Page 93 of Rainstorm

“Count on that, boss.” I grin, as I head off to see our designer.

One rung at a time, we’re climbing our way up that ladder.

You have to believe in your dreams and then pursue them.

Yeah, I’m a goal digger already.

“Ariel, we’ve got it!” I yell down the phone as soon I close the door to my office. I can’t help myself, I’m so excited. “Oliver has authorized the campaign for free, so I’ve spoken with our designer, who’s already working on the logo, the labels and everything we’re going to need.”

I fill her in about what Oliver has agreed to for our business.

“Who would’ve believed things would turn out this way?” she whispers. “When I welcomed you into my home, Rosie, I thought I was the one helping you out, now it turns out you’re the one helping me by turning my life around. How can I possibly thank you?”

“By baking the best creations the world has ever seen. And you helped more than you will ever know with your unconditional help, by taking me in the way you did. You’ve been a great friend, a true sister with all your support.”

“Oh shut up, no need to go on about it, it was nothing,” she states dismissively, although I think she’s secretly smiling. “And you shouldn’t take advantage of Oliver’s good nature, he isn’t paying you to chat on the phone for hours.”

Oliver was right, Ariel is one tough cookie.

???

The week goes by so fast; one minute it’s Monday, then in the blink of an eye it’s Thursday. I’m exhausted, my back is killing me, but I’m happy that pieces of the puzzle are falling into place, and soon we’ll see the fruits of our labor.

I still own the sunshine!

We’ve already got a dedicated website for book cover designs up and running, plus we’ve set up every type of social media account to get our presence out there. I’ve also been busy approaching indie authors who might be interested in using our services, and offering them an exclusive photo deal at a great price for quality pictures. Dean, our designer, has created some pre-made covers to show them what’s on offer, and we hope to be signing our first big contracts very soon.

I’m crossing my fingers.

As for our other project, the labels and logos of our bakery are almost ready, we’re just waiting on some paperwork and then we’ll go from there.

Sawyer has been a blessing in all of this, although I only managed to convince Ariel to accept his help after two solid days of arguing.

So, everything is going well.

Until I open the door of the apartment.

My heart sinks.

Chase.

Here we go again.

Chapter 22

Chase

Five years ago

“At this rate it’s gonna take forever for us to get married!”

I’d just arrived home to hear Roselynn yelling down the phone. “No, listen to me, Mom. Chase and I just want a small wedding. No, you can’t invite the entire family, for God’s sake.” Another pause. “And we aren’t getting married in a fudging church!”

Oh, ok. Seemed she was arguing with my future mother-in-law.

Well, if necessary, I was prepared to elope with her to Vegas, but truth was we both wanted our families there to share the moment with us, and to be honest, although Lynn was being a pain, I knew she meant well. Roselynn was their only daughter after all, and naturally they wanted to spoil her. However, Rose was insistent that all she wanted was just a simple, intimate ceremony, followed by a small, low key reception, with only close family and a few friends invited.

My family was just as bad, they were also really excited about my upcoming nuptials, and my parents had even offered the orchard as a venue, but we’d decided we wanted something at the beach, the place we both loved so much.

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