Page 6 of The Marriage Narrative
“They’remeetings. And I know enough.”
Zinnia worked mornings at a call center for the health insurance and steady paycheck because they’d mutually agreed to invest seventy-five percent of their business revenue back into ZnO2. Her coworkers there never failed to give her all the juicy details of their dating lives. She loved hearing their stories, minus the part where they warned her to “stay single forever” because “dating apps are basically a gateway straight to a torture dimension” and she didn’t “want these problems.”
They meant well.
“You don’t, but we’ll work on it.” Grace sighed, hands noticeably tightening on the wheel. “I can’t believe he had the audacity to call it a ‘little shop.’ The way I almost flew across the room to smack him upside the head for insulting us like that.”
“Right?” Fiona agreed. “I almost threw my pepper shaker at him.”
Zinnia laughed. Fi wouldn’t even kill flies. She once spent an hour trying to trap one to get it back outside.
They’d named their business ZnO2, but the shop itself was called Find Your Zin. Grace handled all the various operations like recordkeeping, contracts, and finances. Fiona was in charge of social media, publicity, and marketing since that was what she did professionally anyway. And Zinnia designed all the products, managed the inventory, and fulfilled orders. They’d started off simple with a modest selection of stationery supplies, stickers, key chains, art prints, and calendar spreads.
Find Your Zin had always made enough to break even, but Zinnia’s third collection, the Zin Zodiac, had unexpectedly gone viral. Since then, they’d cultivated a steady customer base and seen enough of a profit margin to expand into selling some of her dream items—blankets, hoodies, and plushies.
“It was just Sam, though, right?” Zinnia asked, suddenly curious. “Iwasn’t a bad…‘not-a-date’partner? Potential business spouse?”
Grace and Fiona exchanged a look—this time the kind that said they’d definitely been talking about her in their private chat she wasn’t supposed to know about.
“Honestly? I say this with all the love in my heart—you were. But it’s okay because you didn’t even like him.” Fiona supportively squeezed Zinnia’s knee. “I’ll help with screening too and teach you how toinvestigateif you’re possibly being set up. I almost had an anxiety attack when he’d said ‘couples content.’ The last thing we need is someone making a dating storytime about your meeting.”
Zinnia nodded, absently fidgeting with her lucky bracelets. Her mom had finally handed over the family heirlooms that began their life as costume jewelry but had somehow survived several decades. From her great-grandma down to her, the women in her family had all worn the multicolored bangles on a day something important happened.
She’d worn them for nothing.
Her first meeting had truly pushed her optimism to the brink. What if this was the start of an awful pattern? Meeting after disappointing meeting because what she wanted was just too different for people to accept. Was she asking for too much?
Some lessons might be a good idea after all. If she made better choices, then maybe she wouldn’t feel so…defeatedwhen it didn’t work out.
“Hey, why don’t we go to that dinner-and-a-movie theater that just opened,” Fiona suggested. “There’s probably something worth watching that’ll make up for today.”
“Nothing scary,” Grace said. “I’m not sleeping with all the lights on in the house for a week again.”
Fiona loved watching horror movies, but her imagination ran away from her faster than a scream queen from the killer. “Fine,” she agreed with a pout. “How about an action rom-com? That new rival archaeologist treasure hunting one has seats available.”
“I’m not in a movie mood,” Zinnia said.
“Since when?” Grace asked skeptically. “You’re always in a movie mood.”
That was true. But she thought it might be nice to give them some surprise alone time. She’d been trying to do that more often lately. Just in case one of them, most likely Fiona the Hopeless Romantic, made a move and they wanted to keep things a secret for a while. They deserved the space to not sneak around.
They’d tell her when they were ready, and she’d welcome the news with a thoroughly overdramatic “FINALLY! DAMN!” to congratulate them.
“I put off processing orders to get ready for today—you know how I get when orders go out late. Just drop me off on the way there. You two have a good time.” She smiled at Grace through the rearview mirror and added, “Buy me some popcorn, please. Extra butter.”
Chapter 3
One Month Later
Jordan
Seeing Zinnia inperson stunned him so bad he forgot how to blink.
Almost an hour early for their meeting, she lingered near Tantivy’s entrance, deciding where to go first: the coffee bar, bakery, or bookstore.
Hiseyeballswere drying out, but he didn’t want to miss a single second of her.
Sun-kissed brown skin. Long, dark braids. Jewelry everywhere. An incredible dress that swished around her equally incredible thighs as she headed for the mystery and thriller shelf. He justknewshe smelled good too.
