Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78844 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78844 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“Do you like it?”
“I . . . I think it’s growing on me.” He glanced at me. “Can we go inside?”
“It’s your bookstore.” I laughed.
I linked my arm in his and started walking so he had no choice but to step forward. I let go of him and unlocked the door, waiting for him to walk in before me.
“Addie!” He gasped and turned to look at me. “How much did this cost you?”
“Don’t worry about that. Do you like it or not?”
“You even cleared that out.” He laughed and looked up at the small area on the second floor.
“I think you could put a tiny café up there. Or at least offer tea and coffee.” I shrugged. “You’d have to hire someone, but there are a lot of people in this town I can think of who would totally do it.”
“I need people to come in here first.”
“You’ll have people in here. You just have to be better about advertising the place.” I walked over to the window, where I’d set up a few displays that included a mix of self-help, travel, romance, biographies, and literary fiction books. I picked up the first one. “And keep swapping these out every few weeks. We’ve already sold a ton of these to tourists looking for beach reads.”
“Beach reads,” Tio Antonio repeated. “What do people consider beach reads? Light books?”
“Not necessarily. Something they can read on the beach is a beach read. It can be anything, which is why you can’t only have travel books up here. A lot of people are on vacation already and not everyone is like you, looking for their next vacation while they’re on their current one.”
“I hadn’t taken a vacation in years.” He shot me a look.
“And now you want to take one hundred.”
“True.” He chuckled. “I got bit by the travel bug.”
“Good. Now you need to hire someone to do this job so you can go enjoy yourself.”
“I think I will.” He nodded, looking around. “I may just stay here all day though. It really does look great.” He looked over at me with a smile. “Thank you, Addie.”
“Any time.” I smiled.
He shook his head, still smiling. “So, you’re still delivering a basket today, right?”
“I’ll deliver as many baskets as you want, but remember I’m leaving soon. I have to get back to reality.”
“You sure it’s safe for you to come out of hiding?”
“It’ll have to be.”
“Have you spoken to your father?”
“Nope.” I bit my lip and looked away. Even though I’d never been close to my father, the fact that he hadn’t even responded to my texts after our fallout hurt.
“He’ll come around. We all make mistakes.”
“Some more public than others.”
“Well, yes.” His lips pressed together. “But you’ve been hiding out long enough. He can’t expect you to stay away, especially not with as well as your company is doing. Your mother told me you planned the Versailles ball for the prince.”
“I did.”
“That’s massive.”
“It was. It is.”
He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s . . . ” I shook my head. “I have a lot on my mind.”
“Well, know that I’m proud of you. Your father is too, even though he won’t say it.” Tio Antonio set a hand on my shoulder. “Sometimes parents don’t want to celebrate their children’s successes because they think somehow it’ll help them work harder. My father told me that when he was on his deathbed and it always stuck with me. He regretted it.” He shrugged. “Too late, obviously. By then your father and I were shaped. He’s a lot like him. It’s not a bad thing, but I can see how he’d make the same mistakes with you. He’ll come around.”
“Yeah, probably when he’s on his own deathbed.” I wiped a tear from my face. My father would never admit he was wrong. “It’s fine. I don’t need my father’s approval.”
“That’s the biggest lie we tell ourselves.” Uncle Antonio laughed. “And then we all end up in therapy.”
“You’re hilarious.” I stuck my tongue out, even though I knew he wasn’t kidding about therapy or anything he’d said. “Anyway, I’m glad you like the store. I was a little worried out there. I didn’t make plans to open it back up because I figured you should probably take over from here on out.”
“Since you’re leaving.”
“Re-entering society, remember?” I smiled.
“Maybe you can come back for the grand opening.”
“Maybe.” I started walking toward the door. “I’m going to set up that basket. Let me know if you have any questions about anything.”
The front door to his villa opened even before I reached it. I paused, my heart dropping as I looked at him. I’d arrived earlier than usual because after yesterday’s engagement announcement I’d hoped I could avoid seeing him. Maybe it was dumb because like Joss had pointed out, even when we were both far from this quaint little beach town, I’d see him everywhere—on the news, in the papers. His Crown might not extend all the way to London, but the gossip would. Even without news trailing behind me, he’d be inescapable no matter where I went because the time I spent with him would remain a part of me.