“But I'm the most important, aren't I?” I asked teasingly.
“Maybe,” Gretchen said, smirking at me. “But only if you agree to make your blueberry pancakes this morning!”
I laughed and rolled out of bed. “Deal,” I said. “You want to stay here in bed while I make them, or are you going to come down and keep me company?”
“I might hop in the shower,” Gretchen said. “And then I'll meet you downstairs? I feel sticky after our time together.” She blushed adorably at the thought of what we'd gotten up to the night before, and I had to laugh.
“Still so shy,” I said in amusement, coming around the bed to kiss her gently.
I checked the news as I got the pancakes ready to go. I nearly choked when I read through my emails. “All my stock in Sunrise has been sold,” I informed Gretchen as she came into the kitchen.
“Oh, wow, really?” she asked, sounding surprised. “Already?”
“Yeah. I left Paul in charge of it, and he says they've found some investor who wants to come in and take over what I was doing with the PR stuff. Only his background is actually in PR rather than the real estate sector. He'll still do some of the TV shows that I was doing, like that International Dream Homes one that I was supposed to start filming in a month or two, but for the most part, instead of the real estate stuff, he'll just be focused on marketing and press liaisons.”
“Cool,” Gretchen said. There was something else in her eyes, though. “Do you regret it?” she asked quietly.
I frowned at her. “Regret what?” I asked. “Giving it all up? The business was doing better without me anyway. I'm sure-”
“I'm not asking about the business,” Gretchen interrupted. “I know how much you must have put into that business over the years. What I'm asking is, do you regret moving here?” I could see the way she was waiting with baited breath, and even though I knew I was probably going to burn one of the pancakes having this conversation right now, I moved across the kitchen toward her, catching her hands in mine.
“No,” I said firmly. “I absolutely do not regret moving here. In fact, I feel so lucky to be here and to be here with you. You have no idea how happy you make me; how happy Hawaii makes me.”
“Don't lie,” Gretchen said, looking down at the floor. “I know that I make you happy and whatever. But I can tell that you're chomping at the bit. You don't know what to do with yourself now that you have all this free time. And-”
“Gretchen,” I interrupted. She finally looked up at me. “Gretchen, I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be here,” I told her. I laughed a little. “Honestly, this is probably good for me. As Paul said, my main problem is that for the past decade or so, my whole life has been work and going around with random women. I haven't had any hobbies or anything else. Yeah, it's taking me a bit to settle into this, but at the same time, I'm happy to be here with you. Don't even doubt that.”
“Okay,” Gretchen said. She paused. “Soon you'll have the business stuff to keep you occupied.”
“Right,” I said, smiling a little. She and Mina were keen to bring me on as a “consultant” for their new joint business. Since neither of them knew what they were in for regarding taxes or other business details, I was working with both of them to make sure that they had all the permits they needed and hashed out a contract that was fair to both of them.
It was exciting, honestly. It reminded me of a few years ago when Paul and Alex and George and I had sat down to form Sunrise Real Estate. At the time, we never could have imagined where it would end up, as, I was sure, Gretchen and Mina were feeling at the moment. It was good to be a part of a team like that again. And I'd do anything to help Gretchen out if I could.
Gretchen's phone buzzed, and she smiled when she looked down at it. “That's Mina,” she said. “I'll tell her to meet us down at the beach in about an hour?”
“Sounds great,” I said, smiling at her. I hummed a little as I went back to making pancakes.
It was the perfect day for surfing, a little overcast, so we weren't stuck directly in the sun, but still warm despite the fact that it was January. I paddled out into the spray with the two women, keeping my eyes peeled for waves that would be within my ability level.
We managed to hit a few waves each before lunch time, and then we let the waves push us back to shore so that we could enjoy the picnic lunch that Mina had packed for us all.
“It's going to be fun, going into business together,” Mina said, still smiling out at the waves.
Gretchen laughed. “I'm just glad that we have an actual business consultant now!” she said. “You know, that was my main worry about this whole thing. You're not supposed to hash out contracts with your best friend.”
I snorted. “It worked well enough for me,” I said.
“At least until the point that they exiled you to Hawaii!” Mina teased.
I glanced over at Gretchen, smiling at her. “No, that's worked out pretty well for me, too,” I said.
Both girls giggled a little at that one, and I slung an arm around Gretchen's shoulders, pulling her into a sideways hug for a moment.
“But seriously,” I said. “There may be certain friends who you don't want to go into business with, but for the most part, I think that's bullshit. No one respects you the way that your good friends do. And while that can, in itself, be detrimental to a business, it’s about taking everything in moderation, right?”
“Yeah,” they agreed.
“So, why pineapples anyway?” I asked Mina suddenly. It wasn't something that I'd ever asked her before, I realized. And although of course there were pineapples galore on the island, it still seemed sort of strange to me that she'd set up a shop devoted to them.