HAVE YOU EVER OPENED YOUReyes first thing in the morning and had a feeling wash over you that something big was about to go down? I’m not talking about a killer sale on high-heeled boots at Nordstrom’s either; I’m talking about a life-altering event. It’s happened to me a few times in my life and each time something big had actually occurred. Now, I’m not implying that I’m psychic, but I’ve learned to listen to my gut. I usually had an indication of whether the surprise was good or bad, but that wasn’t the case on that particular morning. Why? Could the event be both good and bad for me? Was the universe still undecided?
I dismissed it all together as I rolled over and burrowed deeper in my blankets. It was my day off after all, and I decided it would be a lazy one. I envisioned myself leisurely drinking coffee while I caught up with my friends by text or social media. I would follow that up with an indulgent French toast brunch for one then a long, luxurious bath before I headed over to Curl Up and Dye for my hair and manicure appointment.
Lulu, my faithful French bulldog, snored obnoxiously loud when I nuzzled my nose behind her ear and attempted to cuddle her. It was her signature move when I irritated her while she was trying to sleep in late, and her diva-like shenanigans never failed to make me smile.
“Mama’s precious angel,” I whispered and kissed the velvety softness of her dark gray ear. Lulu’s response to my lovey-dovey words and affection was snoring even louder. “Okay, then. I guess I’ll be forced to eat all the bacon by myself.”
Lulu rolled over onto her back, presenting her tummy to me, and looked up at me with her big, dark eyes. She knew damn well she had me wrapped around her paw and she wasn’t remotely sorry. Lulu was a gray-and-white Frenchie, which wasn’t that unusual, but her markings were unique all to her. Her ears and the top of her head were dark gray while the bottom half of her head beneath her eyes was all white, making it look like she wore a mask. Her pointy ears and dark gray mask made her look like Bat Dog. Yes, I hummed theBatmantheme song every time she did something amazing, which was every day, of course.
Lulu was a gift from my twin brother, Milo, on my twenty-ninth birthday the previous year. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to celebrate our last year in our twenties, commiserate because we’re both pathetically single, or he just knew that I needed a healthy outlet for all the love bubbling inside me. Regardless of his reasons, Lulu was the best thing to ever happen to me. Yes, she was pampered and spoiled, but she returned that love to me by wagging her nub of a tail and prancing when I came home each day. I hadn’t realized how quiet my house was or how lonely I’d grown until Lulu came into my life and filled the void. Milo smugly took all the credit for my happier state of mind, of course.
“Uncle Milo is right sometimes—okay, often—but we can’t flatter him too much if we want to keep him grounded,” I told Lulu.
My phone rang on my nightstand, jarring me out of my lazy cuddles with my dog. I raised up on my elbow and reached over Lulu to grab my phone. “Speak of the devil, and he’ll dial you up before a decent time on your only day off,” I said before I answered the phone. “Good morning, Thing One.”
“Get your lazy ass out of bed, Thing Two,” Milo replied.
“Just how do you know I’m still lazing about in bed?”
“Twink link.”
It was true that I was closer to Milo than any other person on the planet, including our parents. I mean, we did share a uterus for nearly forty weeks before we were pushed into the cold, cruel world against our will. We could feel each other’s emotions through what we call our twin link—or twink link, as Milo called it—but I doubted I released an emotion strong enough to reach Milo that morning.
“What do you really want?” I asked dryly.
“French toast brunch, of course.” Had I become that predictable? “Maegan, you make French toast every Wednesday. Most people do extravagance on Saturday or Sunday mornings, but not my sister.”
“I have two businesses to run on the weekends and quit answering questions I don’t ask aloud. It’s just fucking creepy.” I sat fully up in bed because I was no longer in the mood to cuddle under the blankets.
“Wehave two businesses to run,” Milo corrected sassily. “I’m right beside you in the trenches, sister.”
While it was true that Milo was my business partner at Books and Brew and Curious Things, we approached our businesses differently. Our stores were something that Milo did, but they were how I defined myself. Milo worked as many hours as me, but at the end of the day, he turned it off and went home. For me, the businesses were my life. When I wasn’t at work, I spent my free time trying to create new ideas to make our stores stronger and even more appealing. I read articles about name branding and books on how to provide a positive environment for employees. I spent evenings looking at recipes for the next best baked good or combing through dark, dingy places trying to find the perfect curiosity to sell. Our success as business owners was my biggest source of pride.
We had started out renting one of four commercial spaces in our building and opened a coffee and pastry shop called The Brew. The other three window fronts were empty, and we bought the building from our landlord as soon as we saved enough capital to convince a banker to take a chance on us. We knocked down a wall between our coffee shop and one of the empty spaces to expand the space to include a bookstore and changed the name to Books and Brew. We initially planned to rent the other two places, but Milo talked me into turning my passion for selling antiques and oddities online into a brick-and-mortar store. The fourth space we did rent to Memphis, who opened a comic book and vinyl record store.
Milo didn’t get excited about digging through attics and basements in homes to find the good stuff before they were sold at estate or auction sales, but Memphis loved it as much as I did. Together, we found some amazing treasures for our stores. He hadn’t lived in Blissville for very long, but it felt like we’d known him our entire lives. Milo and I each had our own little circle of friends where we did our individual thing, but Memphis was someone we both enjoyed hanging out with, and he was so easy to love it wasn’t funny. I thought it was too bad that Memphis and Milo weren’t attracted to one another because they would make a gorgeous couple. I wanted at least one of the Miracle twins—that never stopped sounding funny—to find their happily ever after. Memphis had once joked that Milo was too nice and he only knew how to fall for bad boys, and although Milo would never admit it, I knew damn well which guy still owned his heart.
“Earth to Maegan,” Milo said impatiently, cutting into my thoughts.
“Yes, Milo.Wehave two businesses to run. Wednesdays are my lazy days,” I reminded him.
Milo snorted. “You can’t do lazy if you tried. I bet you’re planning to sip coffee and catch up with your friends, make your fancy French toast, crispy bacon, and fluffy scrambled eggs, and then take a long enough shower to use up all the hot water in your tank before you get your nails and hair done later this afternoon. How close am I?”
“Eerily close but I was hoping to take a long, hot bath and read a book.”
“Well, I do know you pretty damn well,” Milo quipped, “which is why I know that none of those things were going to happen.”
“Wrong,” I said defiantly, but I noticed my words lacked real conviction.
“You would’ve picked up your phone to catch up with your friends and ended up looking at some business article or finding a new recipe to try instead. That would’ve led to another article or a link to an upcoming estate sale or auction that would require you to make phone calls so that you could get a crack at the goods before anyone else.” I wanted to argue that he was wrong, but he was so accurate it was spooky. “You would’ve ended up making a dash to one or more locations to findthe itembecause you were sure it would only takethirty minutes. Then you’d end up losing track of time, requiring you to race back to town and pull up to the salon so fast that pedestrians would dive for safety.”
“Okay, so maybe you’ve seen this show a few times.”
“I’ve lived it for thirty years,” Milo corrected. “So, I’m doing you a favor by coming over so you at least get your beloved French toast brunch because I’m confident that you would’ve settled for peanut butter crackers.”
“Doing me a favor, huh?”
“I’m altruistic, Mae,” Milo said dramatically. I pictured him sitting in his house covering his heart and blinking his big blue eyes innocently. “Someone has to save you from yourself.”
