Page 41 of Now and Forever

Of course he’d meant it—he loved the shop so much. Seth licked his lips, not daring to hope.

“I’m not saying for sure, because we have to find out what the actual situation is, how much they want and so on. But would it make you happy to live here, run the shop with me?”

Seth’s gasped then he threw his arms around Daddy’s neck. “That would be so awesome! Yes!” He pulled back and locked eyes with Daddy’s. This was too serious for him to be his usual impulsive self. “Would it makeyouhappy?”

Daddy smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Very. I think I know what I want for my birthday.”

Chapter Eleven

“Seth, honey. Could you hand me that box behind you? I have some more room for the marionberry and blackberry jams on this shelf.”

“Sure, Mom.” Seth bent down to grab the box Deb wanted then hoisted it onto the counter. “I already opened it to check for broken glass and everything’s fine.”

“Thank you.” She peeked over the flaps. “I can add three more of each. I don’t think it’ll be too crowded, do you?”

He shook his head. “No, there’s plenty of room.”

She set about her task and Seth went back to adding the new shipments into the inventory doc on the computer. After he’d gotten his GED certificate, he’d enrolled in a business course so he could do his part in the shop. Sure, he was great at cleaning and picking out products—his favorite thing—but he didn’t want Daddy to be stuck with all the boring stuff. This was their business together, and he needed to do his fair share.

Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm.

They wouldn’t be opening the shop for another couple weeks at least, so he still had time to practice. Even though calling Daddy by his given name when they were in public caused Seth a twinge of sadness, scandalizing the locals wouldn’t be so great for business, either.

“There.” Deb brushed back some stray hairs from her face. “How does that look?”

Seth lifted his gaze and regarded the elegant display. The jams in decorative, hand-painted jars were arranged in short stacks on a royal blue, velvet runner. They formed the centerpiece of the shop’s gourmet food selection that was housed on an antique walnut sideboard.

“Wow. That’s awesome.”

She clapped her hands together. “Good. Now what?”

He glanced down at the list Daddy had made for him before he’d left that morning and after Seth had gotten a sound spanking. The thought of having to order Deb around, while Daddy was off picking up the last of the bottles of wine that had survived the fire, had almost thrown Seth into a panic attack.

“Umm…” He located the next item and also crossed off ‘display jams on antique cupboard.’ “Oh, right. The biscotti and toast crackers. They can go next to them.” He bent down to grab both boxes that had just arrived an hour before. “Thanks.”

She picked up the box cutter then set to work. “Hon, did any more of the price stickers arrive?”

Seth shook his head. “They’re supposed to be here tomorrow. But that’s okay. I still have to input all these numbers.” He blew out a puff of air. “There’s a lot of stuff.”

Deb chuckled. “It seems like it now with all the boxes stacked everywhere, but this is a big space. We haven’t even gotten started on the upstairs yet.”

The second floor would house the art gallery. They’d limited the artworks they’d be carrying to Pacific Northwest artists only. And of course, the third floor was their new home. Seth smiled to himself. He adored the vintage style and layout. Not to mention, they were high enough to have an ocean view. They weren’t completely moved in yet, but they would be soon. When Daddy’s mom had offered to come help set up the shop, they’d given her the space to use.

While their house in Eugene hadn’t sold yet, they’d stopped staying there once the shop inventory had begun to arrive. In the meantime, they were renting their favorite hideaway. The goal was to get the shop open in time for the spring-breakers.

Of course, that had meant postponing the wedding. Daddy had been right, as usual. Buying a new place to live, moving—and now, starting a business—had been way too much to handle without adding planning a wedding on top. After his initial disappointment, Seth had seen the wisdom in waiting. Marrying Daddy was his dream come true. The last thing he’d want was to be stressed or worrying about something else.

Their second anniversary in October would be a perfect time to celebrate instead. The spring and summer tourists would be gone, and they could close the store for a week without guilt while they went on their honeymoon.

Seth grinned to himself as he took out the packing slip from the box containing the dichroic glass wind chimes. The gorgeous handmade creations were from the same artisan that Mr. and Mrs. Sherman had used. When they’d bought the business, it was an easy decision to keep most of the previous vendors. That was why they’d loved the shop in the first place.

“Oh goodness, I adore these crackers.” Deb held up one of the long, rectangle boxes. “The cranberry almond is the best, so I hope you ordered more of that kind.”

Seth chuckled. At Christmas, they’d gifted Daddy’s parents with a huge basket that had included the jams, those crackers, wine and a variety of gourmet cheeses and olives that Daddy used to carry at the Silver Chalice’s gift shop. They’d managed to keep several of those vendors as well.

“I ordered some extra, don’t worry.”

He already had a goodie bag of her favorites packed up for when she left.

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