Chapter 11

Paige Garner pushed open the door to her sister's apartment, feeling fluttery and anxious.

She usually felt a little anxious. She was used to things never turning out the way she was hoping they would, so she'd learned to tug a little cloud of pessimism along with her everywhere she went, hoping that would keep her from feeling as disappointed.

She was losing hold of that cloud of pessimism here in Blueberry Bay, however. Everyone seemed so nice and kind, and the town was beautiful. She'd expected it to all be some kind of fake fa?ade at first, but the longer she spent there, the more she was realizing that it really was just a great place.

Today she was feeling anxious because she'd brought Tommy home with her after school, and even though she'd checked with Josie to make sure that her sister was okay with that, it still felt like unknown territory. She didn't feel as though she really lived there—she felt more like she was living in a nice hotel or something like that. She didn't want to make Josie mad, even though Josie hadn't gotten mad about anything yet. Just kind of sad sometimes.

"I guess my sister isn't here yet," Paige said to Tommy, noticing that Josie's key hook was empty of her keys. She felt a little relieved, even though she was trying to convince herself that Josie wouldn't have said it was okay for her to have Tommy over unless she was really okay with it. Besides, Tommy was a really nice guy. He wasn't going to make a mess of the apartment or anything like that.

Tommy gazed around Josie and Paige's home, a sweet smile on his face. He pushed his glasses up, closer to his big brown eyes. "This is a really nice place."

She shrugged. "Yeah, it is."

Tommy smiled at her. She guessed that he could tell she felt uncomfortable and was trying to make her feel more at ease.

Tommy is the best thing that's happened to me here in Blueberry Bay, she thought. He's so nice. The two teenagers had hit it off from their first conversation, and she was grateful to have someone in her life who could make her laugh as often as he did.

So it felt only natural to her to invite him over after school—something that she'd done all the time with her friends in Portland. But now that he was here, she still felt restless, as if she was bringing a stranger into someone else's house.

She felt like she still didn't know how things worked in her new life with Josie. She was still learning how to relate to her sister, who sometimes acted like a mother and other times gave her more freedom than she knew what to do with.

"What do you want to do?" Tommy asked, taking a seat on one of the stools that lined the kitchen counter. "Chess?" He grinned.

"Not today, my ego is still sore from the last time you slaughtered me." She laughed, opening the refrigerator. "We have some pretty good juice here. Or—I mean, I could bake some cookies or something if you want."

"I would never say no to cookies." He placed his hand on his heart solemnly. "Can I help you?"

"No, thanks. I like to fly solo."

"I wouldn't want to get in your way." He winked at her. "I'll quiz you on this week's history chapter while you bake them."

As Paige started to gather ingredients, however, they didn't start studying right away. They both seemed reluctant to get back to the grind—it was a beautiful afternoon, and sunlight was sparkling on the snow outside. Inside, it was warm and cozy, and the kitchen was fragrant with the smell of coffee and a spruce-scented candle that Paige had lit.

"How are things going at your place?" she asked as she measured the sugar. It glistened in the lights like snow. She loved baking—it was absolutely one of her favorite things.

"Really well." Tommy took a sip of the juice she'd handed him and grimaced appreciatively. "Wow. Who knew oranges and carrots could taste so good together?"

"Right?" She laughed. "Or that something really healthy could be tasty."

He grinned. "But yeah, I really like them. I mean, really like them. They're so nice. It's one of the best places I've ever stayed in. I don't ever want to leave Blueberry Bay."

"Really?" She paused in the middle of her baking, holding a measuring cup in the air. "I think about being able to go back to Portland every day."

"But it's so great here," he said, taking another sip of the juice.

Paige bit her lip, glancing at her friend. She didn't feel the same way at all—to her, Blueberry Bay was a place where she had to be temporarily, but she was going to leave it as soon as she could. "What do you like about it?" she asked him. "I mean, it's small. It's quiet. Not much exciting really happens here."

"Quiet is a lot better than some other things." He stared straight ahead for a moment, lost in thought. "And I think it is exciting here, in a different kind of way."

"What do you mean?" She started to mix the ingredients together, watching her friend's face.

"The people here are great," he said. "Like, amazing. They're all so kind. And they've made this place into something that they celebrate. I guess that's what I mean—things are exciting here because people value the little things more."

She raised her eyebrows, taking in his words. "I've never thought of it like that before," she said slowly.

"And my foster parents are amazing."

She nodded at him as she stirred the wooden spoon through the thick dough. She could understand where he was coming from, especially considering the kind of places he'd lived before. He'd told her about some of them, and she'd realized how good she had it, in spite of all her troubles.

"Don't you like it here?"

Paige shrugged, leaning against the counter and plopping the spoon in and out of the dough for a moment, playing with it. "It's okay here, I guess."

Deep down, she knew that she was falling in love with Blueberry Bay. Tidal Wave Coffee was the best job she'd ever had—and Tommy was right, the people in town were all kind and well-meaning. She appreciated that, even though she kept telling herself she wanted to get back to where things were familiar.

I feel guilty about liking it here,she realized as she started to spoon globs of dough onto the cookie sheet. I don't want to admit to myself that it's better here than it was at home.

Paige loved her mother fiercely. She didn't want to admit that the life that they'd had at home hadn't been good—it had been wonderful in some ways, since there was love there, but there were a lot of bad things too. Bad things that weren't there in Blueberry Bay.

She and Tommy started to study in earnest while the cookies baked. Soon the apartment was filled with the rich, buttery smell of baking cookies. She kept getting up to check them through the glass door of the oven every few minutes. Finally, she proclaimed them done, and plopped one down onto a plate for Tommy.

"Holy yikes," he mumbled through a bite of cookie. "Paige, these are insane."

She bowed, laughing. "I'm glad you like them. I love baking. And cooking. I did a lot of it at home."

Because it soothes me, she thought. I needed a lot of soothing at home.

Here in her sister's apartment, she felt even better after baking than she usually did. Her heart felt warm and contented, and the way Tommy kept insisting they were some of the best cookies he'd ever had made her feel special.

The door to the apartment opened, and she jumped a little. Josie stepped inside, grinning happily at both of them.

"Hey, you guys! Oh, wow, what is that incredible smell?"

"I made some cookies." Paige watched as Tommy and Josie waved at each other, both smiling. Josie seemed really happy that Tommy was there, and Paige felt relieved.

"They are insane," Tommy said, gesturing to the cookies. "You should try one. Or seven."

Josie laughed and winked at him. "I might," she said. "They smell glorious."

Paige watched excitedly as her sister took a bite of the cookie. Josie's eyes widened as she chewed.

"Paige," she said slowly, "this—I mean, wow. This cookie is unbelievable."

Paige flushed, feeling pleased. She smiled as her sister finished the rest of the cookie quickly, and then laughed as she pretended to swoon.

"You know," Josie said, suddenly looking excited, "I've got a friend who's having a wedding shower soon. She's looking for treats for it. If I give her some of these cookies to taste, I'm sure she'd want to hire you to make some bakery for the event. Is that something you'd like to do? You'd be paid for it of course." She spoke quickly and her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

Paige's mouth had popped open into an "o" shape. She felt flattered—she didn't think her cookies were all that special, but she felt happy that her sister seemed to think that they were. And she loved the idea of getting paid to bake!

"Sure, that's okay with me." She kept her enthusiasm out of her words, but internally she felt aglow with excitement. It was very possible that soon, a whole bunch of people were going to eat bakery that she had made.