For the first time in a long time, our finances were in the black. I still wasn抰 paying myself a salary but I was saving the equivalent funds for the mural.
揌ey, Hannah??
揗m??
Liya tilted her head. 揌ow come you never post photos of yourself on the store抯 social media??
I hesitated. 揢m. I don抰 know. I抦 not very photogenic.?
She set a box on the counter and sliced it open. 揥ell, I think you are, and you should post pictures of yourself as well. You抮e the heart of this place.?
I didn抰 know what to do with that information. I wasn抰 the heart of this place, my mom was. It was her store.
揥hen are you meeting with Naya??Liya asked, interrupting my thoughts.
揘ext week. Tuesday night.?I straightened up. 揧ou should come with me. You抮e part of this store too.?
She gave me an apologetic expression. 揗y sister抯 in town next week so I抦 going to show her around. We抮e going to a comedy show that night. Show me what Naya comes up with, though.?
揙f course.?Excitement rolled through me and I gave a little squeal of delight and clapped my hands. 揕iya. It抯 going to look so good.?I beamed at her. 揑 can抰 wait to take a picture of you under the new mural.?
She beamed back at me and pulled a handful of books out of the box. Her eyes widened at the covers and she laughed. 揗ore hockey player romances??
I shrugged. 揚eople love them.?
Liya studied the shirtless man on the cover. 揑 can see the appeal.?
I snorted. 揚ervert.?
揧ou抮e a pervert, too.?Her shoulder shook with laughter.
揥e抮e both perverts,?I agreed before gesturing around at the store. 揟wo perverts working in a store with perverted books. My dream come true.?
She laughed again and headed over to the Sports Romance section to shelve the books. I thought about the mural again as my gaze swept around the shop.
In three weeks, we抎 have a beautiful new mural outside the store, and the inside would still look like this. Dusty faded wallpaper. Shelves held together with duct tape. Frayed carpet at the door to the stockroom. Peeling sign out front, barely legible.
When coming up with ideas for social media content, Liya and I had been getting more and more creative. I was hesitant to show our store in the images so we either did close ups of the books, ourselves, or an image of us near the window. I tried to get as little of the store in the shot as possible.
A sharp, expanding feeling flickered in my chest. I didn抰 want to be ashamed of the store anymore.
A cascade of soft thumps came from the book stacks.
揝hifter romance just gave up on life,?Liya called over before emerging from the shelves with a handful of books in her arms. She dumped them on the desk. 揥yatt can fix that one next.?
揥hat??My eyebrows shot up.
She nodded. 揌im and Holden were in yesterday. They fixed Mafia Romance.?
I wandered over to the mafia romance shelf and peered under the plank of wood. Shiny brackets now held the shelf up. 揌uh.?
揝omebody likes you,?Liya sang as she passed.
The kiss, the wetsuit, and now the shelf.
A delicious warmth spread through my chest and I grinned. 揘o, he doesn抰。？
She cocked her head. 揙h? He goes around to local businesses fixing shelves with his hot brother??
I rolled my eyes. I didn抰 know what to say. Wyatt fixing the shelf had made my entire day. My shoulders lifted in a shrug and I returned to the desk to clear the remaining books.
The stupid wallpaper caught my eye again. Liya cut the bottom of the box to flatten it and the knife caught the light from the window.
There it was again, the same boldness that made my buy the swimsuit. Same as when I kissed Wyatt. It filled my chest and raced through my blood. My chest rose and fell with a deep breath.
揅an I borrow that for a second??I held my hand out for the knife and Liya handed it over. I turned to the wallpaper panel behind the desk, reached up, and dragged a long slice through it.
Liya stared in delighted shock. 揙h, she really did that,?she whispered, nodding with wide eyes.
I stared at the giant cut. There. Now we had to change it. A maniacal giggle bubbled out of me.
I handed the knife back to Liya. 揟hanks.?
揘o problem.?
Spice Girls played in the background as we stared at the damage. There was no turning back now. My dad would hate it, but he wasn抰 here and I had a business to run.
揂fter lunch, let抯 look at wallpaper samples online.?My voice sounded stronger than I felt.
Liya took her lunch and in between customers, I reviewed more old surfing footage of Wyatt抯 in case I could pull anything for his social media.
On my laptop screen, Wyatt carved and glided over the water, harnessing it like he was a god. He made it look so easy, like walking or breathing.