Page 137 of Business Casual
I nod. “And Stella’s.”
He grunts. “I guess this is what we get for hiding it as long as we did.” Charlie sighs, weary, and leans over to smack a kiss against my cheek. “Shall we?”
“I guess.” I tighten my grip on his hand and together we step onto my front porch. “I don’t think we have much of a choice.”
It quickly becomes apparent there is absolutely no choice, because Luka, Stella, Caleb, Layla, Beckett, and Evelyn are all in my living room.
I stare at Evelyn, standing with her back to my kitchen with one of my sweaters draped over her shoulders. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Houston?”
“Flew back early,” she explains. “Didn’t want to miss this.”
“Miss what?” I frown and look at the coffee table, currently covered with various plates and bowls. “Are those my pizza rolls?”
Caleb kicks out his legs in front of him, arms stretched over the back of my sofa. “They were your pizza rolls.”
Layla pats his knee with a warning look and then gives us her full attention. “I’m so glad you both could join us.”
“This is my house,” I point out. Again. It looks like they rearranged my furniture to make a large open space in the middle. There’s a stack of laminated, bound packets on one of my end tables. A large white poster board set on an easel next to the hallway. “Is that a presentation board?”
“It is.” Stella stands up from the armchair that’s been shoved in the corner, grabbing on to Charlie’s elbow and dragging him across the room. He clings to me and I’m forced to follow. She pushes him down in the chair and then pushes me onto his lap.
“All right.” Stella claps her hands together. “Places everyone. Just as we practiced it.”
There’s a flurry of movement. Luka and Caleb drag the coffee table into the kitchen and Layla rushes to grab the packets. Stella flips the poster board around on the easel.
Lovelight Farms Business Plan!!
It’s written with what I assume is glitter glue. There are big, silvery sparkles over the entire thing. Wobbly candy canes drawn around the border.
Evie brings us both a packet with the same title on the front page. There are little hearts for thei’s. I’m assuming that was Stella.
“What is going on?” Charlie whispers in my ear. He shifts beneathme and curls an arm around my waist, tugging me further into him like a security blanket. Beckett clears his throat on the other side of the room.
I roll my eyes and settle, lifting the top page of the packet in my lap.
“No flipping ahead, please. There’s a flow to this presentation.” Stella clears her throat and knits her fingers together in front of her. “We would like to present, for your consideration, our five-year plan.”
Charlie’s arm tightens around my waist. “Stella, it’s two in the morning.”
“It’s two thirty, actually,” Luka offers from his spot on the floor, one arm thrown over his eyes.
“This couldn’t wait. Now please, hold your comments until the end. We would like to present, for your consideration—”
“For whose consideration?” Charlie asks, frowning.
My god. We’re going to be here forever.
Stella sighs and props her hands on her hips. “For your consideration, Charlie. It is for your specific consideration.”
“Why?”
She throws her hands up in the air. “Listen to the presentation!”
“Okay, okay. Fine. Please proceed.”
“Thank you,” she sighs. She points at the poster board to her left and then holds up the stack of paper in her hand. “If you flip to the first page, you’ll see a rough outline of what we’ll be talking about this evening.”
“Morning,” Luka corrects from his starfished position on the floor. He’s using one of my scarves as a blanket. “It is morning.”
