“You’re staring again,” Maya murmured with her phone held out to capture candid shots of the crowd.
“Can you blame me?” I asked, not bothering to deny it.
“Not really. He does look pretty good in Sullivan Hardware merchandise.” She paused her filming to give me a more serious look. “You know, this time last year, I was worried what would happen to you when I left for school. Worried you’d fall into a pattern of working too much and not taking care of yourself.”
“And?”
“And I’m really glad I was wrong. Well, you’re still a workaholic—both of you are—but you look… lighter. Happier. Like you remember how to have fun again, too.” Her smile turned mischievous. “Plus, our online sales have tripled since Adrian took over the marketing strategy, so clearly, this partnership is working out.”
“Clearly,” I agreed, laughing. “Though I hope you know this partnership includes you. You’ve worked your ass off helping Adrian build out our online presence.”
Her involvement was a topic of constant check-ins, times Adrian or I—or both—reminded her to make time for fun.
Maya’s smile was indulgent. “I can tell what you’re thinking. I promise I have a life outside of work and school. You’ve met my friends and seen our Thursday night game nights.”
“As long as you’re happy,” I said, still worrying despite her admonishment.
“I’m happier than I ever imagined. I love what we’re doing here, and it makes me proud. I wish Mom and Dad were around to see it.”
“Me too. But I agree. They’d be proud of us.”
She poked me in the side. “They’d tease you for your social media stardom.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s all Adrian. He’s impossible not to obsess over. I, of all people, understand why his fans are his fans.”
“Please. Half our female followers are here for your grumpy mountain man aesthetic, and the other half are here for the relationship goals content with the two of you.”
She wasn’t wrong. Adrian’s documentation of our life together—both the travel adventures and the quiet domestic moments—had resonated with people in ways I still didn’t fully understand. He didn’t share everything, of course. Not even most things. He was often too busy enjoying our life to think of making it content. But when he did post photos of us drinking coffee in the morning or assembling furniture for the store expansion, or candid shots of me working on a photography project, they consistently got thousands of likes and hundreds of comments.
“I still don’t get why people care so much about our normal, everyday stuff,” I admitted. “But I’m happy the income has enabled us to do this expansion.”
“They care because it’s real,” Maya said simply. “In a world full of fake relationships and manufactured content, you two are genuinely happy together. People can tell the difference.”
Before I could respond, a commotion near the back of thestore caught my attention. Through the crowd, I spotted Judd Kincaid emerging from the storage room looking slightly rumpled, followed by Alex, whose hair was suspiciously messed up and whose lips looked recently kissed.
“Safety inspection complete!” Kincaid announced to no one in particular, his usual stern expression somewhat undermined by the fact that his shirt was partially untucked.
“Everything… er… passed,” Alex added, his cheeks slightly flushed. “After a very… thorough evaluation.”
Maya snorted. “Subtle as a brick to the face, those two.”
The crowd had grown substantially, with people spilling out of the store and gathering on the sidewalk despite the cold. Adrian had set up the outdoor speakers to play a mix of holiday music, creating a festive atmosphere that drew even more curious passersby.
Maya, Adrian, and I continued to mingle and thank people for coming, stopping to shake hands and accept congratulations from people I’d known my whole life and tourists who’d become customers over the past year. Watching Adrian charm everyone made me strangely proud. Proud to see him so relaxed and comfortable in his own skin, proud of the people of Legacy who’d adopted him even faster than I had, and proud of the open communication we’d established that had allowed us to trust each other.
That trust had allowed me to believe him when he’d stated only a few months ago that he wanted to cut back on travel and focus on building out the store. And because of that trust, he’d believed me when I’d reluctantly admitted to enjoying sharing our lives online.
When everyone was finally gone, including Maya, who I assumed had already gone up to bed, Adrian turned the lock onthe door and grinned at me. “Congratulations, Mr. Sullivan. I’d consider that a huge success.”
I moved forward and pulled him into my arms. “Same. And we have you to thank. I can’t imagine ever doing something this incredible if it hadn’t been for your vision.”
Adrian’s eyes crinkled as he smiled at me. “Sweet talker. Keep going.”
I leaned in and kissed him. “How’bout I keep going upstairs in bed. Preferably while you’re getting naked.”
Adrian’s hand moved into the hair at the back of my neck, and he pulled me in for a long kiss. “Not quite yet. First, I need you to find me a three-eighths-inch galvanized hex nut with a locking flange.” He pulled back and made a shooing motion toward the nuts-and-bolts aisle.
I blinked at him. “A what?”
