“Because I love your cooking too much when we're back home,” Jerry said sweetly. “But today, I got a recommendation for a seafood place downtown.”
“Seems like that was a fun appointment,” Christian commented as they walked out of earshot.
I smiled at them and then transferred my gaze to him. “It was,” I said. I bent down to sniff the flowers, smiling even more. “What are you up to?” I asked him. “Flowers and lunch? Did you break something? Do I have to fill out more paperwork for the business?”
Christian laughed and shook his head. “No,” he said. He shrugged. “I just wanted to see you, that's all.”
I shook my head, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. Thinking back over everything that Betty and Jerry had said, I wondered if someday we could be like that.
I realized that what Mina had said earlier that morning was true. I was in love with him. I only hoped that he loved me back.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Christian
I rolled over toward Gretchen and pillowed my head on my forearms, playfully blowing her hair into her face. She wrinkled her nose, still asleep and batted it again. Only to have me repeat the movement as soon as she'd settled again. Finally, she blinked her eyes open, giving me an unimpressed look. “Good morning,” she said grumpily.
“Hey, put a smile on your face!” I said. “Today's the big day!”
Gretchen slowly smiled and shook her head. “Honestly, I think you're more excited than I am about this,” she said. “Which, it's my business.”
“And Mina's more excited than the both of us combined,” I said, grinning even more broadly.
“Yeah,” Gretchen said, shaking her head. She stretched widely. “So, what, it's time to get going already? I thought the ceremony wasn't going to be happening until the afternoon.”
“That's true,” I said. “But we have to go to the airport before the big event.”
“Oh, really?” Gretchen asked, frowning. “And why is that?” I could sense some mistrust behind her tone, and I hurriedly soothed it.
“I'm not going anywhere,” I told her, stroking her arm. “Jeff's flying in for the big day, though.”
“Oh, wow, really?” Gretchen asked, looking surprised.
“Yeah,” I said. “I told him about my new role as a business consultant, and he was excited. And winter's been a bit cruel to Boston this year, so I'm sure he's just looking for any excuse to get out of there and escape to someplace warm!”
Gretchen laughed. “Yeah, I can only imagine what that must be like. What time does his flight come in?”
“In about an hour and a half,” I said slyly. “I thought that before we got out of bed, maybe we could…”
I didn't have to say more. Gretchen quickly rolled so that she was straddling my hips, grinning mischievously down at me.
A little while later, we pulled up outside the arrivals terminal at the airport and waited for Jeff to come out to the car. He appeared quickly and dumped his luggage on the curb as he reached to hug both of us. “Great to see you, bro,” he said. “And great to see you too, Gretchen. I've heard a lot about you.”
Gretchen laughed and shook her head. “I've heard a lot about you too!” she said. “I'm glad that you're here to help us celebrate the opening of the new business.”
“Me too,” Jeff said. “And I'm happy to be someplace where I don't have to worry about my fingers freezing off!”
“I told you he was just looking for an excuse to get out of Boston,” I complained, winking at Gretchen.
She giggled. “Hey, isn't that just what you were doing when you first came here?” she asked. “For all I know, you're still just here because you can't handle New York's winters!”
I laughed and shook my head, loading Jeff's luggage into my new but nondescript silver car.
“So, tell me what I can look forward to today,” Jeff said to Gretchen as we drove, leaning forward from the back seat.
Gretchen laughed. “It's a good excuse to have a party,” she said. “And our new shop is down on the beach, so as it gets into the evening, we'll probably get a couple of bonfires started and have a sort of miniature luau. Good food, good alcohol, good people, what more could you need?”
“There will, of course, be plenty of pineapple on offer,” I said, rolling my eyes a little but grinning nonetheless. “You don't know how many piña colada recipes I've had to try over the past couple weeks. Mina was so intent on making them perfect.”