Chapter 40
TWO YEARS LATER
The cafe is bursting with people, most of them clutching a book as they settle into their chairs, necks craning to get a glimpse of Adam. I lean against the counter, happy and more than a little proud. Beside me, Hattie is practically bursting with delight.
‘We really did it,’ she says, bumping her hip against mine.
A Cup of Joy is a success. So successful that I’ve paid back the loan and we’re now three months away from opening our second cafe, Midnight Mocha.
We’re business moguls. Business moguls with enough employees that we’re able to take a step back from the day-to-day operations.
Not that we’ve really stepped back. No, Hattie and I are hoverers.
I don’t want to give up all my baking duties and she doesn’t want to relinquish control of the events we throw. Events like this one.
I catch sight of an arm flying frantically in the air.
Excusing myself, I wind around the crowded tables until I reach the front.
Or the VIP table as Mum has declared it.
She even had Reese print out a VIP sign that sits smack bang in the middle.
I’m actually surprised she didn’t ask for the space to be roped off and a red carpet rolled out.
‘We need to get this started, Sabrina,’ she says. ‘People are getting restless.’
‘One of us should go back there and hurry him along,’ Aunt Carol says, eyes gleaming. Adam’s face grins up at me from her T-shirt. And Mum’s. And…my eyes scan the Fogerty table.
‘He’s going to kill you,’ I say, fighting a laugh at the full complement of Adam Whittaker T-shirts.
‘Aren’t they wonderful?’ Aunt Carol dances in her seat. ‘Gabi’s going to trademark them.’
‘No, I’m not,’ my sister mutters. ‘You really need to get your liquor licence,’ she says, nose wrinkling as she looks down at her T-shirt. ‘Whisky would make this slightly less embarrassing.’
‘Talk to my operations manager about that,’ I say with a wink at Reese.
We brought her on about a year ago when Hattie and I realised that while we were great with ideas and following our dreams, we were not so great with the money side of things.
Enter Reese and her background in finance.
It’s a partnership that’s working for all of us.
Gabi included. While they did go through with the separation, they used that time apart to work out what they both wanted in life.
Gabi quit her job, started her own practice, and put her family first. They are now rebuilding their relationship and, just last week, Gabi moved back into their house.
A house that now has the dog Mum dreamed of them having.
‘Interesting fact,’ Uncle Max says. ‘Happy hours originated in 1914 and were used for Navy sailors to escape the boredom of their postings. They weren’t about reduced prices.’
‘When did that change and become all about getting cheap drinks for a couple of hours?’ Tommy asks.
‘Great question.’ Uncle Max rubs his stubbled jaw. ‘We should look it up.’
Dad pulls his phone out of his suit jacket and taps the screen. ‘Sabrina, love, how do we find that information on here?’
‘I’ll find it, Uncle Paul,’ Tommy says and taps away on his own phone.
Adam delivered on Tommy’s request to be more fleshed out in the next draft and he was given the role of information gatherer for Dad and Uncle Max.
The book version has them as a trio and I guess Tommy took that to heart because the three of them are now as thick as thieves.
‘What’s a happy hour?’ Amelia asks, her legs swinging back and forth.
‘It’s a time of day when bars sell drinks super cheap,’ Riley says.
‘You shouldn’t know that,’ Gabi says. ‘She shouldn’t know that,’ she adds and frowns at Reese.
‘Sabrina.’ Mum tugs on my hand. ‘Callie sends her apologies. She really wanted to be here but she had to work. Maybe we can film this and send it to her. It’d be great research for her.
I’ve been sending her notes on you so she can perfect your mannerisms. Has Adam said any more about the movie? Will he have final say on the cast?’
‘I don’t know, Mum.’ I fight an eye roll.
Mum has been checking in almost daily with Adam since the movie deal and has all but promised the lead role to Callie Colbett.
I don’t have the heart to tell her that Adam has zero say in who gets cast in the movie version of The Boyfriend Clause.
Just like with The Sleeping Bones. A Hemsworth did not get cast and my family has not stopped complaining about that since its release.
It doesn’t matter to them that it was a box-office success, it should’ve had a Hemsworth.
Glancing at the diamond on my finger I decide I’ll leave it to Adam to tell her that the chances of Callie Colbett playing me in the movie are a big fat zero.
Since Adam proposed to me three months ago, Mum thinks he can do no wrong.
Although this might be the one wrong he can do.
Oh well, that’s for my future husband to worry about.
‘Maybe we should warm up the audience with a reenactment,’ Aunt Carol says.
‘Yes,’ Mum breathes. ‘Oh, I know. We should do a reenactment of our reenactment.’
Dread pulses through me and I race into the kitchen where Adam is pacing. ‘You need to get out there,’ I say. ‘Mum and Aunt Carol are threatening to do a Clovedale reenactment.’
He pales.
‘A reenactment of our reenactment.’
He swears.
‘That would bring in a heap of views. We should…’ Natalia’s voice trails off as Adam and I turn to glare at her. ‘Never mind. I’ll go out and start the introduction. If you’re ready?’ She must take his shrug as a yes because she turns on her heels and teeters off into the cafe.
Natalia has grown on me. It turns out she wasn’t interested in Adam romantically, she simply wanted to boost her following.
Was it tacky? Yes. Can I fault her ambition?
Probably. But she’s actually pretty cool when she’s not constantly on her phone.
Even though her relationship with Tommy didn’t last, she’s still an honorary member of the Fogerty family and Mum and Aunt Carol seem to like her more since the split and she started helping them promote their new joint venture of selling T-shirts and cushions with characters from Clovedale and The Sleeping Bones movie.
Adam sighs heavily.
I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my cheek against his racing heartbeat. ‘I really thought you’d be used to these appearances by now.’
‘This one’s different,’ he says. ‘It’s our story. What if everyone hates it?’
I shrug. ‘There’s a table of VIPs who love it out there. And they love you. Nothing else matters, does it?’
He lowers his head to kiss me. ‘I guess not.’ With a squeeze of my hand, he steps away. I follow him out, holding in a laugh when he spots my T-shirt-clad family, and I take my seat beside Mum.
Natalia backs away as Adam steps forward and opens the cover. He clears his throat and the murmurs of the crowd fade as he begins to read.
‘She burst into the elevator in a frenzied state, her wild eyes throwing daggers at the man standing in the corner. Her silver heels click on the floor. Droplets of water glisten in her eyelashes, and her emerald blouse clings to her like a second skin. She stabs her finger against the number 4 and pushes her wet auburn hair away from her forehead. She smells of lilies, tinged with the sweetness of the rain. That sweet smell of rain stirs the ember in his soul, reminding him of rainy days spent with his grandparents. They were the days he cherished most. The ones that made him feel safe. Loved.’
Adam pauses, lifting his eyes from the page to find mine, reminding me that I am loved for being exactly who I am.
And that feels pretty damn incredible.