She heard her phone ding indicating a text message. She knew who it was, but waited until she was at a stoplight to briefly glance at the message.
You didn’t tell me you were coming. I wish you would have stayed so that we could’ve caught up. I really miss you, Summer.
She placed her phone back in the cup holder and continued her drive out of town. Oftentimes she thought about how their friendship would be now if things had been different back when they’d walked away from each other. He might have missed her, but she missed so much about him and the friendship they used to have. In fact, she wasn’t sure there was anything in the world that she missed more.
Present day...
If she could pick one superpower in the whole world, there was no doubt in her mind that Summer Dupree would pick the ability to read minds. If she could read her friend’s mind right now, she’d know the best way to respond to her question.
“Summer, who’s the guy in the photo?” Or maybe a better choice would be the ability to erase people’s memories so that Danni could forget she saw the photo in the first place.
She glanced over her shoulder at her friend Danni Allison, who had arrived in Miami three weeks ago to help with the opening of the new Bare Sophistication lingerie boutique. The original location in Chicago, Illinois, was thriving under the watchful eye of her sisters, Winter and Autumn. As store manager, Danni had played a major role in the success of their Chicago store; however, Summer was hoping that opening another location in Miami would prove to her sisters that she could further their success. She’d made Miami her permanent home three months ago and had found the perfect Miami Beach location for her boutique. The white brick building had just the right amount of chic and vintage flare.
Although she was confident in her ability to make Bare Sophistication Miami a success, she was glad that Danni had agreed to stay with her until the grand opening the second week of December.
“I don’t know who he is. I must have accidentally taken the wrong box out of Winter’s storage room.” She quickly closed the box and pushed it to the side. “Guess I’ll have to ship that box back to Chicago.”
“Hmm, you only kept a few things in Winter’s storage room and photos weren’t in those boxes.”
“How do you even know what was in my boxes?”
“As manager of Bare Sophistication in Chicago, I had to know everything.”
“Or you were being nosey.”
Danni scrunched her nose. “When Winter asked me to help her clean her storage room, I may or may not have stumbled upon a few of your boxes. They were already lying open on the floor. And I’ve seen photos of Winter when she was a little girl. That wasn’t her.”
Summer shrugged. “Oh, really? Must be Autumn, then.”
“Not her, either. Autumn showed me photos of all three of you, so I know it’s you in the photo. What’s the big deal?”
Summer grabbed the tape from the counter and walked over to the box she’d just pushed away. The boutique was still under construction, so cartons were in an unorganized mess around the wooden floor. Of all the boxes she could have accidentally labeled for the shop instead of her condo, the one containing her photos was the worst one to make that mistake with. Danni was like the female Sherlock Holmes.
“Is he an ex or something? Is that why you won’t show me the picture?”
“No, he isn’t an ex. Just a friend.”
“If he’s only a friend, why are you being so secretive?”
After she’d finished taping the box back up, Summer stacked some unopened boxes on top of it. She admired Danni’s determination when it came to Bare Sophistication customers. However, in this case, she wished she’d drop it.
“I’m not being secretive. I just prefer not to discuss it.”
“Not being secretive?” Danni walked over to Summer and reenacted Summer’s reaction to the box when she first opened it. “If you hadn’t looked like your hand got caught in the cookie jar, I never would have asked who was in the photo.”
Summer was still trying to formulate a response when Nicole LeBlanc and Aaliyah Bai came strolling into the boutique.
“Hey, ladies,” Aaliyah said as she glanced around the shop. “Looks like you got a lot done this morning.”
“Here you go.” Nicole handed Summer a chai tea latte and Danni her usual cup of coffee. “We figured you both would need nourishment for the all-nighter we’re about pull.”
Summer and Danni only had two months to get the entire boutique ready for the grand opening. Luckily, Aaliyah and Nicole had offered to help. Since Danni had been born in Miami, she knew Nicole from high school. Nicole had been nice enough to meet Summer for lunch when she first arrived in Miami, and they immediately realized they shared a love for fashion and beauty. Nicole was an extremely talented makeup artist and Aaliyah was a beauty photographer who’d met Summer and Nicole at a beauty trade show. The three quickly formed a friendship, which grew even stronger when Danni arrived.
“What did we miss?” Aaliyah asked.
“Nothing much,” Danni said as she took a sip of coffee. “Only Summer refusing to tell me about her friend. Her guy friend slash ex-boyfriend. I’m not sure.”
“Recent ex-boyfriend or past ex-boyfriend?” Nicole asked.
“Is he cute, average or really attractive?” Aaliyah asked. “Or is he the so-sexy-I-still-see-him-in-my-dreams type of ex?”
Summer cut her eyes at Danni. “How is it that in less than ten minutes you’ve already started gossip circulating in the office?”
“Girl, please. It’s not gossip. I know you were the one in that photo. He looked cute, but I didn’t get a good glance. And this is hardly an office. Right now, the boutique is still under construction, and even after renovations are complete, the shop definitely won’t have an office feel.”
Summer sipped her chai tea latte and started unpacking another box. She didn’t want to talk about the photo. She considered all the women in the room friends, but she still didn’t feel inclined to be the topic of conversation. Thankfully, they moved on to another conversation and didn’t push her any further. This evening, they had to focus on organizing all the boxes, racks and displays, and develop some sort of unpacking system for the next few weeks. The guy in the photo had caused enough distractions to last her a lifetime. Even though Summer had Danni to help her, she still had a lot on her plate and none of the tasks on her to-do list included thinking about him.
* * *
Aiden Chase stepped into the building that Palmer Lane Photography was renting for the next year and breathed out a sigh of accomplishment. He’d been a fashion photographer at Palmer Lane for eight years. After having several successful exhibits in Los Angeles and New York, he was finally getting a chance to present his work at Palmer Lane’s debut Miami exhibit studio.
“I really like the space you’ve chosen.”
“Thanks,” Aiden said to his friend Daxton Perry. Daxton was Aiden’s business manager at Palmer Lane Photography. The two had been assigned to work together right after Aiden had joined the company. When Aiden called Daxton and told him he’d found the perfect Miami location for the photo exhibit, Daxton had agreed to fly in from Los Angeles and view the space.
“I got approval to fill out the contract if I agreed that the space was exactly what we were looking for. When we finalize the theme and reach out to the two other photographers, we can start getting everything else into place.”
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