Chapter 24

By the time Claire's alarm went off, she'd been awake for hours.

It was opening day.

It was finally here!

She was… excited. And nervous. And excited.

But very, very nervous.

She stared at her ceiling, reminding herself to breathe. It didn't work very well, however, as the sound of her phone going off beside her made her yelp and jump so high she was lucky she didn't fall right off the bed.

"Hello?" she asked breathlessly when she managed to get her phone to her ear.

Liam's warm chuckle came across the line. "Oh, hello. I was just calling to see how you were feeling, but your tone kind of answers that for me."

She blew out some air, laughing a little at herself. Already she felt better. Just the sound of his voice had that effect on her.

"I'm excited?" It came out like a question.

He laughed again. "I had a sneaking suspicion you might be freaking out just a little," he said.

"Just a little," she agreed.

"In that case, I am here to remind you that you have put in tons of work, that everyone is rooting for you, and that you're going to be a success. Today is just day one. And I am also going to remind you that stressing too much can give you a flare-up. So try to keep as even keel as you can."

She narrowed her eyes even though he couldn't see her.

"Wait… how did you know that about the flare-up?"

"I, uh, might have done some research about lupus on my own," he admitted. "Sorry if that's overstepping… I just wanted to know how to best look out for you."

She was surprised she couldn't see the way her heart swelled in her chest. "That might be the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me," she told him.

"You're important to me," he said simply. Then, a teasing note creeping into his voice, he added, "Although you did kind of just give me a challenge. How can I top myself in sweet gestures?"

She sighed happily, love coursing through her veins. Since she'd first had the thought that she loved him, the other day at the fire, it had become bigger and bigger inside her, like a bubble that threatened to burst out of her on its own.

She wanted to tell him how she felt. She maybe even needed to tell him how she felt.

But she was scared too. Not that he wouldn't be kind; she knew Liam well enough by now to know that he would be careful with her feelings. But that didn't necessarily mean he returned them, and even if he did return them, that didn't necessarily mean that he would want a future in Whale Harbor with her.

And today was busy enough without worrying about risking her heart.

"You're incredible," was all she said, even as her heart thumped insistently that this wasn't a forceful enough statement. "Seriously, it means so much to me that you both accept me for who I am and look out for me without making me feel like a burden."

"You're not a burden," he said fiercely. "And I'd like to have very serious words with anyone who ever made you feel that way."

Her heart grew again. Any more of this and she was going to say something she wasn't ready for.

"Next time I need a defender, you'll be my first call," she assured him. "Now, I have to go get ready. It's a big day!"

"It's a big day," he agreed. "I'll see you at the store in a few hours, okay?"

They bid their farewells and got off the phone. Claire paid extra attention to her morning routine, wanting to look her best for her opening day. It was always easier to feel confident looking her best, she found. As she went through the routines of washing and drying her hair, getting dressed, and putting on makeup, she oscillated between feeling freaked out about the opening and her irrepressible feelings for Liam and recalling his words about triggering flare-ups. She would then force herself to calm down, using some deep breathing and other yoga techniques she'd learned over the years.

It helped that her phone kept chiming with well wishes, both from her close friends like Darla and Marty and from people she knew less well, like Flora and Burt from Magnolia Street Home Goods. Her Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Alan had sent her a little video of them singing a "happy store opening" song to the tune of "Happy Birthday," which had Claire in tears of laughter.

She was surprised that she hadn't already heard from her father… right up until her doorbell rang. And then there was her father himself, holding a bouquet of paper flowers in one hand and a takeout order from the Clown Fish Eatery in the other.

"Happy opening day," he said, kissing her on the cheek. "I got you these fake flowers because I only buy real flowers from one place now, and her store isn't even open yet." He gave a teasing wink. "And then I brought breakfast because running a business is hungry work."

"Dad!" she cried, feeling tears spring to her eyes as she threw her arms around his neck. "You're the best."

"Careful!" he warned. "You'll crush the flowers."

"Don't worry," she joked. "I know a great store opening up where you can get more."

Father and daughter ate quickly before heading over to the store; Hudson insisted that he wasn't going to miss a single moment of the big day. When they arrived, Liam was standing in front of the shop, a tiny frown on his face.

"Okay, don't panic," he said. "I'm going to fix it."

His words made Claire's heart stop in her chest. "Oh no! What is it?"

He stepped aside to show her that her birdfeeder, which was in the front corner of the little garden space and thus visible from the front of the shop, had been knocked off its hook and was broken.

She felt a look of dismay cross her face, although she tried to quell her worries. If all her bad luck manifested in a broken birdfeeder, she would accept it.

"Probably squirrels," Hudson commented. "You have to put something slippery on the pole so they can't climb up."

She let out a slow breath. "It's fine. It's fine! It's just a birdfeeder."

"It might be just a birdfeeder," Liam said, "but I'm still going to fix it. The little guy is just made out of wood; Braden is going to bring over some tools so I can repair it. Your little house will be good as new by the time the first group of customers gets here."

She had no choice but to kiss him after a thoughtful proclamation like that though, in deference to her father's presence, she pressed it to his cheek instead of his mouth.

"Remind me to tell you how incredible you are later," she whispered playfully.

"I'll schedule it for right after your shop is a smashing success," he returned.

The trio went inside to handle all the last-minute details of getting opened for the first time, which mostly meant Claire fussed with the arrangement of the flowers until both men assured her they looked perfect. Braden dropped off a toolbox on his way out to a small job and Liam put the finishing touches on the birdhouse right before it was time to open the front doors.

She paused before she turned the sign to "Open," however, glancing at Liam. Her father was in the back of the room, admiring a display of ribbons and other materials to make arrangements, his distance giving the couple a little privacy.

"Hey," she said quietly. "I seriously can't express how much it means to me to have you here for this moment. When I started this project, I asked you to be my handyman, and not only did you go above and beyond in that regard, you have been such an amazing source of emotional support. There's no thanking you, so I'm not even going to try. I'm just going to say that I'm glad that you get to see this day, since it was as much your project as mine these last weeks."

His eyes were soft as he reached out to squeeze her hand. "Claire, of course I'm here. It's a privilege to be here. I want this to succeed for you more than I can say."

Again, she was risking getting teary. She squeezed his hand.

"A kiss for luck?" she asked.

He gave her a kiss that made her heart swell. When he pulled back, he winked.

"That wasn't for luck, since you don't need luck. You're going to be great anyway. That kiss was just because I love kissing you."

Her heart grew even more at the word love, but she didn't have time to dwell. It was time to open the shop.

And she and Liam did so together.

She only had about five minutes to panic that nobody would come buy flowers before she got her first rush of customers, most of them older ladies who tended to get their errands done early in the day. They praised all of Claire's design choices and each bought one of her premade bouquets. Their arrival was like the breaking of a dam, and people floated in and out all day, lingering to enjoy the refreshments and single-flower freebies Claire had assembled for her grand opening.

Late in the afternoon, her friends came in as a group, each exclaiming in delight as if they hadn't seen the store only a few days prior in its nearly complete state.

"You know," Darla said, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "I bet there are all kinds of flower-based arts out there. I wonder if we should do an exhibit at the museum."

"Decorations are selling well," Marty added; she and Claire had collaborated in choosing the décor Claire would sell so that she wasn't stealing business from Marty's shop. In return, Marty would use Claire's business for all her floral needs when she did designs for people.

"That's because you're basically a genius," Claire told her friend, squeezing her in a tight hug. "Actually, all of you are geniuses. Today wouldn't have happened without you."

"Whale Harbor businesswomen have to stick together," Monica said.

"Excuse me," came a falsely imperious voice. The group spun to see Lori grinning at them.

"What's this I hear?" she demanded. "Congregating the small business owners of the town without me? I'm insulted!"

"We could never forget you!" Claire insisted, launching herself into a hug that the older woman caught easily. "You were an important contributor."

"I helped too." Hudson poked his nose into the conversation, looking put out.

"You did," Claire agreed, but Lori spread her arms in an expansive, dramatic motion.

"Ah, yes, Hudson, but this is the Whale Harbor businesswomen's association. You, my dear fellow, are a man." Then she pursed her lips. "Besides, there's only room for one realtor in the association, and goodness knows these business-minded ladies know to take only the best realtor in town."

"Well, that would be me, Lori, so that doesn't even make any sense," Hudson returned.

The younger women all found themselves suddenly very interested in the floor, the nearby ribbon display… anything but the two feuding real estate agents.

"We shall see about that," Lori said airily. "Maybe after we see who gets the listing over on Madison Street?"

"How did you know about that listing?" Claire heard her father demand as she walked away to help another customer who had entered the building.

When she was done, she found the Sims sisters standing at her elbow.

"New plan," Marty joked. "We lock our mom and your dad in a room together and don't let them come out until they make peace. That's what our parents used to do with Darla and me when we were kids."

"Well," Darla allowed, "they didn't lock the door. But we were ordered to figure it out ourselves."

"I'd say that was a good plan if I didn't worry they'd end up wrecking whatever building they were in," Claire said with a laugh. "So if we do it, I nominate not my flower shop. It's brand new!"

Marty nodded seriously. "That is an important consideration."

The biggest surprise of the day, however, came about an hour before she was set to close… when her Aunt Sylvia walked through the door!

"Oh my gosh!" Claire exclaimed. She'd won her battle against tears most of the day, but this pushed her over the edge. She threw her arms around her aunt's neck. "Aunt Sylvia! What are you doing here?"

"Are you crazy, sweet girl?" her aunt asked with a laugh, hugging her back just as fiercely. "I wouldn't have missed this for the world." She pulled back, giving Claire a conspiratorial wink. "Besides, your dad said that you have a young man. I couldn't resist the chance to meet him either."

Claire grinned and brought her aunt over to meet Liam. He'd stayed with her in the shop all day, helping out, keeping an eye on things and stepping in unobtrusively every once in a while to remind her to take a little break. She had to force herself not to think about how much she appreciated it, because she couldn't be crying all day, not if she wanted to appear like a serious businesswoman.

Liam, Sylvia, and Hudson chatted as Claire wrapped up the final minutes of her business hours, checking out the last few customers and turning the sign on the front door to Closed. She looked around, hands on her hips. The store was nowhere near as neat as it had been in the morning… but in a good way. There had been more sales than she could have ever hoped for. It felt like a very good sign.

And, she thought happily, she could be very proud of what she'd done here.

Her family, as it happened, felt the same. As she approached them, Hudson lifted an arm, inviting his daughter to tuck herself inside.

"Honey, I am so proud of you," he said, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "This is amazing, what you built here."

"I had a lot of help," she said, smiling at the group.

"Everybody needs help," Aunt Sylvia corrected. "That doesn't diminish what you accomplished."

Claire beamed. Sometimes, especially with her lupus, it was hard to remember that… but today it felt true.

"Well, I still want to thank you all," she said. "None of this was possible without you… even if you weren't the real estate agent for this property," she teased her father.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled without heat. "Rub it in."

Everyone laughed at that one. Even Sylvia knew about the rivalry with Lori.

"Anyway," Hudson continued. "Sylvia and I are going to go grab some dinner, catch up and reminisce about your mom a bit. We're going to leave you two lovebirds to it, okay?"

Claire thought she saw him exchange a glance with Liam but ignored it in favor of pressing a kiss to her father's cheek and giving her aunt another long, lingering hug.

"Have fun," she told them. "Aunt Sylvia, when are you headed back home?"

The two women made plans to have breakfast the next morning before Sylvia departed, and then Hudson and Sylvia headed out, leaving Claire and Liam alone. He hugged her instantly and she sagged into the embrace. It had been wonderful, having her family and friends here all day, but there was a different kind of peace that came from being alone with him.

She tried to just enjoy it, tried not to worry that she wouldn't get to enjoy that peace much longer.