“So I was stunned to find a few rotten people trying to hurt my precious Rena. They made a mess of her shop, a place she has worked tirelessly to see come to being. It wasn’t enough they wrote terrible things on the walls. They tried to burn it down.”
“Are we at my salon?” She had tingles.
“Shush,” he told her then said to the crowd, “But no one can keep Rena down. Not even me and my big mouth.”
People laughed and clapped again.
“So it is only fitting that my Valentine’s Day gift to my lovely Rena is to tell her I love her and to give her back her dreams.” He took the mask from her eyes, and she looked up into his smiling face. “For you,Häschen.Because I love you.”
* * *
Axel prayed she’d like it. He hadn’t done all the work himself. Far from it. But for the past two weeks, he’d had friends and her family working together with the landlord to get the place back up and running, making sure she stayed well away to surprise her.
Axel had footed the bill, willing to wait for the insurance to reimburse him later. In hindsight, he could now appreciate how taking the money from Maksim would have helped. As it was, he’d used up a huge chunk of his savings to make things right for Rena. But she was so worth it.
Getting around-the-clock work done at such short notice hadn’t been cheap, even with family and friends pitching in for free. Parts still cost, as did paint and furnishings.
“Rena, what do you think?” They’d painted the exterior of the building a flat gray with a sparkling new pink sign that readRena’sin capital letters. It had a stylish flair, looked all hip-designer to him, but would she like it?
“It’s amazing.” She kept wiping her eyes. “Oh, Axel. This is the best gift ever!” She hugged him.
“Better than Yiffies,” Tommie yelled, and a bunch of them cracked up laughing.
Del’s kid asked his father, “Dad, what’s a Yiffie?”
Rena grabbed Axel by the hand and tugged him with her into the building. “This is…”
“Do you like it? If you don’t, you can change it to anything you want.”
“It’s incredible. Even nicer than what I had.” They’d fixed up the interior to reflect what had been there before, but everything was new. This place is so cool!”
She darted from room to room,oohing andaahing. Then she noticed the table with the large cupcake tower, bowl of punch, and grand reopening sign overhead.
“It’s a celebration?”
He nodded. “I’m sorry they stole your joy. It’s my job to bring it back for you.”
She burst into tears and hugged him hard. “Oh, Axel. I love you so much.”
He sighed, having finally gotten it right. He smiled. “So do you think we can watchCharlie Crownlater and figure out what the dog and the bird do in the doghouse?”
She laughed. “Only if we blindfold the trolls first. I mean, come on, Axel. They’re creepy.”
He pointed to one sitting on the front desk.
She leaned close to it, pushed the troll aside, and picked up the framed photograph.
“Is this… Is this you?”
He nodded, thinking the fake book cover did kind of look like a book she might read. “It’s a mock-up image. Abby said her publisher definitely wants to use me. And when I told Abby about what I wanted for you—all this—she knew just what book to propose to her editor. A Viking romance.” He grinned. “And you and I get to be on the cover.”
Rena looked as if she was going to explode.
“Are you okay?”
Rena kissed him then raced out screaming about her Viral Viking being on a book cover.
Axel joined her outside, seeing her with friends and family, all of them here to support the woman he loved.
