He smiles. I narrow my eyes. “Is it that dinosaur flavor?”
“You know it,” Finn replies.
“Gross.” I shiver because truly, the thing is a mix of lime and raspberry and it’s so tart and sour it rips your tastebuds out of your tongue.
“We’re here! We’re here!” Terra calls out as she comes rushing into the room with Nova right behind her.
Ma clutches her chest and gasps like she’s having a heart attack when she sees her only daughter and that’s when I realize Terra dyed her hair. The tips of her dirty blonde hair, that’s in two pigtails on either side her head, are hot pink. I don’t know how I missed it earlier. Terra loves dying her hair weird colors, always has, and my parents haven’t cared before. But her wedding is coming up, which is why Ma is having a mock heart attack.
Dad rolls his eyes. “I told you she would have a conniption.”
“It’s wash-out mom,” Terra replies, rolling her eyes too.
“You know I’ve heard horror stories about that stuff. Sometimes it won’t wash out,” Finn adds, stirring the emotional pot like only he can. “I think the pink, specifically, turns like peach or orange before it finally leaves your hair. What are your wedding colors again? Blue and silver? I think you might want to change it to orange.”
“Finn!” Nova barks out his name as a warning but there’s a smile on her lips. He winks at her and the smile deepens. She drops down in the chair beside him and I see his hand reach for hers under the table.
It’s not exactly uncomfortable watching them together, because they were always close. But it’s… awkward. That feeling has lessened over time and I’m hoping it’s gone entirely by the time they get married, which I know is in the cards. I lean against the counter by the fridge, not feeling like sitting down.
“Mom, everything will be fine for your big day,” Terra assures her. Ma sighs. “Anyway, let’s get this meeting going. Jake isn’t coming because he’s at work but I have the proxy for his vote.”
“He’s already doing whatever you tell him to, smart man,” Dad jokes and now it’s Ma’s turn to roll her eyes.
“If only it was that easy,” Ma mutters and I grin at them.
I love my family and I can’t believe I thought I was going to stay away from Ocean Pines forever just a few short months ago. Then I think of Ronan and his attitude and comment earlier and it doesn’t bother me as much. Because being able to be part of this family again makes all the snide petty town gossip worth it.
Terra rolls through a whole bunch of back-end business stuff regarding ordering and sales and profits and the faulty stove burner we’ve been fighting to get fixed under the warranty. Logan is yawning. Finn is staring out the small window, daydreaming. Nova is scribbling notes but probably not even taking in what’s being said. Chloe looks bored too. Ma and Dad are barely hanging on. But this is the stuff I love about the business. And I find myself biting my tongue to keep from interjecting my thoughts and ideas. I keep my eyes focused on my folded arms in front of me and ignore Dad glancing over at me from his position on the couch.
Finally, Terra says, “And we’re thinking of spending five hundred dollars in advertising on Mrs. Green’s Ocean Pines blog.”
My head snaps up and the words hurl themselves out of my mouth. “Have you lost your mind?”
Terra grins and everyone else chuckles. “No. But we all think you’ve lost yours. Well, misplaced it. Because you haven’t spoken your mind once since you came back home.”
“So we aren’t advertising with that nosey woman on her tabloid?”
Terra shakes her head. “No. That was just a lie to get you to actually engage. Now will you please tell us how to spend the five-hundred-dollar advertising budget for summer?”
“You haven’t done anything yet?” I ask, shocked.
“Not my area of expertise. And you know I’m pulling back on the family business because I want to start seeing patients in the fall,” Terra reminds me. “The last thing I need to do is start learning marketing and advertising.”
“Chloe has a good business sense,” I offer.
“Chloe also has her own job,” Chloe says about herself in third person with a gentle smile on her pretty face. Logan wraps an arm around her shoulders. “I love helping out here and will gladly do all your graphics and design work. But that’s all I can fit in, Deck. Besides, I don’t have a degree from the Ivy leagues.”
“Simply put, we need you Deck, buddy,” Dad says.
“You guys fought me tooth and nail on almost everything,” I remind them. “I don’t want to create waves again.”
“We were all just as responsible for the rough waters as you were,” Logan replied. “There was shit, on both sides, not being said that clouded our working environment too. But we’re all past that now, right? No secrets on either side?”
“No.”
“So, you are going to take over the summer advertising budget,” Terra declares. “You can even put back on those expensive suits if you want. I know we bugged you about it but you did look adorable.”
“Shut up,” I mutter as she walks over and hands me the budget papers. She’s scrolled down a few ideas on them for advertising. “It’s going to be hard to get a lot of good spots now because this should have been booked in the spring.”
