“You didn’t have that?” She bit into my second apple while I kept playing with the first.
“My parents are hippies. They don’t think material possessions are important, so their definition of what we needed and mine are totally different.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “I had no idea.”
“They’re camped out the back of Finn’s place now, visiting. I don’t want to be camping at their age. I don’t want to be camping at my age. I want financial security, and accounting seemed like it could do that for me. Plus, I was good at math, so it made sense.”
“But it’s not the only job that would give you financial security,” she pointed out.
I got up and found a knife for my apple, and cut off a couple of pieces. “You don’t think I should be an accountant either?”
“Either?” she said, snagging the knife for her apple. “Who else doesn’t think you should?”
“Finn. My parents.” And the Universe, according to my mother. I bit into an apple piece.
“Why have we been talking about me this week when you have all this more interesting stuff going on? My life is boring compared to yours at the moment.” She smiled in glee, obviously relishing having something juicy to talk about. “But back to the topic at hand. Why don’t they want you to be an accountant?”
“My parents think I should paint. They think talents like that are a gift from the Universe and you should honor the gift by following it.”
She drummed her dark red fingernails on the table as if I was under interrogation. “And Finn?”
“Pretty much the same, but without the references to the Universe. He thinks painting makes me happy, and I should do what makes me happy.”
“He’s got a point there.”
“How many financially stable artists do you know? That are still alive?” I ate some more apple. “So few artists make a living at it. Painting might make me happy, but buying my own house with a dishwasher and an icemaker will make me even happier.”
“Okay,” she said, waving the knife in my direction, “if you’re just looking for a job that gives you money, why not take the promotion?”
“And forget about accounting?”
“Don’t forget about it, but see where this promotion takes you. Maybe it will lead to some other opportunity you don’t know about yet. And if nothing else, it will give you more of an understanding of how businesses run if you do go back to accounting.”
That made sense. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? What if this promotion was the Universe offering me a leg up, but my parents were too focused on my painting to see it?
“What I need here is a chart.” I jumped up and grabbed a notice about not taking other people’s lunches from the fridge, then found a pen on the counter.
“A chart?” she said dubiously.
“Well, more of a list.” I flipped the notice over so I could use the blank side. “A list of the pros and cons of taking the promotion.”
For the next five minutes, we went over all the reasons again as I wrote them into either the pro or con column. When we were done, the pro side was longer.
“You’re right.” I scrunched up the paper bag my lunch had been in, and threw it and the apple core into the waste bin. “I’ll go and tell them now I’m taking it.”
“Excellent,” she said. “I’ll cross my fingers that your desk is near mine.”
And I’d cross my fingers this was the right decision.
Scarlett
I cast off the last stitch of my latest arm knitting project and spread it out on the carpet in front of me, pretty pleased with the outcome.
Amelia leaned over to see. “That’s the best one yet.”
“I think I’m finally getting the hang of it.” It was another infinity scarf, basically an O shape that would hang around the neck.
“I’ll get Harvey,” Amelia said, jumping up.
“Hey,” Finn said from the dining table where he was making notes on some research he’d done. “Harvey’s happy outside.”
Amelia looked at him like he was insane. “No, he’s not. But anyway, he has to try on the new scarf Scarlett made him.” She opened the door, and Harvey trotted straight over to Finn and sat at his feet, smiling.
Giving in, Finn gave him a pat then looked over at me. Nothing about his outward appearance changed when our gazes met, but I felt it all the way to my toes. There was electricity in the air, and I knew he felt it, too. With Amelia in the room, neither of us could acknowledge it, but that didn’t lessen the intensity.
Finn cleared his throat. “You made him a scarf?”
“It’s emerald green.” I held it up for him to see, perhaps being a little too jiggly in my pose, but it paid off when his eyes started to glaze over.
Finn rubbed a hand down his face, clearly trying to keep his focus on our conversation. “Perhaps it’s escaped your notice, but dogs don’t generally wear scarves.”
“It will keep his neck warm.”
“He has fur for that.”
Ignoring his irrelevant point, I held a hand out for Harvey and he came to me and rolled on his back. I gave him a quick tummy rub. “Okay, sit up now so I can see how this looks.”
In one smooth motion, Harvey was back on his feet and doing his best sitting. I looped the scarf over his head but it hung too low, so I doubled it over and arranged the edges so it looked pretty.
“It’s perfect,” Amelia said, fingering the scarf. Harvey smiled at her, seeming to know that whatever we were saying, it was good. “He’ll need some other colors, though. Some for round the house—”
“He doesn’t live in the house,” Finn interjected from the table, but we ignored him.
“—some for going out. And we should make some for his doggy friends. I bet Mr. Snuggles would look fabulous in red.”
It was great to see Amelia so excited about a project, so I nodded. “Sure.”
“Oh! I know. We could make some for the dogs at the shelter, too.”
“That’s a lot of scarves,” I said skeptically, also wondering if the shelter would even accept a donation of dog scarves.
“I’ll help. And Finn will, too, won’t you, Finn?”
Her brother looked up from the table and ran his hands through his dark hair. Damn he looked good when he did that. I should ask him to do it again once we were alone. Maybe while I was kissing my way down his abdomen…
“Help what?” he asked, apparently not noticing my reaction.
“Make scarves for the dogs at the shelter. I was thinking we could make lots of scarves and all the dogs would be warm in the winter. If the three of us all make some, we’ll have heaps for the shelter dogs.”
Finn’s eyes looked pained and he opened his mouth, but then he hesitated. I saw the moment he realized how much this meant to Amelia, and how excited she was, and stuffed his own reluctance down, replacing it with an indulgent—if not altogether believable to me—smile. “Sure.”
My chest just about burst at the sight of his beautiful heart in his eyes, his willingness to do something ridiculous for his little sister. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around him and hug him tight. As he made his way over to us, he glanced at me, and my feelings must have been written over my face, because he gave me a slow, but tender, smile. I was a lucky, lucky girl.
He dropped onto the floor beside Amelia. “Show me what to do.”
She picked up a ball of orange wool and handed it to him. “It would be better if Scarlett showed you since she’s the best at it.”
“Okay,” he said, his gaze swinging to mine and heating. “Show me what you want me to do, Scarlett.”
Oh, lordy. I swallowed hard. The answer to his question was long and complex, involving hours of fun for both of us. Unfortunately, since we were pretending we weren’t together, I had to keep that tidbit under wraps. This secret boyfriend plan was harder than I’d expected.
“You need to cast on first,” Amelia said, nudging her brother a little closer to me. “It’s kinda tricky, so you should let Scarlett help you with that part. She’ll guide your hands.”