweetie, sometimes tiny ballet dancers can’t hold their liquor—”
Olivia burst out laughing. “AB and I got you a little something,” Olivia said, interrupting her, smiling.
Pearl unwrapped a glass tip jar in the shape of a skull as they chatted, and Olivia grabbed her in a friendly hug.
Pearl looked both surprised and touched. He fucking loved seeing them be friends.
Olivia’s eyes connected with his as they laughed, and she smiled shyly, giving him a little wave.
He’d kept his distance the last few days, limiting their overlap in the mornings and afternoons when he got home. She was like a decadent piece of cake he shouldn’t have too often. Otherwise, it might bite him in the end.
Reed ambled over, looking pleased as Pearl and Olivia and Annabelle oohed and aahed over the newest location of Blackbird Bakery.
“Thought you were going to propose there for a minute,” Luca said, smiling into his soda.
Reed tugged at his hair. “Still haven’t figured out the exact right way to do it yet. It has to be perfect. Perfect setting, perfect timing, perfect words, maybe perfect book quote. I keep brainstorming different proposals—”
Annabelle tugged Pearl over to them.
“So,” Luca interrupted Reed, “like I mentioned, Ritchie had a hard time retrofitting the refrigerator, but he did a great job utilizing the space.”
“Thank you,” Reed mouthed over Pearl’s head as he wrapped his arms around her.
“Thanks, boss,” Ritchie said with a backslap after grabbing a beer.
“I think the sink is the coolest part,” Olivia gushed, a sparkle in her eye. “The way that the cutting board slides on top for extra counter space, plus the little temperature knobs match the exterior. It’s the most adorable sink I’ve ever seen.”
Braden, Luca’s youngest guy on the team, raised his gangly hand with a proud smile. “That was me. I did that,” he said, with a little squeak in his voice.
Olivia clapped as she talked. “That is so impressive. How did you do the sink cover that gives her more counter space?”
He watched Braden stand a little taller as he explained how he’d seen a DIY video on social media and adapted it.
“You are very clever,” Olivia said with a bright genuine smile, and the kid’s whole face went crimson.
Luca’s heart fucking melted at how kind she was.
Olivia grabbed a soda from behind him. “You’ve told him that, right?” she said, taking a sip.
“Yeah?” He shrugged. No. “I mean, I didn’t say it the way you said it.”
“Did you say: ‘Hi, kid who invented a cool thing for my sister. Thanks for being you, and I can probably trust you with more responsibility’? Think about it.” She shrugged and grabbed two sodas, giving one to Annabelle as they walked over to Pearl.
“No sugar this late in the day,” he called after her as AB was already sipping from it mischievously.
“That sounds like a you problem, bro,” Pearl called, high-fiving AB.
He let his eyes linger on the sway of Olivia’s hips. How her thick, long hair bounced as she walked. Dancing beams of sunset.
He considered Olivia as Angie walked past him to grab a beer.
“Hey,” he said to Angie.
“What?” Angie paused. “Man, what did I mess up this time? I told you I’ll call the van company tomorrow to make sure they actually want that bright-ass yellow that makes their vans look like fuckin’ highlighters with wheels.”
God, was this how he came off to his employees? Always reminding them of shit?
“Thank you,” he said, realizing it came out a little rusty when he was at work for some reason.
Angie squinted her eyes at him. “You feelin’ okay? Oh my christ.” Her hands went into her hair in genuine despair. “Are you dyin’?”
“No! No.” He shook his head, cutting her off.
“I know this has been a lot…and I appreciate you. You’ve done a really good job managing the move to Fairwick Falls.
” He gulped, making a last-minute decision.
“And I thought you should have a shop key until we finish up so you don’t have to wait for me in the morning if I’m running late. ” He handed the key to her.
Her eyebrows shot up, and she held the key as if it might bite her.
“Plus, we’re only here for another week. Think of it as a trial run. See how you like it,” Luca added.
She tipped up her beer and took a sip as she eyed him suspiciously. “This is weird. But I like it,” she said gruffly and turned away to talk to the other guys.
“I’m gonna head out,” Olivia said, walking up to him. “Her bag and lunch box are in your truck.”
Luca picked Annabelle up, squeezing her. Annabelle pouted, looking at the Airstream. “You don’t want to play bakery with me?”
Olivia smiled. “I think Reed said he wanted to play,” she said loudly.
“Excuse me, miss!” Reed said, getting Annabelle’s attention with a wave. “Did you say you wanted fourteen slices of unicorn pie?”
“Yeah!” Annabelle pushed away from Luca’s chest, hopping down.
“Oh god. Is that when pie is made from unicorns?” Olivia asked Luca as an aside, just for the two of them. A deep belly laugh burst out of him.
His entire team stopped talking and stared at him. He glared at them and turned his back, not wanting to deal with the questioning looks.
Olivia looked over her shoulder at AB playing with Reed and then turned to face him. Her pretty sapphire eyes danced with humor.
It was the only color he was ever tempted to wear. He’d looked for shirts online, but none quite matched the shade that stared back at him.
He decided to change the subject. “Big plans this evening? Heard it’s karaoke at the Thirsty Beaver.”
He swallowed a smile as she laughed. God, he loved making her laugh. It made him feel fucking invincible.