“Mmm-hmm.” Camber clucked her tongue. “A boyfriendship bracelet.”
“Can you please stop saying boyfriend like that?” I started to twitch. “How about stop saying it period?”
For a full minute, she squinted at me, pretending to ponder her answer. “Nope.”
The bell over the front door tinkled a greeting to a potential customer.
Except the shop wasn’t open, and I could have sworn I locked up to prevent this exact scenario.
“We’re closed for renovations.” I pasted on a customer service smile. “I’m sorry for any inconvenience.”
A man ambled into the shop despite the warning and perused the empty shelves.
His brown hair was clipped short on the sides but left long in a strip down his scalp to create a fauxhawk.
The rips in his jeans appeared earned rather than bought. His tee was tight over his frame but faded the way a well-loved shirt got after too many washings. His dark boots were dinged and scuffed and lived in.
Between the outfit and the thick beard, he could have been a lumberjack, if I put an ax in his hand.
Must be a tourist on his way someplace else. Whoever he was, he wasn’t a local, and he wasn’t listening.
“I apologize for barging in.” He slid his gaze past me to Arden. “I came to visit, not to shop.”
The mellow resonance of his voice caused Arden to drop the lotion with a high-pitched squeal of delight.
“Uncle Nolan?” She tackled the stranger in an oxygen-depriving hug. “How are you here?”
“Well, you see—” he grunted from the impact, “—they have these things called airplanes…”
“You know what I mean.” She let go then punched him. “I thought you were in Spain.”
“Surprise.” He rubbed the spot as if mortally wounded. “I thought you’d be happy to see me, Ardy.”
The nickname caused her to wrinkle her nose, and I couldn’t blame her.
“I am.” She drew back to soak him in, head to toe, as if she couldn’t believe it. “I’m just surprised.”
“And violent.”
Done waiting, Camber rose—brush in hand—and flicked paint onto his grinning face.
“You’ve grown ten feet since I last saw you.” He lifted a hand over his head. “You’re a giant.”
“I’m only five-five, Uncle Nolan.” She scuffed her sneakers on the tile. “I’m perfectly average.”
The girls were as close as sisters, so I wasn’t thrown when Camber called Nolan her uncle too.
You didn’t have to share blood to be family.
“There’s nothing average about you.” He planted a smacking kiss to each of her cheeks. “I missed you two troublemakers. You’ll have to come out to dinner with me tonight and fill me in on the hot gossip.”
Clearly used to his teasing them about living in a pinprick on the state map, they rolled their eyes.
“Are you going to introduce me—” I shoved a damp curl out of my eye, “—or should I go on break?”
Hmm.
The prospect of a break made me wonder if there were any cupcakes left on the stool out front.