Chapter 3
ZINNIA
Sometimes it hits me all over again just how wonderful my sisters are. By the time I got home last night, the worktables that will serve as our desks had already been set up in the dining room.
In the morning, I stagger blurry-eyed out to the kitchen. Lily already has coffee on, and the remains of a fruit platter are on the kitchen table. Rose is going over the list of the last round of shopping that has to be done today before Dad cuts off the card.
"Have you left me anything to do?" I ask, stirring some milk into my mug of dark French roast.
Rose looks at me with a wicked grin. "Plenty. You can tell us how your date went."
I knew this was coming. I can already feel my cheeks growing warm. "I don't know what I'm supposed to say."
Lily laughs as she joins us at the table. "Shoe's on the other foot now, isn't it? With us you wanted to pry, now that it's your turn, you don't want to share any details. Not fair, Zin."
Rose laughs. "You can start by telling us if you had a good time, and if you'll be seeing him again."
Lily smirks. "From the look in her eyes, she's already head over heels."
Part of me wants to lie to her. To tell her that I'm perfectly rational. Still in control. "I feel like I'm spiraling," I finally admit. "Like I've been transformed or something. That's not natural, is it?"
They both laugh at me. "Is love natural?" Lily asks, looking dreamily out the window as she raises the back of her hand to her forehead like an overdramatic actor. "Is love even real? Is this the quest your life is on?"
"Oh, man." I shake my head. "Some help from my older sisters would be fantastic right about now."
Rose reaches out to tap my hand on the table. "At least we're going through it together." Her eyes sparkle. "It's wild, right?"
"Yeah." I take another sip of coffee. "I don't get it. It's completely unnatural for me to want to phone anyone, ever. Much less call him first thing in the morning."
"The urge for constant communication. I've got it too," Lily says.
"I have to assume it goes away in a few weeks," Rose says. "Otherwise, nobody would ever get any work done."
"Speaking of work." I turn my attention to the dining room, pointedly changing the subject. "Is that my spot in the corner?"
"Yeah, if that's okay," Rose says. "That way I get natural light while I'm working."
"And I'm closest to the kitchen for when I'm cooking," Lily adds.
"The corner is perfect." My sisters know that I prefer to work completely undisturbed, with huge headphones blocking the world out.
I turn back to them with an evil grin. "This is the last day that Dad's credit card will work."
"Yeah," Rose says with a sigh. "But I can't think of anything else we could possibly need."
"What about new computers?" They both stare at me as if I've grown a second head. "Why not? All our laptops are getting old, and my work desktop is a fossil."
Lily's fingers tap on the table. "Dad loves it when we share. If we got you a fancy new desktop computer and said it was for all three of us…"
"And of course you could use it whenever you're doing some illustration or whatever," I say.
Rose looks worried. "Isn't that too much?"
Lily rolls her eyes. "Dad just got a giant promotion and a huge moving bonus. And he's no longer feeding us."
"It could also be another one of his precious tests," I say. "To see if we're smart enough to stockpile everything we need for the next six months while we get our businesses going."
Rose grabs her battered laptop covered in stickers. "Let's do it."
"Yeah." Lily brings her coffee over to her new desk. "Let's start our businesses off with a bang."
After grabbing a handful of fruit and topping up my coffee, I take a few minutes to allow my machine to boot up.
Then I select the new laptop and the desktop computer I've had wishlisted for months, plus all of the cables, accessories and an extra external monitor, put it all in my cart, and hit that shiny buy button.
Thanks, Dad. Seriously, I hope his head doesn't pop off when he gets the bill.
Then I start hunting around online, trying to figure out how I'm going to advertise illustration and marketing services in Sandersville.
I find the town's community online bulletin board run by the local newspaper advertising all kinds of services.
I draft an ad and post it immediately, and also buy a bunch more credits so I can post every few weeks for the rest of the year.
I'm happy to do online work for anyone in the world, but I do want to get some jobs where I can meet the client face to face. Maybe it's silly, but it feels more real.
That makes me think of Evan again. He's so real… Solid… Wild. My mind keeps jumping to him every time I stop for a moment.
Thing is, Evan is a lot older than I am. I don't want him to think he needs to take care of me. I don't want to be a burden.
Stretching, I hear Rose is on the phone with Aunt Doug, going through anything we may have forgotten to order. I take a break and jump in the shower, then clip my hair into a rough braid so that it will dry wavy. I return to the main room just as Lily is taking a seat near Rose.
"Doing your hair for another date with our window guy tonight, Zin?" she laughs, just as Rose says, "I'm putting you on speaker." Rose looks instantly horrified.
"Hey, Aunt Doug," I say cheerfully toward the phone.
"Zinnia, it's your father. What's this about a date with a window guy?"
Oh, crap.
"Just an in-joke. Lily's kidding," I say quickly. Although it's not exactly a lie, I'm sure he can hear the tension in my voice.
"You girls are much too young to be dating," Dad says sternly. "Especially Zinnia."
"How old were you when you married mom, Dad?" Lily asks mildly.
Several seconds of complete silence.
"I think Dad was twenty-five and Mom was twenty-three," Rose says. "So that means I'd better get moving. All of us should. In fact—"
"That's enough," Dad snaps. "Times are different now. Zinnia is barely out of her teens. I will not have her dating when I'm not there to at least meet the boy."
"How's London, Dad?" Rose's tone announces she's changing the subject permanently.
I only half listen as Dad goes on about the rain and his oddly formal office environment. I'm seething. I'm twenty years old, for goodness' sake. When will he stop treating me like a child?
My phone rings on my desk, and I rush to grab it, then hurry to my bedroom. "Hello?"
"I miss you already." Evan's voice is a low rumble in my ear. "Tell me I can see you today, gorgeous."
A shiver runs through me at the way he both asks and commands at the same time. "Sure."
"We were talking about a private archery lesson. The range is free for an hour this afternoon. Can I pick you up at three?"
"Yes." I hesitate, looking at the boxes of clothing stacked in the corner of my room. "What does someone wear for archery?"
The few seconds of hesitation make me hope that he's picturing me in all kinds of different outfits. "Jeans and a t-shirt would be fine. Nothing that will restrict your shoulder and arm movement."
"Okay. See you at three."
As I walk back into the main room, Rose is off the phone and shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Zinnia. I didn't mean for him to hear that."
"It's my fault." Lily looks worried. "I thought Rose was still talking to Aunt Doug."
"It's okay. Dad's far enough away that he can't exactly breathe down my neck, right?"
Rose sighs. "Maybe. I have a feeling he's going to ask Doug to keep tabs on you."
Ugh. Although I really love my Aunt Doug and her wild, free spirit energy, I have no idea how she might be when it comes to something like me dating.
"I have an appointment at three," I announce.
"Shall we have lunch at The Tiny Goat on the last functional credit card day?
" I grab the card from the table on the way out the door.
I have to hurry so that I have time to eat, find an outfit, and read up a bit on archery before three so I don't sound like a complete newb.
One thing nobody told me about dating is what a huge chunk of your mind it consumes at all times. Just a few days ago I didn't think I'd want anything distracting me from getting settled and starting my business.
Now all I can think about is Evan, and how much I want him. Crave him.
And the way he seems to want me.