Once Upon a Tattoo (Once Upon Series Book 1)

Chapter One

Wren

“Damn, Birdie. The place looks amazing. You told me you were updating a few things, but you’ve completely flipped this and turned it into an awesome studio.”

I trail my older brother, Lark, as he slowly makes his way through my shop, Once Upon a Tattoo, admiring the renovations I’ve done to the old shop with my best friends’ help. I have always wanted to own and run a tattoo shop, but up until a few months ago, I hadn’t found a spot that felt right.

When Lark told me his friend was selling his shop in Sparrow Falls, I wanted to go check it out. After seeing the space, I knew I would be able to make the shop of my dreams come to life with some hard work, but I needed to make sure my girls would be game.

Daphne was young and didn’t have anything other than her dickhead parents holding her back, but Meadow had her daughter to think about. She’s very much a go-with-the-flow kind of girl, but she also strives to provide a stable environment for River.

Not wanting to put off my dream for another minute, I 3-way called the girls and showed them the shop. They both saw the potential and were very excited about making our lifelong dream a reality. I, of course, had the final say since I would be the one fronting the shop, but I was excited to have them backing me up and ready to take a chance on this new adventure with me.

Along with the money I’ve been saving over the years, the inheritance from my parents” passing gave me the funds I needed to put my plans into motion. Not only did I buy the shop but the entire building the shop was in. The tattoo shop is located on the ground level, with two apartments above.

The girls and I were able to move in as soon as the sale was official, which allowed us minimal living expenses while we fixed up the place. Meadow eventually rented a little house—a short, five-minute walk to the shop—so that she and River could have a little more space.

The shop had an awesome setup that maximized the narrow building, and only needed cosmetic and equipment updates.

The front door leads into a cozy reception area with a loveseat and some funky chairs the girls and I found at an antique mall outside of Sparrow Falls. We painted the walls black and added all of our framed flash throughout the front area and the halls leading to our stations. The cream canvas and drawing paper against the black walls really allows our flash to pop and makes me smile every time I walk down the narrow hall.

Instead of crown molding, we put LED lights on the ceiling that give off a neon glow. The rest of the shop has a hip industrial vibe, with the front counter made from old barn wood and pipe fittings. We snagged some cool factory-like illumination from an estate sale that are more for aesthetics than practicality, but they perfectly complement the shop’s atmosphere. In each tattoo station, we installed LED ring fixtures on arms attached to the wall so we’re not tripping over bases and cords but can direct the light to the perfect position no matter what we’re tattooing.

In the back of the shop is an office for me to do all the boring business stuff, along with a kitchenette and a lounge area, where we can hang out or River can be out of the way when she comes to the shop with Meadow. Meadow’s daughter is fourteen, fucking brilliant, and lucky for us, loves her crazy-ass “aunts” and being at the shop.

A door leads to a stairwell that goes up to the apartments, where Daphne and I live.

Even though it’s an older building, the apartments were renovated within the last five years. They each have an open-floor plan and huge arching windows—on the front of the building—that let in the perfect amount of natural light, which makes up for the two smaller bedrooms. The bathrooms are surprisingly spacious, and I’ve taken advantage of the bathtub several times since I moved in.

Lark is in my tattoo station, examining our new equipment as he oohs and ahhs, reminding me of a little kid in a candy store and making me laugh. His gray eyes—just a touch darker than mine—light up as he picks through my new inks sitting out on display. I can’t really blame him. There’s nothing better than geeking out over state-of-the-art equipment with another tattoo nerd.

“It’s like you’ve never seen new equipment before, Lark, when I know you have. Hell, you helped me pick out half of this shit.”

“I know, but a brand-new setup should be admired and appreciated, Birdie. Do the lights change colors?”

“Yep. You know how much I love purple, but it’s nice to switch it up every now and then. Each of our rooms, the reception area, and the hallway are on different strands, so we can all have the color we want or shut them off so the lighting isn’t weird when we’re tattooing.”

Lark nods, making his almost black curly hair fall in his eyes as he slides a curtain along the pipe holding it in place. “This was a great idea, turning these into half-walls. It used to feel claustrophobic in here when you walked the hall. This really opens up the space.”

“Meadow is a genius with optimizing spaces to the best of their potential.”

Not only is Meadow an amazing tattoo artist, but she’s also pretty adept with power tools and building things. She made the front desk from scratch and helped revamp our tattoo stations. What used to be individual rooms, one after another, is now an open concept. We consulted a contractor to confirm that the walls weren’t load-bearing and were able to cut them down to half-walls. For each station, we installed pipes from the half-walls to the ceiling as support beams. We used more pipes as curtain rods so that each space can be closed off for privacy purposes. Opening the walls made it easy for us to feel less closed off as we work. We walk through the rest of the shop and my nerves about my big brother—who has been my idol since I was little—seeing it and being proud of what I have created slowly fade away. My best friends and I have busted our asses off these past few months, and I”m fucking proud of all we”ve been able to accomplish. I can”t wait to officially open the doors.

I knew I had the talent to be an amazing artist, but thanks to my brother, I also had the knowledge of how to run a business. Grief is a real bitch, and coping with the loss of my parents at thirteen would”ve been so much harder without my art. I started out with the pad of paper and pens my brother gave me. When I was having a tough time expressing myself or being buried by my grief, he told me to draw. He was already a tattoo artist at the time and knew getting lost in his art was the best therapy. As I got older, he also taught me the ins and outs of how to run a successful shop. With his encouragement and guidance, I started tattooing at the ripe age of seventeen and began my solo career at twenty, before moving on to be a manager at a couple of different shops.

I was exposed to the best of the best and have made a name for myself in the industry because of my brother”s belief in me and him fostering my love for tattooing. He gave me the tools I needed to be great, then stepped out of my way and supported me as my career took off. I loved the fast pace of working in a big city, but after thirteen years of living that way, it was starting to wear on me. I”m only thirty-three, but being in the business as long as I have, I was in desperate need of a change.

The shop in Sparrow Falls allowed me to slow down while only a thirty-minute drive from a large city with all the bells and whistles I’m used to. It also gave me the opportunity to set up my shop exactly how I wanted it and get my girls in the same building as me.

Tattooing has definitely started to diversify over the years, but being a woman constantly surrounded by men was getting old. Over the years, my brother and I have traveled to conventions and made guest appearances at our friends’ shops throughout the country, meeting some pretty kickass tattoo artists

I met two of my best friends at one of those conventions. Daphne and Meadow could not be more opposite than me in looks and personality, but we bonded over our love of tattooing and reading smutty books. We all like to escape our real lives and live in the fantasies good romance books allow us to.

The first night we met, we skipped the afterparty in favor of ordering room service and drinking wine while we debated our favorite books. Even though we like different subgenres, we share a few favorite indie authors, such as Jenna Lockwood, Alexandra Hale, and Amy Alves. Those ladies know how to write some kickass small town romances. As we gorged ourselves on too much wine and chocolate, my rant about thriving in a man’s world and my desire to one day own an all-female tattoo shop came up. Both Daphne and Meadow loved the idea, and we spent the rest of the night designing what our dream shop would look like. We came up with the name, Once Upon a Tattoo, in honor of our love of tattooing and reading romances.

“So, what do you say about breaking in this chair?”

I whip around to face my brother so fast that I almost lose my footing and fall over. I don’t know why I’m surprised that he wants to get the first tattoo in my new shop because it’s so like him to give me this gift. Too choked up to talk, I nod as I swipe under my eyes to prevent the tears from rolling down my face.

He chuckles as he takes his shirt off and sits on my chair.

“You don’t have much real estate left, big brother. What do you want, and where do you want it?”

“How about our namesakes on my ribs?”

The tears that I got under control flood my cheeks as I gasp in a breath. Our dad was a huge ornithophile—a bird enthusiast, in layman’s terms. It’s why we’re both named after birds and why this tattoo means so much to me.

I work up a sketch for Lark, which doesn’t take long since I’ve always loved drawing our birds and get started. I use my background in Japanese and traditional tattoo styles to bring the birds to life and give them a realistic look. Sticking to the natural browns and grays for both of the birds, I make sure to add the pop of yellow that adorns the lark’s head.

There’s something cathartic about having my machine back in my hands after the time spent focusing on renovations instead of tattooing. It takes me about an hour and a half, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. I take a few pictures to post on our socials later and get Lark cleaned and bandaged up.

We head back out to the reception area, where Lark snags my arm and pulls me into a bear hug. Nothing has soothed me quite as well since our parents passed.

He tucks my head under his chin before placing a kiss on the crown of my head and giving me one last squeeze. “I’m so fucking proud of you, Birdie. Watching you grow, build this amazing career, and chase your dreams has been everything to me. I’m going to miss working side by side with you, but I know this is exactly where you’re meant to be.”

I fight the tears that want to spill over at the praise, but it’s useless. “Thanks, Lark. Without you, none of this would have been possible. I know raising your kid sister was never part of your plans, but you were exactly what I needed after losing mom and dad. Knowing you always have my back, no matter what, gave me the courage to do this.”

Lark audibly swallows as he tries to bury the emotions ready to burst out.

“I hate that we won’t be at the same shop, but it’s time for me to live my dream and for you to not have your little sister under your wing anymore. I know you stayed at our last shop because of me, and I’m so grateful that you did. If you decide to head to a different shop, I understand, but I also love that you’re only a half an hour away from me right now. Just know that you’ll always have a place here. You’re the exception to the ‘girls only’ rule and always have a station at my shop.” I blink rapidly to keep my tears at bay. I pride myself on being a bad bitch, but my big brother has me up in my feels today.

“Alright, enough of this emotional bullshit. We’ve got a reputation to keep here, kid. Are the girls around? I’d love to take you ladies out for drinks and dinner to celebrate.” Lark treats Daph and Meadow as his sisters and River as the niece he’s never had. “I saw a pretty cool-looking bar at the end of the block.”

“Oh, The Tavern is fucking awesome. It’s a microbrewery that’s owned and run by a fancy-pants chef, who is actually pretty down to earth and helps create all the beers they brew. He also switches up the menu to match his seasonal brews and sources a lot of his food from local farmers. Meadow and River are at their house, but Daphne is upstairs. I’ll text Meadow and go grab Daphne really quick.”

“Sounds good. I’ll wait for you all out front.”

I lock up the front of the shop before heading towards the back of the building and up the stairs. Daphne took the second-floor apartment while I am on the third floor.

I knock on her door and only have to wait a minute.

Daphne answers in a pair of paint-splattered overalls with a baggy t-shirt underneath. She has paint smudged on her cheek, and her pink-framed glasses are propped on top of her chestnut hair, which is in a messy bun. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Lark offered to take us out to dinner to celebrate us finishing up the shop and opening

this week. Wanna go?”

“Sure.” She slips on her shoes and grabs her keys before heading towards the door.

“Um, Daph. You have a bit of paint on your face.”

Daphne raises a hand to her face to wipe off the paint but stops once she realizes her hands are covered too. I giggle because it’s so like Daph to get wrapped up in her painting and be oblivious to everything else around her.

“Just give me a sec, and then I’ll be ready.”

She heads to her bathroom to clean up while I pull out my phone to text Meadow, who says she’ll meet us there shortly.

Daphne comes out a minute later, and we head down to meet Lark in front of the shop. It’s spring and a little chilly, but not a bad walk to the brewery.

The Tavernis an old, brick warehouse, its industrial interior showing exposed beams and brewing tanks off to one side. It’s early for the dinner crowd, so we’re able to snag a table and get a drink while waiting for River and Meadow to show up.

“Hey, there you are,” Meadow calls out as she waves. She has an ethereal aura to her as she all but floats across the floor to our table. River isn’t far behind her, then hugs are shared all around.

“Damn, kid. I think you’ve grown a foot since I last saw you.” Lark ruffles River’s hair.

“I’ve grown exactly four inches and am seventy-five percent in height for my age range, which is appropriate for my diet and level of activity.”

Lark smiles at River’s over-analytical response before wrapping her in another hug.

We settle at the table, Lark tucking River next to him. I sometimes wonder if raising me after our parents died put him off having kids of his own. Lord knows I went through my rebellious stage and loved to push his buttons. The ten years between us make Lark forty-three, which is not too old to have a family if he wanted.

“Now that we all have drinks, I’d like to make a toast,” Lark says. “I’m so fucking proud of all of you. The shop is better than I could have imagined, and I know you’re all going to continue to grow and build a name for yourselves. That includes you too, Riv.” He wraps an arm around River’s shoulder. “That big brain of yours is going to do amazing things.” We all smile as River ducks her head and blushes. She knows she’s brilliant, but she’s also her mother’s daughter and extremely humble.

“So, to Once Upon a Tattoo and the best girls I know chasing and crushing their dreams.” Lark raises his glass, taking a second to connect with each of us to make sure we see how proud of us he is.

Cheering, we all take a drink.

Dinner is loud and full of laughter. I may not have my parents or any relatives, but I’ll take my brother and my found family any day.