Boss Daddy: A Secret Baby Romance by Black, L. (good books for high schoolers .TXT) 📕

she eventually put him down on his feet. “And playing outside doesn’t hurt.”

He took off running, and I laughed. “I can see that.”

“Tell me more about this mural,” she said. “I’m really excited for you. And I’m excited to see something new here at the library. A mural is the perfect idea to liven it up a little bit more. Maybe get more people visiting again. It’s not like nobody comes or it’s at risk of shutting down or anything. But I know a lot of people nowadays attend to read on their tablets or computers, so they don’t spend as much time at libraries. It would be great to revitalize it and get more people interested in spending time here and the community programs and everything.”

“I love that idea. It’s so nice to think about children having a place to go where they can learn and feel safe. I want the mural to really celebrate the community and the town. I want people to see it and feel proud to be here in Astoria, and want to be a part of it,” I said.

“I didn’t even realize you were an artist. Have you been doing it professionally for long?” Becca asked.

I shook my head. “Oh, I’m not really a professional. It’s just something I love. And I’m not even being paid for this. Not that I care. I’m just really excited they asked me to do it.”

“Do you have any plans?”

“I have some sketches. You want to see them?”

Becca nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely.”

We walked back over to where I was sitting and dropped down into the grass. The little boy was still running around like wild. Watching him made me laugh. He had so much energy and enthusiasm, like he was thrilled just to be out and able to run in circles. But he never drifted too far away from his mother. Every now and then, he would look over and check to make sure she was close by.

I picked up my sketchbook and turned to the first of the ideas I sketched out. I held it out to her and pointed out some of the details. She nodded and I moved on to the next one. When I got through all the sketches, I took the book into my lap and grabbed one of my pencils so I could do a very quick mockup of the idea I had that combined some of the features from other ideas.

Becca grinned and nodded. “That looks so good. I love that.” She looked at the wall in front of her and waved a hand like she was displaying the whole brick expanse. “I can see it up there. It’ll be so amazing.”

We talked for a little longer about the mural, and then I set the sketchbook aside and we just talked while her son played and ran in the warm sun. It felt good to be there with her and just feel like we were hanging out. Having genuine friends here meant the world to me, and I was really feeling like that was happening for me with not only these women, but also Jordan.

That got me thinking about the conversation between Ava and Amanda again, and my brain was still churning by the time I got to the bar that afternoon for work. Jordan was already there, and I felt a little ripple in my belly when I saw him.

I put my stuff away and went up to the bar, but before Jordan and I could start talking, Ava came out of the office. She looked relieved to see me.

“Oh, Hannah. Good, you’re here. I wanted a chance to talk to you before the night really gets started. Jordan, you’re going to want to hear this, too,” she said.

My stomach dropped, and a rush of heat tingled up the back of my neck. She couldn’t possibly be about to put everything out in the open, could she? Especially not after the talk we had after everything, she wouldn’t just lay it all out and force us to talk about the way we were acting about each other.

“Okay,” I said, hoping my voice didn’t sound anywhere near as nervous as I felt.

“I’ve been working on the Gatsby-themed night and, like I told you, it’s pretty much all finished. But I would really like for you to help with the final details considering it was your idea.”

“Oh,” I said, the word coming out of me in a rush of breath. “Okay. I can do that.”

“Great. Now, here’s the thing. I have it set for Saturday night.”

“Saturday?” Jordan and I both asked, shocked to find out such an elaborate event was set to go on in less than a week.

Ava nodded, holding up a hand as if to try to stop our reaction so she could explain. “I know. It’s soon. I didn’t intend for it to be that soon, but I pushed it up earlier because of some other developments. Hannah, I told you about the guys going to Portland for that business trip.”

“Yeah,” I said, nodding.

“They went because Tom wants to open a new location there. With the success of The Hollow here, he wants to spread out and see if it can grow even more. Everything is happening pretty fast. They were just going on a research trip to see if they thought it was a viable option. But they found a location that was perfect, and Tom just filed the paperwork for it. The Gatsby theme night is going to act as the announcement and a marketing event for the new bar,” Ava said.

I was stunned. That really was all happening fast. The idea of putting together the theme night in just a few days was intimidating enough. Now I was also thinking about the new bar in Portland and what that might mean. It was exciting to think about introducing the idea to the customers and watching the new spot grow from the ground up. But it was also