“Seriously, Kels. I missed you. Shoot, I missed this.” Monica cocks a hip out, bumping my side.
“Me too.” I nod, watching Felix turn and wag his tail when he follows Sutton back into his apartment.
“There’s something else I wanted to ask you though and I figured let’s do it before drinks because we might have something else to celebrate.”
I note her excited grin, the one she normally has when she’s dying to tell me a secret.
“So… since you seem to be more open to accepting help—which, to be clear, isn’t what this is—and you’re going to be living near the shop again, would you want to be the new manager?”
My brows furrow in confusion. That’s the last thing I expected her to ask. “Why? Where are you going? Please don’t tell me you’re moving.”
“Of course not.” She laughs. “You know I’m a sucker for this town, just as much as you are. I’ll still be at Cowgirl Coffee, but Grandma wants to open another location in Grand Targhee. She also wants me to learn more of the business behind the scenes. I’ll still be around and based here, but I’ll be visiting the drive-up spot and new location more.”
I stand there looking at her in stunned disbelief. I had no idea this was coming. I mean I always knew she’d probably run the shops one day, I just didn’t think it would impact me like this. She must sense my confused state because she grabs my shoulder.
“Oh, and the best part? You’d get a raise and bonuses.” She waggles her brows. “You don’t have to make your decision today, but you were obviously our first choice and the job is yours if you want it.”
OK. The raise part is welcome news and knowing I was their first choice means a lot.
“No.” I blurt out and now she’s the confused one, squinting back at me with a puzzled grimace. I palm my face and groan. “I mean—no, I don’t have to wait. I want to do it. You can go ahead and give Sandy the good news.”
“Oh my god, yes!”
My mind goes back to what Sutton and I talked about on one of our first hikes. Maybe this could be my chance to get ahead. “I do have one request I’d love to talk to Sandy about though. Would it be too much to ask for a piece of the actual company? Like instead of bonuses, maybe some kind of equity over time or something? I don’t know, it’s just something I was?—”
Monica smiles. “I think she would love to talk to you about that. Also, since I’m part owner already, I’m pretty sure I can convince her.”
I grin so wide because I don’t know the last time it felt like things were falling into place for me like this.
She shakes her head and snorts a laugh. “OK. Enough of the mushy stuff because your smile is starting to freak me out. I don’t think I can remember the last time you’ve gone this long without scowling at me.” She tilts her head toward the bed and my luggage. “Come on, let’s get you packed so we can get out to the bar and bug my favorite bartender because no offense to you, he’s way better at?—”
She turns and walks over to the closet but stops when something on the wall catches her eye. “Wait, is that a framed picture of the Housewives of Honeycomb Ranch?”
She leans in for a closer look and then her head jerks back. “Wait, is it signed by all of them?”
I walk to her side and look at the picture. “Yeah. Sutton used to work in his brother’s restaurant in Park City, which is pretty close to Honeycomb Ranch. He said he met them all when they came in after they wrapped filming the first season.”
She looks at me out of the corner of her eyes with an amused grin. “So he got you a signed a picture of all them?”
I think back to him giving it to me last night. While Monica might think it’s cute, I still can’t believe he reachedout to them and made it happen. “Yeah, he called it my apartment warming gift.”
She laughs. “You two were made for each other.”
I look back at the picture and find myself thinking she might be right.
“You alright there, Shadow?”Sutton looks over from the seat next to me, the light from the window frames his face. If I weren’t hungover, I’d be fine just sitting here enjoying his handsome, albeit smug grin.
Instead, I squint and lift a hand to shield my eyes from the bright sun coming in through the window of TJ’s private jet.
“I might have overdone it a little bit with Monica last night.”
He huffs a laugh and rests his hand on my thigh. “Just a little bit?”
I move my hand just enough to see him still grinning, but with his brows raised now. “Do you always have to be right?”
“Maybe.” He shrugs. “When you got back last night, I swear it sounded like a raccoon was rummaging in the kitchen.”
“I was hungry because I forgot how early the kitchen at the bar closes and I needed snacks. And it’s not funny, OK? I feel like crap.”