Allie, the eldest, and Lily and Evie, the twins, were the youngest with Amber smack dab in the middle. Out of the four of them, only Allie and Amber had double Ds. A blessing to some, but a curse to others who knew about the back pain and unwanted attention they sometimes garnered.
“Boobs,” the toddler said loudly. “Boobs!”
It was the grand opening for Lily’s new wellness studio, and the entire Hart family had shown up to celebrate Lily’s business venture. Amber had spent the week since being fired helping Lily put the finishing touches on the studio and it looked fantastic.
The location was perfect, right on Main Street next to Morning Glory Bakery. The perfect place for drawing people, and then getting them to stay to work off the divine chocolate croissants from next door with dance and yoga classes. Amber’sstomach growled. Her sweet tooth had been sorely deprived this week.
Amber adjusted the slightly too loose Versace scarf dress that had fit her perfectly the week before when she measured and cut it. A week-long diet of ramen noodles and bananas would do that to you. The diet of someone with a mountain of overdue bills.
She had spent a hot, sleepless week working on the studio’s opening during the day and job searching in the evenings when it was too hot to sleep. At the moment, she was feeling the effects of little sleep and too much stress.
It was fine. Everything wasfine. So what if she had stopped getting her mail because she didn’t want to see any more overdue bills? Who cared if she hit the ignore button on her phone once a day for the unknown number she suspected was perky Dana from the debt collections agency? And she didn’t even want to think of what she’d have to sell to come up with the money for Val’s college applications. Amber had been in tighter situations before and come out on top.
But she was really tired of bananas.
Allie pressed a kiss to her daughter’s blond curls. Amber adored all her nieces and nephews, of course, but Savannah had a special place in her heart. Something about the mischievous twinkle in her eyes, and how fiercely she protected her sister, Tessa, who was more gentle like her mother.
Savannah also looked like a ragamuffin all the time. Her curly blond hair refused to be tamed, and her purple princess dress had dirt streaks on it. Amber gently held her chin and wiped a smudge of frosting off her round cheek. “Savvie, tell your daddy you want another sissy or brother, okay?”
“‘K,” Savvie said, happily wedging another bite of pastry in her mouth.
“Tell Auntie Amber you want a cousin next,” Allie said, giving her sister the eye.
“Sorry, kid,” Amber laughed. “I can’t even keep a houseplant alive.”
Allie shifted the little girl higher on her hip and pinned her with a stare. “Speaking of staying alive. How’s the job search going?”
“No one is hiring right now. All the college kids came back for the summer and took the serving jobs. I emailed my resume to a temp agency, but I haven’t heard back. I’m so screwed," Amber said.
“Skooed.”
“No, baby, that’s a rude word.” Allie murmured. “Maybe this will be good for you, Am,” she said.
“Did you miss the part where I said I was fired? What’s so good about that?” Amber winced. Fired was such a harsh word. She liked to think it was simply a break. An indefinite one. Surely Killian would call her and offer her job back. Who was taking her double shifts? She was the best bartender he had, besides Simone, who never sang karaoke on the bar. Fine, maybe Simone had an edge. Still, Amber was a huge part of the pub. Everyone knew that. Didn’t Killian miss her?
“Maybe this could be a good thing,” Allie said gently. “You’ve been working yourself ragged taking on all these odd jobs. Maybe you take this chance and go back to school or find something with benefits that makes you happy.”
Amber let out a bitter laugh. "Happy? Every time I get close to happy, I mess it up. It's like I'm programmed to self-destruct.” And then, because that truth cut so sharply to the bone, she deflected. “I still think you should get a stripper pole in here, Lily. That’s way more fun than yoga.”
“I don’t know how to use one,” Lily said, adjusting one sideof the wide gold ribbon that hung between the door frames. Evie stood on the other side fluffing the tie.
Evie and Lily were so identical that even their family members sometimes couldn’t tell them apart. Luckily, Evie regularly wore a kickass collection of glasses to compliment her outfits. Amber wasn’t even sure if she needed them, but Evie worked as the librarian at the Northfield Library and it helped lend her some gravitas, she said. Today’s choice was a bold, tortoiseshell cat-eye.
In a little while, the mayor and a local news crew would be here to cut the ribbon and officially open the doors of Pure Bliss Wellness Studio.
At the thought of seeing Theo again, tension coursed through her. Working for him would be a disaster on both their ends, but there was a small part of her that regretted turning him down so quickly. Maybe it was the part of her that was growling—her stomach didn’t always agree with her impulsiveness.
“I could teach you how to pole dance,” Amber said. “I used to clean this lady’s house who had one in her basement. She thought it was a laundry hanging pole. We looked up tutorials and learned how to use it.” Amber flexed her arm. “Incredible workout.”
“I don’t think the mayor would appreciate a stripper pole on Main Street,” Evie, ever the most pragmatic sister, chimed in.
Amber snorted. “He wouldn’t know what to do with a stripper if one sat right on his lap. Besides, I’m thinking about starting up my dog walking business again.”
Allie eyebrows shot up. “The one you almost got arrested over?”
“I wasrescuingthat dog,” Amber said defensively. “Mrs. Bovenzi would roll over in her grave if she knew her loser son was mistreating Puddin’ like that.” She’d had a few choice wordsfor the dumbass who left the pampered little dog outside all winter long, and Sheriff Rush Callahan had to intervene. No biggie.
“You know you could have your old job back with Mom if you wanted it,” Allie said carefully. “She always says your designs for her clients were the most creative she had ever seen.”
