Page 69 of Can We Skip to the Good Part?
“Quiet. Not that he’s a verbose person to begin with, but the two times that I’ve spoken with him since the fire, his judgmental little quips are gone. He’s lost his spark, which makes sense.”
“And what’s your plan? For Doug.”
Ella blinked. “I don’t have one.”
“Hmm. I wasn’t expecting that.” She turned to go. “Give it some thought. Maybe a goal will get you out of those plaid pants.”
Ella looked down at her baggy ensemble, understanding Rachel’s meaning. Instead of moping in her kitchen, she should channel her emotions and mobilize. She was fantastic at project work, and although she couldn’t take back what happened to Doug’s, she could do everything in her power to help rebuild the store bigger and better than ever. It was the jump start she needed. Without delay, she hopped in the shower, blasted her music, and settled in in front of her laptop, making list after list of ideas.
“A pop-up shop?” Ariana asked from across the table at Gizmo’s, the coffee shop she’d recommended, which seemed to be patronized by college students much cooler than Ella. If only she’d known there was a beanie requirement, she could have swung by the store.
“Yes. Doug said that the insurance claim is in process, but won’t cover the full range of damage, so I’ve been brainstormingways we can help him, and a pop-up store is my favorite option. Hear me out.”
“Listening.”
“Doug says he has some leftover inventory safely living in his storage unit. We set up the shop, but without prices. People pay whatever they want for the books.”
Ariana nodded, understanding the concept. “But if they know it’s to help Doug, they’re likely to add on a little.”
“Or a lot.”
“This is an excellent idea. And Doug’s on board?” Ariana, with her bright-green eyes and shiny brown hair, sat back, sipped her cappuccino, and looked cool doing it. No wonder she frequented this coffee shop. She was the type who’d fit in anywhere.
“I haven’t told him, but I will. He’ll listen to me. I doubled his sixty-person Instagram following and now he thinks I have magical unicorn powers.”
“Then we capitalize on that.” Ariana shook her finger, gathering a thought in real time. “So, if people are setting their own price, we need to curate our special invite list.”
“Exactly that.”
“We need the financially comfortable. Who do we know that’s connected? Isn’t Max on the board of some bigwig attorney association?”
“Yes, she definitely is.” Ella dropped her gaze to the beige and white swirling pattern on the table, swallowing the swarm of feelings that came with thinking about Max after refusing to let herself for so long. “You want to give her a call?” She looked up.
Ariana watched her with interest. “You know, I think you’d be better suited.”
They stared at each other. She knew too damned much. That smug expression said so.
“Ella.” The use of her name in that level-with-me tone and wide-eyed look confirmed it.
“She and I haven’t spoken in … a while.”
“Why is that? Because I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people look at each other the way the two of you do. So, something went wrong, and I’m going to imagine it had something to do with the Rachel factor.”
Ella rolled her lips in, considering how much to share, but then realized that it was stupid to withhold when she’d felt so isolated and desperately needed a friend. Well, here was Ariana, presenting herself on cue.
“You can just say it,” Ariana said around her mug. “You know you want to.”
Ella raised a casual shoulder. “I like Max a lot.”
Ariana shook her head and made the sound of a game show buzzer. “Nope. We all like Max. Max is great. Try again.”
“Fine. I’m wildly attracted to Max.”
She made the come here gesture. “More.”
Unable to resist, the dam broke. “Fine. I enjoy every moment I spend with her. I think about her when we’re apart. And even when we’re debating books with the passion of a thousand suns, I’m also imagining her naked.” Ella exhaled slowly, feeling a little better for having said it out loud without downplaying it.
Ariana broke out in a slow smile. “And there it is. Now tell me something shocking, like water is incredibly wet.”
