Page 9 of Wish You Would

“You. Me. Big Richards. It’s a date.” She slid her sunglasses down and peered over the frames, her green eyes fixing on me. “And I’ll tell you all about the time Mom came to see me at one of my events for the first time ever.”

I gasped and slapped my palm on the counter. “Shut up. How did that happen?”

Propping her shades on the top of her head, she shook her head. “Wish I could tell you. She called the other night and said she’d noticed she would be in Chicago the same time as me, and when I tried the, Oh, darn, I’ll be so busy working tactic, she offered to buy a ticket.”

“Holy crap.” I stared at my sister, stunned. Our mom had barely shown an interest in Anya’s career for as long as I could remember.

“Holy crap, indeed,” Anya agreed, smirking at my lack of swear. I stuck my tongue out and she snickered.

“At least…she’s trying?” I thought back to even just eight months earlier, when the two women never spoke. They’d come a long way. We all had.

Anya nodded, her eyes a tumult. “We’ll see how it goes.” Flipping her shades back over her eyes, she grinned. “The Handsome Squidward cosplayers might push her over the edge.” Then, she pushed her glasses back up, turned on her booted heels, and tromped for the exit. “Thanks for the coffee,” she called, holding it up as she pushed through the door.

“Tell Mom I said hi,” I called back, laughing as I watched her get into her double-parked Subaru and drive away.

Moments later, Simon emerged from the back, hazel eyes darting around the space.

“She’s gone,” I said, barely containing my eyeroll. “You know she’s not really going to harm your manhood, right?”

Simon winced at the reminder of my big sister’s warning when I first moved in with him. Take care of her, she’d said, or I’ll crush your manhood with my steel-toed boot.

“Empty threat or no,” he said, waving to the couple that just walked through the door. “I’m rather attached to my manhood, so I’d prefer not to chance it.” He paused, shook his head, then cringed. “Nope. Not taking chances.”

Snickering, I took my place at the register. It was funny, I thought as I waited for the customers to make their decisions. I had gone from an only child, for all intents and purposes, to having a big sister that made threats of violence on my behalf. And that was only one of the changes my life had undergone in the seven months since I’d moved to Port Agnes.

And it was only the beginning.

5

GIGI

ALMOST DOESN'T COUNT

Thursday afternoon, Vaughn and I sat side-by-side at the bar, quietly working on our own things, when a crash of glass on tile shattered the silence of the not-yet-open bar. I winced. Vaughn jumped, his book dropping from his hands.

“I’m okay,” Kai called from the kitchen, as if we needed help identifying the source.

I let out a slow breath, summoning the patience of every saint and mother in existence. Across from me, my brother lifted a dark brow.

“I know.” I put my pencil down, schedule forgotten. “Believe me, I know.”

“At this rate,” Vaughn said as he closed his book, “that kid is gonna cost us their entire salary in glassware.”

“Maybe it’s a sign to invest in stronger glasses?”

He pushed his glasses atop his manbun and looked at me, sheer unamusement on his face.

“I know, I know,” I said again. “I’ll talk to them.” Grabbing my pencil, I tapped its eraser against the counter. “I swear it’s an improvement over last week.”

“I wish I found that reassuring.” Vaughn took his glasses off altogether and sat them on his book. “I’m trying real hard to take a step back here,” he started.

“And I appreciate that,” I jumped in before he could continue. The last thing I wanted was for him to tell me he had regrets about putting his trust in me. Not when I was trying so hard to get that trust back after…well, after all the shit I’d put him through. “You have no idea how much I appreciate that.” Dropping my pencil again, I reached across the counter and squeezed his hand. “And I promise I’m doing my damnedest. There’s just…a real fucking steep learning curve.”

Vaughn’s face gentled. He squeezed my hand back. “I know there is. And you’re not doing a bad job.”

“You just question my hiring decisions.” As I said it, another crash sounded from the kitchen. I squeezed my eyes shut and dropped my forehead to the cool wood of the bar. “For the love of fuck, Kai.”

Across from me, a low chuckle joined the chaos. Lifting my head, I found my brother leaned back in his seat, hand covering his face, shoulders shaking. “Something funny?” I asked as I pushed myself upright, staring at my always-stoic brother very much not being stoic.

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