Page 19 of A Heart On A Sleeve

“Good. What time do you get off tonight?” Whatever time you want me to. Oh my gosh, where did that come from? Stop it, Olivia. Get your head in the game, he means work.

“Oh uh, six but I . . . I have plans with Ari,” I quickly stumble through my nonavailability before he has a chance to show up again later and think he’s going to bully me into a date. My stomach flip-flops at the thought, in a good way.

“Same time that I’m helping Mom finish the attic clean out.

Text me, if you feel like it.” With that he turns on his heel and saunters toward the front of the store.

I hear him say a quick goodbye to Beau and then the door chimes and he’s gone.

I guess if I learned anything it’s that Sam’s still determined and his mother is not a complete liar about her cleaning efforts.

I right myself and dive into another book about the legends of Mage Hollow, scanning for anything that might be associated with Irina, but the problem is almost everything is about her.

I could probably recite her entire life history at this point, or at least what’s documented, and I’m still not any closer to finding the old bat.

My eyes are heavy with fatigue and dust. Am I just going to be destined to live with this tattoo?

Where did that other voice come from when Irina was going on about not letting people wear their hearts on their sleeves?

And what lesson did the unknown voice want me to learn?

What did she say again about making a decision before Halloween?

Every day that passes, the clock is ticking down.

Her words echo in my brain. If you change your mind, you must do so before the clock strikes midnight on Halloween. Once the night has passed, the change will be permanent.

. . . the change will be permanent.

“Ollie, wake up.” I’m jolted from my slumber as Ari shakes my shoulders and works to peel me off the desk. Glancing down, I notice a puddle of drool has seeped all over the book I was entranced in. Great, I’ll have to fix that.

“W-what are you doing here? I must have drifted off.” I rub my face, trying to wake from whatever I was dreaming about.

“I came at six, and Beau said you’d been out for a while. You seemed so peaceful, so I took my time looking through some of these. But it’s getting late, and we need all the time we can get. Move it, toots.” I can see Ari is trying to hide her grin.

I look at my watch, and shoot, it’s already approaching eight. “Was Beau mad? I mean, he could have slammed a book or something to wake me up. Lord knows I’ve done it to him multiple times over the past week.” I scan the store, waiting to locate him and see his disdain.

“Not at all. He said it comes with the job and something about old legends being better than melatonin. He left at six. He locked up but told me to remind you to make sure you double-check the doors when we leave.” She crosses her arms and widens her stance.

“So, are we going to leave or . . . are we drinking on the job?”

“Definitely leaving.” I stand and shuffle around the desk, grabbing my stuff and making sure the back door is locked before we head out the front.

Mage Square is practically dead at this time of night.

Aside from Union Tavern and the Brewhouse, nearly everything closes at four on the dot.

We walk leisurely down the cobblestone sidewalk toward the infamous corner where I performed my greatest flashing event.

A calm silence reverberates between us, neither wanting to discuss our findings or lack thereof where someone may overhear.

I notice Ari start to bounce with a bit more pep in her step as we approach my street. “What has gotten into you? Don’t tell me you’re excited about this.” I stop to turn and look at her directly. I don’t have it in me to be joyous about my predicament. I’m always grumpy about it when I wake up.

“Nope, nothing to do with that, babe. But you should, um, you should turn around and look at your house.” Her eyes gleam in delight. What the heck?

“You’re being weird. Don’t try to scare me out of my house. I’ll end up in your bed, and you know it’s true.” I glare at her, crossing my arms for emphasis.

“Shut up. The last place you’re ending up is sharing a bed with me. You kick and talk in your sleep. But I’m not saying you won’t end up in someone else’s bed.” She chuckles to herself before grabbing my arm to spin me around so I’m facing my cottage.

I can’t believe the sight of it. There are pumpkins of every color mounded on the porch, and mums in brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and purple cascading down the steps.

The porch swing has a fresh coat of paint with a blanket thrown over the back and what appears to be pink and orange pillows situated in the corners.

There are candles strategically placed all around, glowing with a perfect amber hue.

It’s stunningly beautiful, more picturesque than even Pinterest could have imagined.

My mouth is gaping as I take it in. “Ari, you shouldn’t have.

This must have cost a fortune.” It’s everything I’ve ever wanted when it comes to fall decor.

I’m overwhelmed with the kindness of it.

“I didn’t.” She hops up and down clapping her hands.

“Wait, what?” I whip my head around to look at her. “What do you mean you didn’t? Who did and how do you know about it?”

“I walked past here on my way to Black Kettle. A certain someone with big muscles and tattoos was hard at work, with the help of his dad I might add, which just . . . it was so cute.” She grasps at her heart like she’s holding it in from bursting.

“He saw me and asked me to distract you for a bit while he finished up. I thankfully didn’t have to try very hard because you were already out like a light.

” She grabs my hand and pulls me toward the cottage for an up-close look.

I’m speechless. No one has ever done anything even remotely close to this for me, and it means he listened when I told him I didn’t have time to decorate.

We take the stairs leading up to the porch one at a time, and the scene is even more magnificent up close.

My head is spinning. I sit slowly on the swing after pressing my fingers to the paint and ensuring it was dry.

I burrow into the pillows and grab the cream chenille blanket to wrap over my legs.

As I do, my arm tingles—it’s not painful but definitely noticeable.

I rub at it, a brief thought of the tattoo passing through my mind, but Ari captures my attention.

“You sit tight. I’m going to grab some wine inside.” She takes the keys out of my hand and spins toward the door. “Oh, and you better text him, like right now.” Ari winks as she unlocks the door, heads inside, and closes it tightly behind her.

I swipe my phone and open a new message, not even sure what to say.

Tears fall down my face, happy ones. My heart bursts that someone, anyone, cares this much.

I wouldn’t say I’m normally a happy crier, but with everything going on, the new job, the tattoo, it’s just nice to feel heard.

Like for once, something I said mattered.

Instead of sending a simple thank-you, I pop open the camera app and take a selfie.

I snap a few, one with my tongue out, one smiling, and one laughing at the over-the-topness of this whole thing.

Sending them is way outside of my comfort zone, but he went the extra mile, and at this moment, it feels right. I hit send followed by a quick note.

You win! I’ll go to dinner if you have any money left.

Before I can even set my phone down beside me it dings with an alert.

Sam

Why are you crying? ??

They are happy tears . . . Did you not see the YOU WIN part?

Sam

I didn’t mean to make you cry, happy or not. But I did see it, and I might be doing a celebratory dance right now.

Please send proof or it didn’t happen.

A minute later, a video pops up of Sam dancing around his house shirtless in low-slung, gray sweatpants. My mouth goes dry, and my eyes practically pop out of my head. I knew the man affected me, but this is another level. I think I’m having a hot flash.

“Um, am I interrupting something?” Ari approaches with a shit-eating grin on her face.

“No, nope. It’s nothing.” I tuck my phone under my leg, hiding it from her view.

“Nope is right. We are not keeping whatever just made you lose your mind to ourselves. You are sharing whatever glorious thing just happened or I am going home and pretending that you don’t need saving from some crazy witch.” She raises an eyebrow in challenge.

“Fine, but you can’t tell anyone you saw this or I swear I will disown you. He sent it just for me,” I warn her as I pull up the video and hit play.

“Holy mother of pearl. You have no idea how much you could sell this for at the dollar auction. The ladies of Mage would line up to see this eye candy.” Ari fans herself, then hits play to watch it again.

“Alright, that’s enough mooning over my man.” I swat at her, taking the wine from her hand and gulping it straight from the bottle.

“Excuse me. Did you just refer to someone as your man?” She swipes the wine back, taking a glug. I guess we aren’t using glasses tonight.

“I—you know what I meant. Don’t make this a thing,” I plead.

“Fine, but I could never forget a thing like this. I will remind you if and when it’s necessary. Now tell me what you found today before you took a little nappy poo.”

“Okay, but first, I need to go look at my arm. It’s burning.” I hop up and race inside to my room. When I strip out of my dress, sure enough, there are three small pumpkins surrounded by candles hanging off one of the vines.

Shit!