Constant Surprises (Wrong Numbers Series) (16 page)

Giving her a big hug
she said, “It’s great seeing you, Mrs. Lipton, what do you have for me to see
today?”

“I don’t know if you
remember this place, but it used to be Anthony’s Warehouse. It went belly up
after a couple of months.” Opening the doors, the ladies walked inside. The air
smelled stale and dusty. “It’s just been sitting here for years now. Were you
thinking of buying or leasing?” Maggie asked.

Amie tried to picture
what she could do with this place. It was big and could accommodate one hundred
and fifty or more people. The walls were all brick, which she loved, and the floor
was old hardwood and still strong after all these years. When she looked up at
the ceiling, she could imagine fans in different spots. Then she saw a door and
when she opened it, there was another huge area she knew could be made into a
kitchen that could even hold a huge cooler. It’s a pain when the back-up food
has to be kept in a cooler in the basement. Her mind was racing with ideas. She
smiled, came back to her mother and Maggie then went out the door and looked
back at the front of the place.

“It’s perfect,
absolutely perfect,” Amie said walking back inside still looking around. “How
much is it to buy outright?”

“This place has been on
the market forever. Actually, no one even bothered wanting it much less took a
second look at it until your mom called and said you were looking for a place
to open up a restaurant. This place is perfect for it. It’s right along the
square and everybody comes here for the festivals and such. There is a lot of
revenue to be had. For you, my dear, I would go one hundred thirty-five grand
compared to what it normally would be, about one hundred fifty grand.”

Looking around some
more Amie said, “Make it an even one hundred thirty and we have a deal,
Maggie.”

Maggie looked around,
bit her lower lip, and smiled. “Deal and when you open up I want dinner.” They
all laughed and Amie gave her a hug.

“Not dinner, Maggie,
but I promise you can have lunch anytime you want for free.”

“Well then, let’s go
and get the contract signed,” Maggie said.

* * * *

When Roy and Amie arrived
at the inn later that evening, she exclaimed, “Wow! You guys really did a great
job on this place. It looks absolutely amazing, what did you help do?”

Roy could only smile,
as he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. She came in wearing a beautiful red Asian
dress with lovely colorful embroidery in gold, green, black, white, and other
colors across the chest. It hugged her every curve as they walked arm in arm
through the crowd. She had put her hair up with black hair-sticks embossed with
gold Japanese lettering, leaving a few ringlets cascading along her face. “Have
I told you how amazingly gorgeous you look, darling?”

She kissed his cheek,
smiling sweetly at him when they walked over to a group of people. They were
talk of the evening. Some saying how perfect they were together, some even said
it was about time they got together.

“I went to your
restaurant about three months back, best burger I ever had in my life. It had
blue cheese on it. Can you believe that…blue cheese? It was so good I ended up
having to get another one,” Chuck Williams said.

“Next time you go, tell
them you want it stuffed as well as topped with blue cheese. Knowing how you
eat, Chuck, you’ll probably end up eating three instead of two.” Amie laughed.

“Here comes Sandy and
Steven…hey, guys, come over here!” shouted Chuck.

Sandy made a b-line
towards Amie. She was wearing the outfit Amie had brought her. “Wow, I so love
your outfit. Please tell me you have one just like it for me,” Sandy said hugging
her friend. Amie laughed.

“I’ll see what I can do
for you.” Amie winked as Steven came over and gave her a hug and peck on the
cheek.

“You are going to spoil
her rotten, Amie, if you keep getting her these outfits like you do,” Steven
said.

“Sisters share clothes.
Where in the world is Roy? I thought he was talking with some friends?” Amie
wondered looking around.

“Steven, darling, why
don’t you and Amie dance. I’ll find Roy for you,” Sandy said. Steven took Amie
in his arms and headed over to the dance floor.

 
They walked through the small crowd of people.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked him.

His fingers wrapped
around her hand and he started laughing as if she said something funny, but
instead he said, “Why is it that whenever I am around you for some reason I can
only see you?”

Amie gave a small laugh,
not sure how to react.
 

“I am dancing with the
most beautiful woman in the room. That is you, darling. I know I should say it
is my wife, but it is you. It was always you.”

Amie blushed.

Steven smiled. “I sure
am glad you came back home. This town needs your pretty face to brighten it. I
am especially happy for Roy, but mostly, I think, for me. I do cherish you,
Amie. I never wanted to let you know, but even while we were young, I always thought
you were the prettiest thing I had ever seen. I swear if Roy didn’t have his
eye on you and I wasn’t married to Sandy, I sure as hell would try my best to
sweep you off your feet.”

Amie’s face softened
and when she looked into his eyes she knew he was telling her the truth. Steven
never lied to her when they were growing up and he wasn’t lying to her now.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before, Steven?”

“What would have
happened if I did tell you, nothing at all because you were too into Roy?
Besides, it’s best it came out this way because I am with the woman I love, and
we are happy.”

“And that’s all that
matters,” Amie said. Steven looked up and saw Sandy waving at him.

“Let’s go, darling.”
Steven said, grabbing her hand and leading her through the crowd.

“Where are we going?”

Steven smiled and led
her right across the room. They were rounding a corner when she saw Sandy
standing near a door, smiling like a Cheshire cat. As they approached her, Amie
noticed Sandy’s eyes were welling up with tears. “What’s wrong, is Roy okay?”

“Oh yes, he’s just fine
go on inside and see for yourself.”

Amie didn’t know what
they were up to, but she opened the door and was stunned. The floor was full of
silver and gold balloons, so many she couldn’t actually see the floor itself. A
small table stood in the middle of the room with something on it. Amie slowly
started walking towards it. The door behind her suddenly closed and she found
herself alone. Reaching the table, she saw a red velvet pillow with a note on
it.

Open
me
,
she read. She picked up the note and read—

GO OUT THE GLASS
DOOR AND FOLLOW THE ROSE PETAL TRAIL
.
 

She went over to the
glass door and saw a trail of pink and red rose petals on the ground just as
the note said. Walking along the trail she wondered where it would lead. Lucky
for Amie however, she didn’t have too far to find out.

She came to another small
table. This time there was a small glass case with a cupcake and a note.
Opening the case and taking out the cupcake out and the note, she read—

SWEETS FOR THE
SWEETS, DARLING…TAKE THE CUPCAKE AND FOLLOW THE TRAIL OF CANDLES…YOU ARE ALMOST
THERE!

She smiled and took the
cupcake; following the trail she nibbled on the cupcake. Her smile was brighter
when she realized it was Hummingbird Cake, which Roy knew was her favorite. She
licked the icing with her tongue while she walked through trees in the aurora
of glowing tea lights floating in individual glasses. Soon she came to another
door and opened it to find she was back in the dance hall where she started,
but this time the room was dark. Her former classmates were holding candles,
lining a walkway that curved around the corner. She started walking and they
started singing,
I Only Have Eyes for You
by the Flamingos, a song Roy
knew was one of her favorites.

Amie saw the smiling
faces as she walked around the room of people. They continued to sing and
gathered behind her as she came to the end of the trail. She saw Roy. Standing
behind him were both of their parents along with Sandy and Steven.

Lord, is this for real
she thought. She asked, “Is this what you did?”

Roy chuckled then
responded, “I did all of this for you and thankfully everybody here helped me
out. I know that I told you I would let you think about us getting married, but
honestly, baby, I couldn’t help myself.”

He came to her and in
his cupped hands was a small black velvet box. She couldn’t bring herself to
pick it up and open it. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and her throat
felt like it was going to close up. Tears flooded her eyes and ran slowly down
her cheeks. He opened it slowly and when she saw the dazzling diamond staring
back at her, she found herself succumbing to a heaving mess of sobs. She felt
herself about to fall, but Roy quickly came to her rescue and held her up as someone
tapped her shoulder and gave her a handkerchief. She wiped her eyes and nose.

“Amie Brown, I’ve known
you since we were in elementary school, when you were running around and trying
to beat me on the swings. I knew from that day on that I wanted to be with you
and only you, but things got in the way and we went our separate ways.
Eventually we came back here and got to know each other all over again. It has
been such a wonderful experience, I don’t want it to end, darling. You know how
much I love you and how much I want you to be mine forever so—” Getting down on
his knee, he took out the ring. He held her hand and looked up into her eyes.
“My darling, Amie, will you marry me?”

“Yes, of course, I’ll
marry you, Roy,” Amie said. He put the ring on her finger and his arms around
her waist. She held him and continued to cry as he stood up and held her for
real this time. The whole room erupted in applause and shouts as everybody
congratulated and rushed the happy couple to shower them with hugs and kisses.

“Isn’t this wonderful?
Our babies are getting married,” Agnes said hugging a crying Abby.

Richard and Bob shook
hands and gave each other a congratulatory pat on the back. Sandy couldn’t stop
crying as she saw her best friend was finally happy with the man she loved.
Steven couldn’t have been more proud to see his brother with the woman he loved
for so long.

Epilogue

Amie Brown-Fulton was
looking over the sugar-like sandy beach drinking an apple martini. She liked
the ring of that, Amie Brown-Fulton and the more she thought of it, the more
she smiled. During their engagement, she went back to Atlanta and settled her
affairs. Making sure the restaurant was taken care of; she decided to let Becky
be manager. She also decided they could use her apartment when visiting
Atlanta, so she decided to keep
 
it. It
took almost a full year before the second Cobalt Blue Café was finally open and
like the first one it was becoming a great success.

They got married in
their family church. She was thrilled her birth mother and family from Japan
were there to watch her walk down the aisle. She decided to do something
different by not only having a traditional wedding, but also a Japanese wedding
to pay homage to her heritage. It was a beautiful affair and made headlines in the
local news as well as in Atlanta. They honeymooned for a month in the Bahamas,
a place Amie had been too many times before when she had tried to find her
father’s side of the family. Looking out onto the beach, she saw her husband
Roy coming out of the water. He looked so good, she thought as he started
running to the lounge chair, then grabbed his towel. Once he dried off, she saw
him wave and she smiled. Walking back to the bar, she poured him an apple
martini and dropped a piece of granny smith apple as a garnish. He came inside,
still drying his hair.

“Hello, Mrs. Fulton,
what do you
 
have for me?” Roy smiled as
she handed him the glass.

“It’s an apple martini.
Try it; you’ll like it,” Amie said. He took a small sip at first, but then
quickly took a second longer sip.

“That is good, I love
it and I especially love you, darling.” Smiling he gave her a kiss on the lips.
She softly deepened the kiss until he took her in his arms. Feeling the
coolness of his skin as droplets of salt water rained down from his hair along
her cheek, neck, and chest.

“I have a wonderful
surprise for you,” Amie said.

“Oh really,” Roy said
with a raise brow. “And what could this surprise be?”

“Now if I told you what
it was then it wouldn’t be much of a surprise would it? I want you to go come
over here and sit down in this chair.” She walked him over to a sofa chair and
gently pushed him down. She kissed his forehead. “Close your eyes until I tell
you to open them.”

Roy smiled and did what
he was told. He fidgeted until hands began roaming over his shoulders and
chest. He smiled. “Amie, you know what I love.”