Page 140 of You Found Me
“Spencer and Theo know what this place means to all of us, and for them to want to revitalize the town while also giving us back a piece of our childhood, is so sweet,” I think aloud and sniffle.
“Ooooh, Spencie is gonna get lucky tonight,” Mia quips.
“Damn right he is,” I agree with a huge grin.
I look back to where Spence, Theo, and Beckett are standing and blow Spencer a kiss. Theo sees and steps in front of Spencer to catch the kiss. He very dramatically slaps it against his cheek before turning to Spencer and saying something I can’t hear. Whatever it was has Spencer putting his best friend into a headlock.
My laughter pulls the girls’ focus in their direction and they join in.
Cori yells out, “Take him down for my sister, Spencer!”
Colette smacks her twin’s arm and hisses, “Shut up, Corinne.”
The two of them start bickering and walk away, while Mia steps closer, looping her arm into mine. “You look really happy, Ems. Like the happiest I’ve seen you in a long time.”
I smile. “Iamhappy. Everything truly feels like it’s going to work out for the best. And as scary as that thought was when Ifelt that way about Chance, this time, it’s comforting. I’m excited to see what the future holds for us.”
Mia sniffles, albeit in a dramatic fashion before she jokes, “Don’t forget to invite me to the wedding.”
I stop walking, waiting until she faces me. “You know very well that you’ll be my maid of honor if Spencer decides to propose.”
She squeals as her eyes twinkle. “I hoped you’d say that. And don’t be naive, that man is going to propose and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was in theverynear future. But don’t you even think about making us wear ugly dresses in bright colors that’ll only wash us out.”
I shake my head, not wanting to let myself think about him actually proposing to me. Instead, I focus on the dress comment and start walking back to the boys who have ceased their roughhousing. “I’d never hear the end of it if I tried to put you in something less than stunning. Besides, can you imagine trying to get Cori into anything remotely resembling a dress?”
Mia snickers. “Okay, but wouldn’t that be a fun afternoon of torture?”
I smile. “We might have to make that happen.”
“I like this side of you, it feels more like the old you. Too bad you’ve found the love of your life and all,” Mia sighs. “You’d have beenthe bestwingwoman.”
“Right. Such a shame,” I joke, playfully knocking into her with my hip. “It’s not like you were going out on the town much in the months we lived together. What’s up with that?”
“I’ve gone on a few dates in the last few months, but my luck is starting to resemble Colette’s and Piper’s,” she smiles weakly.
“There’s someone out there for you. Even if you’re not ready to settle down.”
“Maybe you’re right,” she says.
Rather than looking at me, her eyes have strayed across the field to the guys. And I have to wonder if she’s been holding out on her usual brand of dating because of crappy luck like she said, or because of the shy, tattooed Clark Kent standing next to my boyfriend.
***
Spencer
When I brought up this location as a potential spot for the co-op, I wasn’t sure Theo was going to go for it.
However, as I went more into all of the things we could do with the area without completely destroying the wildflower fields, he said we should do it. Neither of us thought it would take six months before it was approved, but that’s exactly what happened.
After countless meetings with the mayor and city council members, we finally got the green light earlier this week. I called Beckett up right away because I told Theo that I wanted a portion of the build to go towards B’s restaurant and he agreed.
Now here we stand in the place where Gardenia Grove Galleria will stand in less than a year. While we waited for approval, I sketched a few potential designs for Theo and Mr. Callahan to look at. Mr. Callahan thanked us for wanting to include him, since the project would fall under his company, but said that this was something he wanted just for the two of us—giving Theo his blessing to go about this project as he sees fit.
Keeping this from Emmy has been so hard. I thought that with renovations to the house and her class schedule, she’d be too busy to notice how secretive I was being. It was a calculated risk that I’d hoped would pay off—and it did. Watching the four of them standing together, hand in hand, looking at our proposed plan for a small portion of the land, was worth it. As well as seeing them goofing off, just as I imagine they did when they were little.
“You’ve got it bad for her, dude,” Beckett says, clapping me on the back.
I chuckle and shrug. “I can’t deny it. I’d do anything for her and plan to for the rest of my life.”
