“Creative.” Amber snorted. “Her clients only wanted designs that looked like a doctor’s waiting room. They hated my ideas.”
Amber’s relationship with her mother, Annette, was complex. Annette was the epitome of self-made success, while Amber was...not.
For years, Annette juggled work and school, and the demands of starting her own business, leaving the girls with their aunts or eventually on their own when Allie and Amber were older. It had been hard on them all, but they made it, and it paid off. Annette’s design firm was wildly successful, and she had a reputation as a savvy businesswoman now.
When Amber dropped out of college, Annette had offered her a job at her design firm. Decorating other people’s homes quickly bored her, despite it being a good job. Annette’s wealthy clientele didn’t appreciate her colorful designs, anyway.
Amber had quit to save Annette from letting her go. She would rather not eat for a year than accept her mother’s charity job, but it still chafed that she was the only one in her family of women who couldn’t seem to get her life together.
“You're as proud as she is. Too proud. She would help you in a heartbeat. She loves you, Amber. All she wants is for you to find what makes you happy.”
Amber smiled brightly. “I don’t need any help.”
“What about selling your clothing?” Allie asked. “I did some research on how to get started. You could ask some boutiques to take your designs on consignment.”
“Sell my clothes?” she asked, shocked to her core. She had been collecting her wardrobe for years, searching out vintage finds online and in boutiques for those one-of-a-kind-pieces that felt like winning the lottery when she finally found them.
“No,” Allie said calmly. “Sell the ones you design and make.”
“That’s just a hobby.” Amber let out a laugh. “Nobody makes money in the real world selling clothes.”
“You could.” The conviction in Allie’s voice was humbling. “You have so much talent with your designs and the way you create. I want to see you use it.”
“That’s hysterical. Those are just for fun.” Amber said firmly. Talking about her designs always made her feel self-conscious. Her designs were the one good thing that she hadn’t messed up in her life. All the odd jobs, all the business ideas, the plans, they had all fallen through. She refused to let the one thing she was actually passionate about out into the world only to see it fail like all of her other ideas. “Besides, I have a job offer I’m considering.” Shoot. She hadn’t meant to tell anyone about that, but as usual her mouth moved faster than her brain.
“Really? Where?” Evie asked.
“At the mayor’s office,” Amber said with a confidence she didn’t feel.
“Did Ford put in a good word for you with the mayor?” Allie asked.
“To do what?” Lily asked.
Amber looked around and gestured Lily and Evie closer. “The mayor likes happy endings in his office.” She stage-whispered it, watching Evie and Lily’s eyes widen with shock. “Two hundred for each one,” she nodded seriously. “I’m considering it.”
“That dirty bast—” Evie sputtered while Lily stood frozen, her wide eyes wide with shock.
Amber bent double, laughing so hard her empty stomach protested. “You guys, your faces,” she howled.
“Not funny, Amber. I was ready to go out there and tear him to shreds when he got here.” Lily whispered furiously, two spots of bright red on her cheeks.
“I love you two,” Amber said. She finally straightened up and wiped her eyes. “No, he needs an assistant, but I’d never work for such a tight ass.”
“The mayor does have a tight ass,” Evie said, adjusting her glasses and admiring it from the window.
Amber peeked out and sure enough, Northfield’s golden boy had arrived for the ribbon cutting.
Dressed in his usual tailored suit despite the heat, with a pair of aviators tucked into his crisp white collar, the mayor looked like a GQ ad come to life out there with mere hot, sticky mortals. Judging from the crowd of women surrounding him, she wasn’t the only one to think so. He was taller and broader than most of the surrounding people, and as she watched him talk, his white teeth flashed in a warm smile that few could resist. She liked to think she was immune.
“Is Tucker coming?” Amber asked.
“He's really busy and traveling for work a lot, so I don’t think so,” Lily said, avoiding Amber’s eyes. Amber caught Evie’s eye skeptically, but they held their tongues for once. Lily had enough going on today.
Tucker, Lily’s boyfriend, was notorious for not showing up. Amber privately thought Lily could do a whole lot better, but he seemed to make her happy.
“We’re ready,” Annette said, coming from the kitchen in an ultra-chic navy sheath dress, complete with a toddler on her hip. Tessa, her hair in a neat pink bow, pointed to the double strand of wickedly expensive South Sea pearls wound around Annette’s neck. “You want to wear Mimi’s pearls, sweet girl?”
Annette whipped them off as if they were plastic and handed them to the little girl, while Amber watched in amusement. Annette may have had to give up many of the softer moments with her girls in order to provide for her family, but she was making up for lost time with her grandkids. She would never be a stereotypical grandma, but there wasn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind that she loved her family.
