Page 74 of Undeniable You

“So am I.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Larison

“I know I decided to open a bookstore, but this is a lot of books,” I said as I stared at the boxes filling the shop. It was finally the day to put them all on the shelves and everyone was here to help. It was going to be an exhausting sweaty day and I’d already cranked up the air and made sure to have plenty of water and snacks on hand.

Each of the shelves was labeled with which category and genre, and I’d done my best to label each box, but so many of them had several books in them that went to different shelves, it was going to be a process to get everything where it needed to be and in the right order.

“Give us our marching orders,” Jo said, wearing one of the T-shirts with the store logo on it. She’d been the first one to get one. Mostly because she snatched the first one out of the box and said it was hers.

“One box at a time,” I said.

“Let’s do this!” Sophie cheered.

A few hours later we had most of the shelves filled and we were all worn out, so we’d decided to take a break to stretch andhydrate and eat. I’d made up a bunch of containers with protein bars and cheese and crackers and fruit with Jo’s help.

The past few weeks with her had been amazing. She was basically living with me and Juniper and having her there made everything better. I couldn’t imagine a better person to be by my side and to help raise my daughter.

We still hadn’t talked about the fact that she had taken on the role of second parent. I didn’t know why I was avoiding the conversation, but we just had so much else going on.

My moms had been bugging me about it ever since that first official dinner with them. They had officially given Jo their stamp of approval and now when we went to visit, I wasn’t the only one they tried to force feed and give unsolicited advice to. The thing was, I could tell Jo didn’t mind it. Her relationship with her own mother was a little complicated and I wasn’t sure if she had even told her about me. I probably should have been offended, but I understood why she wouldn’t. She and her mom weren’t exactly close, and I knew that she kept her life private for a reason. It was fine. My moms were ready to adopt her as a second daughter whenever she was ready.

“Do you think this is going to make my arms stronger?” Cade asked, flexing.

“You should come to my Pilates classes,” Eloise said. I had told her not to lift anything for fear that I’d injure the bestselling author, so she was working on alphabetizing instead. Much less dangerous.

“You could always join my workouts,” Stace said, flexing and putting everyone else to shame. She had moved one of her shifts so she could be here, and I was so grateful because she could do a lot of the heavy lifting and was more than happy to.

Hunter was helping, but she did spend a lot of time just watching Stace. I couldn’t even blame her.

“I think your workouts would kill me,” Cade said, and everyone laughed.

“I can’t believe this is going to be real in another week,” I said, looking around. With the books on the shelves, this place really did look like a bookstore. Very soon I’d be open for business and then it was all on me to make this a success.

No, it wasn’t all on me. I had Jo, and Sophie and the rest of them. My moms would have been here today if I’d let them. Mama was still recovering from her surgery and I wouldn’t risk her new hip when I already had plenty of hands.

Wild to think about how many people had come to help today. I wasn’t in this alone. I never had been.

“Hey. You okay? You’ve got your contemplative face on,” Jo said, touching my arm. She sat next to me, our backs propped against the checkout counter.

“I am good. Very good. Better than ever.” I leaned over and kissed her. Juniper had wanted to be here today, but it seemed like a bad idea with all the heavy books and boxes around, so she was with my parents. I’d been sending them progress pictures all day.

I was surrounded by people who loved me and my daughter. My life had never been better.

“I’m happy,” I said, pulling Jo into my arms.

“Me too,” she said. “Me too.”

“I’m actually dead,”Jo said when we got home that night. “I think my arms have been murdered.”

“Agreed,” I said. “I’ve got some ice packs in the freezer if you need them.” It was just the two of us tonight, since Juniper washaving a sleepover with her grandparents. The apartment was quiet, and I was grateful that we had some time just for us.

“No, I’m good,” she said, stretching her wrists out. “So, I have something to ask you.”

That sounded serious. My mind instantly jumped to something bad.

I braced myself. “What is it?” She couldn’t be breaking up with me. I wouldn’t allow that to happen.

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