More Than This by Dominique Wolf

CHAPTER 65:

Isabella

“C

an you lift it a little higher on the left?” Reyna asked.

We stood outside the entrance to our shop while Diego balanced on the ladder. We had a sign created with the name Aroma on it and Diego was helping us put it up above the big window that peered into the shop. The name was written in beautiful cursive against the background that was the same baby blue we had used inside to paint the walls. It was a delicate but welcoming-looking sign and that was what I wanted. I wanted it to welcome people into our place of tranquility.

Diego lifted it higher and Reyna exclaimed. “Yes! That's perfect.”

He leaned back a little to take a look at it while we did the same, admiring it from the bottom.

“I think that looks great,” I said.

Reyna turned to me with a huge smile on her face. “It does, right? I am so happy with it.”

I took a couple steps back to get a better look at the entirety of the entrance. I couldn't believe that after all this time, we were finally at this point. I felt a sense of accomplishment looking at Aroma. I could consider myself a business owner now and I was so excited at the prospect of what was coming next for it. I took a moment to soak in the heat from the sun that was shining down on us.

I turned to face the ocean in the distance and I couldn't help but smile. There was so much I had to be happy about. I finally had my business opening up, I was living with the man of my dreams and we were the happiest we had ever been. Sometimes I wondered if my life was too good to be true but it had taken a lot to get to this point and a lot of sacrifices were made.

“Let's bring in the last of the boxes from the car,” Reyna suggested. “We can start organizing that.”

I nodded and followed her to the car that was parked on the street just outside our shop. Diego climbed down off the ladder and started to move it back inside. She unlocked the car and opened the boot, revealing the last two boxes we had. We had ordered our personalised mugs to suit the colour scheme of our shop and they had arrived recently. We had tons of stock inside already to unpack and next week the first of the books were arriving to be packed out onto the shelves.

“Can you believe we made it to this point?” Reyna asked excitedly. “For a while, I honestly believed this place was a lost cause and we had wasted our money.”

I chucked. “Oh my goodness, me too! When we couldn't sort that leak out, I had accepted that this wasn't going to work.”

“We should probably stop being such pessimists,” she joked.

We each grabbed a box and made our way back to the shop. I pushed through the door and Reyna followed closely behind me.

“Babe, please can you grab the small box that's on the back seat? I forgot about it.”

“Yes, of course,” Diego said and disappeared outside.

I placed the box down on the counter and slipped underneath it by the staff entrance. I popped up and picked it up again, bringing it to the counter across from it where the coffee equipment was placed. I opened the empty cupboards above that to start placing the mugs in there. Reyna followed my lead but kept her box on the opposite counter as she had all the to-go cups in hers. I ripped the box open and started to carefully unpack each individual mug that was wrapped in newspaper for safekeeping.

“How long is Giovanni staying in Valencia for?” she asked.

“Oh, just for the day,” I replied. “He should actually be heading to the airport soon.”

Before she could reply my phone started to ring and I pulled it out of my back pocket to see Giovanni's name flashing across it.

“Speak of the devil,” I joked and answered, bringing the phone to my ear.

“I was just talking about you,” I said.

“You were?” he asked. “All good things I hope.”

“Not really. I'm struggling to find something good to say about you lately,” I said playfully as he laughed on the other end of the line.

“I'm on my way to the airport,” he said.

“Great! How did your meeting go?”

“It was surprisingly successful. I think we're all on the same page now and things are going to be much better.”

“I'm glad to hear that,” I smiled. “We finally got the sign up.”

“I can't wait to see how it looks.”

“I'm excited for you to see it, too. We're packing out some of the cups and stuff but I'll meet you at home.”

Even though it had been months of us living together, I still got the same rush of happiness whenever I mentioned our home.

“Sounds good baby. I'll let you know when I board.”

“Perfect. I love you.”

“I love you more, mi hermosa.”

We said our last goodbyes and I ended the call, placing my phone back in my pocket. I couldn't help the huge smile on my face. How did I get so lucky?

“I think we should have dinner this weekend,” Reyna announced. “You guys should come over and I'll cook us something.”

“That's a great idea,” I said. “But can we do it Sunday? Giovanni is taking me somewhere on Saturday.”

When we were in Madrid, he mentioned that he made plans for us this Saturday. He said it was a surprise so I had no idea what he had planned. He was usually all spontaneous when it came to our plans, but he had asked me to book Saturday out and he had piqued my curiosity. I tried to rack my brain to what he could have planned, but I genuinely had no idea. I wasn't a big fan of surprises, but I was a big fan of Giovanni so I'd let this one slide.

“Where is he taking you?” Reyna asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and placed a mug in the cupboard. “I have no idea. He said it's a surprise.”

“Okay well, let's do Sunday then.”

I was curious as to why she brushed past the surprise part so casually. Reyna was usually nosy as hell, but she didn't even hesitate as she continued about us making plans. I wondered if she knew what Giovanni was up to? She and Giovanni had built up quite a good friendship so it wouldn't surprise me if she knew something, but I let it go.

I would just have to be patient.