Page 47 of The Snowflake Effect

I roll my eyes. “For starters, we bring her McDonald’s.”

Stella drops her hands. “Jackson, don’t take dating advice from your father. Ever. You have any questions, you come to me.”

Ignoring her, I flip off my seat belt. “It’s in the bag. If you knew Shay, you’d get it. And anyway, it’s stage one. She won’t say yes today. Or tomorrow. I’ll have to wear her down.”

Stella squints at me. “Okay, maybe you’re not completely clueless about the mysterious ways of women. But what’s with all the other stuff?”

I glance at the brown bags in the backseat and shrug. “Nothing. I can’t bring lunch for Shay and not the rest of the team. Unfortunately, that group’s not a one-stop-shop.”

“Daddy, what’s glu-ten?” Jackson leans forward to read the sign above the small store on our right. Goodbye Gluten.

With her hand on the door, Stella says, “It’s an evil monster that attacks pretentious people, killing their ability to have fun.”

The more time Jackson spends with Stella, the more likely it is I’ll find Child Services at my door.

I get out of the van as a truck whizzes by. When there’s a break in traffic, I slide open Jackson’s door and help him out. “Gluten is found in grain, the stuff that makes bread and pasta and those fish crackers you like. For some people, it hurts their tummy when they eat it.”

He puts his hand in mine and repeats, “Glu-ten,” cataloguing the word for future reference.

“By the way,” Stella says over her shoulder, “Caroline called to remind me that Jackson needs a new pencil sharpener for your library outings.” Her cocked eyebrow reinforces what I already know: these two months will be agonizing for Marina’s mother. It’s the longest she’ll have been away from her grandson.

“Roger that,” I say, making a mental note to send her photos regularly. I don’t let my mind race forward, the future fallout of being with Shay having the potential to crush Caroline, if I decided to move. I promised myself I wouldn’t worry about what’s next.

Like Sawyer’s always saying: Seize the day. Carpe diem and all that crap.

We head inside to gather Maeve’s fat-gluten-dairy-taste-free lunch, our last stop before we hit the storefront to go over Shay’s revised sketches.

After she devours the fries in her lunch, she’ll find a note from me. The first of many. I haven’t been this excited since I used a syringe to squirt habanero pepper extract into every piece of fruit in my frat house. Hopefully, this time, I won’t get the piss kicked out of me.

CHAPTER 20

KOLTON

Shay and Hilary are hunched over a makeshift table at the far end of the room as laborers strip off drywall exposing a layer of original brick. Little evidence remains of the jean shop that occupied this space. In another month, it’ll be unrecognizable.

With Stella and Jackson off to the library, I make my way toward the two women at the back, dust billowing with each step. I drop the bags next to the sketches on the table and study the top one—a bird’s-eye view of the layout.

I position myself next to Shay and swallow a rising groan. Whatever minty stuff she uses in her hair is an aphrodisiac, and the curves she’s rocking? I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing Shay naked (yet), but there’s no doubt her breasts are bigger, her hips fuller, and it’s sexy as hell.

“Love the changes,” I say, leaning lower. “To the design,” I add, hoping she can’t read my mind. Or maybe wishing she could.

“Thanks,” she says, still focused on her work.

Her shoulder brushes mine, against the spot her teeth sank into in Aspen. My skin itches with awareness. Not as strong as my amazement over Shay’s talent.

“I like the checkout counter there, centered but visible from the door.” I tap my finger next to the sketched hanging wall. “Maybe move this left a bit. Leave more room for the accessory section. With Lily’s help, we’ll be expanding it over the next few years. Once you’ve done that, scan it and send it to Sawyer. He’s got a better eye for this stuff, but I love everything you’ve done.”

This Moondog location will be a feast for the eyes. Something people will want to be a part of. When they buy a jacket, they’re not just buying a piece of clothing. They’re buying a lifestyle. An image. That’s what drives sales. And she’s delivering.

A blush blooms on Shay’s cheeks, her few freckles disappearing under a scarlet stain. I’d like to think it’s my closeness heating her skin. By the way she smiles, though, I’d say it’s pride.

My ribs tighten.

When Jackson looks at me with love in his eyes, when he does well in school or I teach him something new, a glow seeps through me. This is similar but different. Being a part of Shay’s success is affecting me in unexpected ways.

Hilary squeezes Shay’s shoulder. “I’m impressed. Make a list of samples you need Maeve and Ramiro to pick up, so we can finalize finishes. They should be by shortly. We’ll need a draft done of the hanging wall. With its angle, you’ll have to vary the shelves on the acute side. Every millimeter counts. Make sure the lower ones are long enough to line up with the ones above them. But I love how the layered silkscreen prints will pop off the top. It will make people feel like they’re cocooned in your world.”

A guy pounds through the drywall, the sound echoing through the empty space. I gesture to the bags piled on the table. “Hope you ladies are hungry.”