My Ex's Baby (Crescent Cove 8)
“I can wrap it up no problem. Would you like the vase too?”
She nodded and drew a light touch over the pussywillows and eucalyptus I’d arranged inside the blue glass. “The green
ery too.”
“You got it.”
“You’re quite the saleswoman.”
That I was. “If you like farmhouse style, I have a lot of wonderful Americana items too.”
“My husband is going to hate you.”
I grinned. “Might as well make it worth it.”
“I like how you think.”
I led her over to where I kept most of spring-themed pieces near the front of the store. By the time I got back to the women picking through my pile of jeans, the five of them were chatting like old friends. The closer I got to them, the more I wished I’d called Luna back about that position. Especially with the sale going on.
But no one could know the store like I did. And training someone seemed like more work than I’d get back in time and sales.
“Do you see a size eight?” a stunning redhead asked as she flipped over a huge pile of denim.
“I made piles by size to find my own. I think—yep, here you go.” The blond with the jangling bracelets plucked two pairs out from the neat piles she’d made.
“Perfect.”
“Do you need to try any—oh.” Recognition finally dented my fried brain. We’d never actually met in person, only online. “Luna?”
“Hey, girl.” She set down her basket, now overflowing with jeans as well as more crystals. “Your place is amazing.” Luna rushed toward me, her exuberant personality the same with or without a video chat window. She threw her arms around me, knocking me back a step. She smelled like wildflowers and happiness. “I can’t believe it took us so long to take the trip out.”
“Mostly because tying her down in the car for forty minutes takes a lot of bungee cords and threats.”
I peered around Luna’s voluminous curls. “Ryan, you too?”
She waved. “And we brought our friend April.”
Another sunny blond, this one with a yard of wavy curls, smiled at me with a little wave. She also had an armful of clothes. “I can’t believe how many cool things you have.”
Ryan tucked a glossy lock of long dark hair behind her ear. “April’s shopping for her vacation, even though it’s not for months.”
“I happen to like to think ahead, unlike some people.”
Ryan shrugged. “I like to go where the wind blows.” She stepped forward and gave me a hug—nothing like Luna’s bone-crusher, but it was lovely to know they were both as friendly in person. “Luna wanted to see if she could convince you to give her that interview.”
“Way to be chill, Ry.”
Ryan laughed and flipped a pair of jeans over her shoulder since she couldn’t fit any more in her arms. “The only way to get her moving is to push sometimes.”
Somehow I didn’t think that only pertained to Luna.
Luna sighed. “Being a cardslinger doesn’t steadily pay the bills. Though I am pretty flush at the moment,” she lifted the packed basket, “hence the shopping.”
“You could make a steady income if you marketed like I told you to,” April piped up.
“I’m choosy who I read for. You’d know that if you let me do your damn cards.”
April’s eyebrows snapped down and she folded her arms over a sizable pile of clothes including my jeans. She’d chosen all of the ones with the crochet patchwork instead of cloth. “Hell no. There are certain things I just don’t want to know.”