It was still ten minutes until the store opened, so she went to the back for another cup of coffee. Decaf. While her doctor had recommended that she limit her caffeine intake to one cup of coffee per day, Annie was a three- or four-cup-a-day drinker. She’d adhered to the one-cup rule on Monday and thought she’d made it through with flying colors. Apparently, Jordan thought otherwise. Tuesday morning, Jordan had brought out a Keurig and an assortment of decaf pods for her to choose from.

“What are you trying to say?” she’d asked Jordan.

“That you were a little cranky yesterday.”

“I was not.”

“You nearly made Jessica cry. And you snapped at me over the color choice for the new Fat Larry T-shirts.”

Well, yeah, there was that, she conceded. So on Tuesday, she had four cups of decaf. And a splitting headache. So yesterday, she’d had one cup of real coffee, then finished up with decaf. No headache.

“So I’m an addict,” she murmured as the coffee dripped into her cup.

“Who are you talking to?”

Annie turned, finding Jordan leaning against the office door. “What are you doing here? I thought you were coming in at noon.”

“Got here a little while ago,” Jordan said. “How’s the headache?”

Annie smiled. “None today. I had my caffeine fix earlier,” she said. “You want a cup?”

Jordan shook her head. “I’ve already got one, thanks.”

She went back into the office and Annie followed. She stopped and stared at the empty space. She looked over at Jordan.

“When did you move the sofa?”

“Had a couple of guys come get it. They just left.”

“I guess they were quiet. I didn’t hear a thing.” She took a sip of her coffee. “New one?”

“Yes. On the way.”

Annie was glad to be rid of the old one. While she didn’t mind the memories of Matt, she didn’t like that her mind went immediately to that night each and every time she looked at it.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Well, I did promise I’d get rid of it,” Jordan said. “You weren’t the only one having visions when you looked at it, you know.”

Annie felt her face turn to what she assumed was a bright red. “You did not just say that!”

Jordan laughed. “What?”

Annie shook her head. “Can we rearrange the office while we’re at it? Turn it into something completely different?”

“Sure. Whatever you want.”

So before the guys came with the new sofa, she and Jordan moved the desk against the side wall where they would now have a view of the door leading into the store. The bookshelf was moved to where the sofa used to be. She vacuumed while Jordan hooked up the printer again.

When they came with the new sofa, Annie got out of the way and let Jordan guide them inside. It was a smaller sofa and much nicer than the old one. While the old one was a drab beige cloth, this one was smooth dark leather. She couldn’t wait to sit on it. The guys made quick work of it and Jordan tipped them both before closing the back delivery door behind them.

“Well?” Jordan asked.

Annie sank down on the sofa and nodded. “Nice. Really nice,” she said as she ran her hands across the cool leather. “It makes it look like a real office now.”

“Good. I thought you’d like it,” Jordan said.

Annie got up again. “I do. Thank you.” She walked over to her and touched Jordan’s arm, letting her fingers linger on her skin. “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“Trust me. I did,” Jordan said with a smile.

Annie was aware of their closeness and knew she should move, knew she should remove her hand from Jordan’s arm. But she didn’t. Her fingers tightened of their own will as she met Jordan’s eyes. How many seconds she stood there, she didn’t know. Long enough. But when the back door opened, she took a quick, guilty step away, separating them. She was surprised by the slight blush on Jordan’s face.

“Just a head’s up,” Jessica said. “A church bus stopped out front.”

Jordan frowned. “What? Are they going to protest or something?”

Annie laughed. “I think she meant to warn us that we’re going to be overrun with customers soon.” She patted Jordan’s arm as she walked past, heading out to help Jessica and Molly with the crowd.

* * *

Jordan let out her breath when Annie left. Unconsciously, she touched her arm where Annie’s fingers had been.

“What just happened?” she whispered.

Okay, yeah, Annie liked to touch. She’d learned that weeks ago. But since when did she like to be touched?

She shook that thought away and sat down at the desk, pulling the laptop closer. Thursday was the day they did inventory and placed orders for the next week. Matt had normally placed orders once a month, but Annie had convinced her to do it weekly for T-shirts. That way, they would know which ones were good sellers and which were not. No sense in having their inventory stocked with shirts no one was buying.

Their normal Thursday routine had Jordan coming in at noon. Annie would have already finished the inventory, thanks to Steven and the new system he’d built for them. Jordan would then decide on quantity and place the orders.

She’d thrown a kink into that today by arriving early. Truth was, it was a rather hot day and instead of being outside, she had decided to head to the store. Well, that was sort of the truth. It was quiet and lonely at the house, and she found herself staring out at the bay with no desire or motivation to do anything, even though the lawn needed to be mowed. She’d also talked to her father about having a new pier built. When they came out on Sunday, he was going to take a look at it. She had offered to split the expense with him, but she doubted he would take her up on the offer.

She looked up as the door opened. She liked this new setup of the office. The desk had a view of the open area and the door. It was Annie.

“The church group didn’t stay long,” she said. “Thankfully. It was mostly kids, and they managed to make a complete mess of the T-shirts.”

“Good thing it was too early for popcorn,” she said.

Annie leaned her shoulder against the doorframe. “Are you managing inventory or do you need me to help?”

Jordan could have managed just fine. But she’d rather have Annie’s company. She got up and pointed to the laptop.

“Do your thing.”

Annie smiled as she walked past her. “My thing?”

Jordan returned her smile. “Well, you do your thing better than I do.”

Annie’s laugh was nearly contagious. “I’m not going to touch that statement.”



Chapter Seventeen

Annie paced nervously in the living room, back and forth across the rug. They would be arriving any minute, she knew, and she wasn’t really prepared.

“Relax.”

She looked up, finding Jordan watching her. She shook her head. “I can’t. I’m nervous.”

Jordan came closer. “They’ll be shocked. Then they’ll be excited.”

“You don’t know that. They could hate me. They could—”

“Annie, they’re not going to hate you.”

Annie plunged her hands into her hair. “I’m not ready. I’m not—”

“It’ll be fine.”

Annie’s “easy for you to say” reply was stuck in her throat. Jordan had taken her hands and linked their fingers, holding Annie’s arms to her side. They were standing only inches apart, and Annie was having a hard time catching her breath.

“Look at me.”

Annie blinked several times, trying to focus on Jordan’s gaze.

“We’re going to have a nice, casual dinner. They’re going to get to know you better. They’ll love you, Annie. How could they not?”

Annie tilted her head. “Do we have to tell them?”

Jordan laughed, then pulled her into a tight hug. Annie sank against her, loving her strength, loving the security she felt in her arms. But something else was just below the surface, just out of reach. She closed her eyes, trying to find it, but it eluded her. Instead, gentle hands rubbed her back, and she let out a contented sigh. She could have stayed there for hours, but Jordan loosened her hold and Annie took that as her cue to take a step away from her.

“So? You okay?”

Annie nodded. “I guess.”

“Good. Because I think they’re here.”

Annie’s heart beat nervously as Jordan went to the door to greet her parents. Annie had met them before, of course, but it was always at the store and their conversations had been short and polite, nothing more than a greeting really. Now, here she was about to have dinner with them, about to tell them that she was carrying Matt’s baby.

“Oh, dear God,” she murmured. But then, it couldn’t be any worse than her own parents’ reaction. And she had survived that. So she plastered a smile on her face and waited while Jordan greeted them both with hugs and a kiss on the cheek.

“You know Annie, of course,” Jordan said.

“Yes, of course. How are you, dear?”

Annie greeted Jordan’s mother with a smile and then a quick handshake with her father. “I’m good, thanks,” she said, hoping the words sounded a little less formal to them than they did to her own ears.

“How do you like living out here on the bay?” Jordan’s father asked.

“Oh, I love it. Jordan was a lifesaver,” she said, taking a quick glance at Jordan, who smiled back at her.

Jordan’s mother took her arm and led her into the kitchen, and she looked over her shoulder, hoping Jordan would join them. Instead, Jordan and her father headed out to the deck.

“I heard about…well, about your mother not taking the news too well.”

Annie stared at her. “News?”

“About you being pregnant. I try to put myself in her shoes, but you just can’t deny your children, no matter what. I’m glad that Jordan offered the spare room to you.”