Page 24

CHAPTER 24

OLLIE

“ I t’s been a week?”

I’d gone to meet Mia at Mom’s crystal shop to make me feel better, but it’s been less than five seconds since I walked in the door and she’s already pointing out the bleeding obvious.

“Yep, but let’s not talk about it.” I pick up a pretty chunk of rock, a light-blue crystal formation, and hold it in the air. “What’s this one?”

Mia peers at me over her glasses. “Angel Aura Quartz. Celestite. It helps call your guardian angels.”

I turn it over in my hand, inspecting it. “Cool.” I place it on the counter before pacing down another section of the shop. If I have any guardian angels, now’s the time for them to appear. “Anything to bring your woman back into your arms?”

Mia looks my way with irritation bubbling behind her eyes. I can tell this, she’s my sister. She hops off the stool and comes around the counter to join me. She fishes something out of a basket on a display table and hands it to me.

“What’s this?”

“Kyanite,” she says, looking at me as if I’m the one who’s speaking in tongues right now. “It’s the stone of chakra balancing.”

The Kyanite is a dark-blue gem that’s been shaved into small chunks and stored in a tiny glass jar. I hold it up and look at it in the light.

“Will this help me get Anna back?”

“No.” She snorts with laughter as she walks away.

“You’re no help.”

“And you need to think for a minute. You told me she wanted space. Right?”

I lift a shoulder and let it drop. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, give it to her.”

“I am.”

“Are you thinking about what to do if?—”

I hold up a finger. “When.”

“Okay,” Mia says, holding up her hands in mock surrender, “when she gets in touch, what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to do? I’ll do whatever she wants.”

“Eh.” Mia makes a face, prompting me to press her for more.

“What’s that?”

“What?”

“Your face. What is it?”

“It’s my face.” She widens her eyes and sticks her tongue out.

“No, what are you thinking? That face, the one with the look right now, says I’m gonna screw up.”

She cocks her head to one side. “Okay, look. I’m not saying she’ll necessarily be into it, but if I were you—which I’m not, because let’s face it, I would never fake a relationship—I would start thinking about a grand gesture.”

All of the years growing up with sisters and being forced to watch rom-coms floods to mind. “Like in the movies?”

Mia claps her hands together. “Exactly!”

“I feel like this is the kind of thing that could get me into trouble.”

“Not if you plan it for the other person and not for yourself,” Mia says knowingly as she walks back to the counter.

“What do you mean?” I ask as I trail behind her, leaning on the other side of the counter and hanging on her every word.

“Well, we need to think about Anna and who she is. What would impress her, or how you can show her you care. That you’re in it for more than a fake thing between the two of you.”

I nod. “Makes sense.”

“Of course it does,” she says, waving me off. “And now is the time to plan something really special since she’s not around.”

There’s a part of this that scares me, though. “What if she decides she doesn’t want to come back around?”

“Oh, Ollie.” Mia’s voice is full of exasperation. “Look, all she asked for was space. She didn’t break up with you over seeing us at lunch. She told you that. So stop worrying. Go on her word, that’s what you have, and start planning something really sweet, amazing, and so wonderful that when you surprise her with it, she’ll know for certain that you two are it.”

Mia’s got a point. I have spent a lot of time overthinking things this past week, but I can’t help it. Figuring out you’re for sure in love with someone makes you act crazy. I should know, and if there was such a thing as love rehab, I’d check myself in.

“Okay,” I say to Mia as my phone beeps in my pocket. “How do we do this?”

“Yes!” she exclaims, grabbing a piece of paper and pen. “We’ll start with a list. I’ll ask you questions about her, and then we’ll figure out, based on her personality, which gesture is best. Do you have time now?”

“You bet,” I say with a chuckle as I pull my phone out. When I see who it is that’s texted, the world around me stops in place. I turn the phone around to show Mia the screen. “Look. Look who texted.”

She reads the screen, sees the text is from Anna, then looks at me knowingly. “Well, that’s got a Field of Dreams vibe to it. Speak her name and she will text?”

The text is simple, brief. Perfectly Anna.

Hey you. Let me know when you have time, I’d like to talk.

I fight the urge to tap out I miss you . Instead, I do what other men before me have done over the years. A time-honored tradition really, a show of masculinity and confidence. I’m gonna ask my sister for help.

I look at Mia. “What do I say?”

She shakes her head. “Men. You’re going to tell her when you can see her.” She thinks about her response before snapping her fingers and waving her hands in the air. “Wait, no! Actually, this is it. Now is the time.”

“For what?” Sisters. They mean well. But my anxiety is on the Richter scale at this point.

“The time to set her up for the grand gesture.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Don’t text her back yet. First, we plan, then you lay the breadcrumbs.”

And now is the time that I take part in yet another time-honored tradition that could either make things better or make ‘em worse. Mia spends a few minutes hunched over a piece of paper, making notes. When she finally lifts her head, she treats me to her signature mischievous grin.

“Ready for some ideas?”

“Go for it.”

“Option one: you write her a heartfelt letter and hide it in her favorite book. She’ll find it when she’s not expecting it, and bam—instant emotional impact.”

I hesitate. “That’s…not bad.”

“Hold that thought,” she says, cutting me off with a raised finger as she points to the next item on her list. “Option two: you recreate one of her favorite memories. Maybe you take her to that bakery you said she loves or set up that stupidly specific breakfast-for-dinner thing or something like that, something she’s always talking about. Nostalgia works wonders.”

I tilt my head. “I don’t hate that one, but she only likes Shelly’s and she’s not a breakfast-for-dinner kind of gal. She likes her eggs in the morning.”

“Good to know, because option three is a masterpiece.” She flashes me an exaggerated wink. “You stand outside her door in the rain—if there’s no rain, a garden hose will do—holding an umbrella and apologizing like your life depends on it. Extra points if you quote poetry or something.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “That’s basically a boombox moment without the music.”

“No,” she argues, waving me off. “It’s vulnerable and romantic, and it’s the kind of thing girls talk about for years. ”

“Years,” I repeat flatly.

“Decades.” She smiles, all proud of herself. “You’re welcome.”

I shake my head. “Mia, no. I’m not doing any of those. But thanks for your input.”

“You’re making a mistake,” she says, throwing her hands in the air. The sound of the bell attached to the front door chiming alerts us that a customer has come in. Mia shoves the paper in my hands. “Here. Look it over and we’ll circle back as soon as I’m done with this person.”

I watch as she walks away, shoulders high and so sure of her ideas. Only the more I stare at Mia’s scribbled notes, anxiety begins to creep its way through my system. It’s a ripple effect beginning at the top of my head and spreading down through me like a bolt of lightning.

If anyone knows Anna well enough to plan a “grand gesture,” it’s me. But nothing on here, nothing at all that we’ve written down, sounds like her.

The bell rings again, signaling that the lone customer has retreated.

“You’re not feeling any of these, are you?” Mia walks by, screwing her face up as she picks up the sheet and starts to crumple it. “We can start a new list.”

“No.” I know what I need to do. It’s not about renting a truckload of fireworks and letting them off over the Riverwalk to prove something, nor is it about getting all of the guys on the team to practice for a flash mob, either—although, I’m gonna file that one away to try later, that’s for sure. It’s not about flooding her with flower deliveries (but, also filed away).

It’s about showing up how Anna would expect me to.

Mia holds up the half-crumpled paper, and I nod my head. “Go ahead and toss it.”

“You sure?”

When I point to the trash can, she shoots and scores, then spins around with hands on hips. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”

I take the pen and a piece of paper from the counter and start making my own list. Mia squeezes next to me, ooohing and ahhing as I write down each item, giving me her sisterly okay. When I’m done, I take the list and literally split it into two by tearing it apart and handing her half.

“Do me a favor, and go get all of the things on there and then meet me at the arena tonight around seven.”

She raises her hand and salutes me like a soldier would a superior officer. “On it. Do you have time to get everything sorted on your list?”

I glance at it once more. “We’ve got a night practice at five, but I can do it. If I have any hiccups, I’ll let you know.”

“Okay,” Mia says, giving me a hug. She grabs her keys and shakes them in the air. “Let’s go get your girl.”