Page 32 of Back to Me
“Wait! What is this?”
“I hope you don’t mind but I had some free time and noticed that you didn’t really have any actual signage at the shop. I am sorry if I overstepped but this came to me. You don’t have to use it or anything.”
“Are you kidding? Of course I want it! I haven’t been able to find anything close to what I wanted for the shop, so I just didn’t do anything but a basic sign with the name on it!”
“I can put you in touch with the guy who did my shop if you want?”
“Could we put it onto shirts and stuff as well?”
“We can do that. I can also go in and paint the design on the wall behind the counter as well.”
“I can finally get custom boxes printed up!” She locked my phone and put it back in the center console. “Thank you, Austin. I don’t know how you knew what I needed but you got it spot on. The shop has just felt so plain without anything, but I didn’t want to just settle on something I found online. I wanted it to be personal. I know I should have just come and asked you but honestly, I wasn’t sure if you would hate me when I came back to town or not and then I was so stressed when getting everything set up, it’s just slipped my mind.”
“I wanted to do something special for you and I know you aren’t the
over-the-top extravagant type. You like simplistic things which is why you loved me.” She reached over and punched my leg with her free hand. “I would have told you that I was working on it, but I wasn’t sure I was going to show you. I didn’t want to overstep in case you didn’t want anything, which was why you hadn’t done it.”
“What changed your mind?”
“Trying to distract you from that!” I motioned with my head out the window and she turned and looked.
“Oh my God! Are we…?”
“Yep! Picnic under the stars. Got everything in the back.” I couldn’t help but laugh at her excitement. Any time things got too much, or we just wanted a minute to ourselves when we were teenagers, Ally and I would jump in my truck and drive out here. There was a spot that overlooked the whole town, and there were times we watched the sun come up. Sure, we would get in trouble for being out all night, but it was worth it. Turning off, we headed up the winding hill to the top. Once there, I reversed into the spot so we could sit in the back with the view of Harrison in front of us. I got out and walked around to open her door for her. Once she had climbed down, I moved to the back of the truck and dropped the tailgate down. Turning to face her, I took Ally by the waist and helped her up. Once she was up, I went to the back and took out the picnic basket, blanket, and pillows. Placing them in the back with Ally, I climbed on up. Laying one of the blankets down, I put the pillows against the back so we could make ourselves comfortable. I sat down and opened the basket, taking out the speaker and turning it on. I took my phone from my pocket and waited for it to connect. Once it did, I hit play on the playlist I had made up and set both to the side.
Ally sat down beside me and made herself comfortable. “I have another blanket if we need it.”
“Wow, you thought of everything, didn’t you?”
“I tried.” She moved closer to me, and I wrapped my arm around her gently, making sure not to hurt her shoulder in the process.
“Thank you for getting me out of the house.”
“No problem, Duchess, anything to keep you from going crazy.”
“You know I am one day away from organizing your cupboard, don’t you?”
“Which is why you are out here and not back at home.” She laughed and laid her head on my shoulder. “I have a free day tomorrow, if you want to go into the shop and open for a bit, we can go in together. I’ll start stenciling the wall and you can make cupcakes.
“You know all this time you have been keeping me home because of my shoulder? You do know I have an electric mixer, don’t you?”
“It’s not mixing that the doctor is worried about. It’s you carrying trays of cupcakes and hurting your shoulder. Or something like that because you won’t admit to needing help.” She made a face, wrinkling her nose.
“It’s hard! I hate not being able to do normal things.”
“Look, let’s see how you go tomorrow okay? If your shoulder is fine, I will help out tomorrow and we will go from there.” Even if it meant her going back home, I would do it what it takes to get her back in the shop and working again. I knew she wasn’t happy. She had never been one to sit there and do nothing. Even when we watch a movie or something, her mind was always running with things she could have been doing.
“Can I ask you a favor?”
“You can, I will see what I can do.”
“You remember that tattoo I always wanted? Could you draw something up for me please? I think it’s time.”
“Do you still want it on your arm or is it going somewhere else?”
“Nope. Same place still.”
“Okay, I can do that. I will work on it when I have some time.”
