Chapter 21

It wasthree days after the fight, and Gabi was radio silent. She hadn't spoken to Rory, didn't even bother looking in Rory's direction as she got ready for work each morning and left. Rory made sure to be tucked away in her room by the time Gabi got home in the evenings. She'd expected her to be mad, but she never imagined she'd completely shut her out.

While she anxiously awaited to hear back from Baybrook, she found herself searching for Fred Barry again. She searched through any records she could find online about the Barry family in Orlando. She found a house, which looked like it was sold in 2006—the same year she was born. Newspaper clippings didn't help much either, just a few mentions of Fred Barry making the all-state team, or his parents (which she couldn't fathom might actually be her grandparents) mentioned as donors for different charity events and auctions. But one morning as she sipped on her coffee, she found a quote from her potential grandmother in a small note about a Christmas charity auction that had her pause.

"The armoire is the exact kind of piece I've been looking to add to the collection at our Rhode Island beach house. How lovely that the money will all go to charity."

Rory clicked open a new tab, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she searched for a Fred Barry in Rhode Island.

Sure enough, there was one.

His online presence was still pretty obscure, but she did find a mention of him in a local paper, attached to his work at a construction company that renovated heritage houses along the shore. She clicked out of the article and scrolled, creepily finding an address to an estate attached to the Barry name. It was still under their ownership.

Was it really them? Why get excited about it if she wasn't even sure if this was the man she was looking for?

Still curious, she looked up the distance between Haverport and the Barry estate. It was a 43-minute drive.

Forty. Three. Minutes. While she wasn't a hundred percent certain it was him, she couldn't deny the coincidence. And if she was right, it would mean he'd lived less than an hour away her entire life. What in the world happened for Fred to limit his contact to regular child support payments and nothing more?

Her phone rang, causing her to jump out of her desk chair. She grabbed it with shaking hands, noticing Melanie's name on the screen.

"H-hi," Rory answered.

"Hi yourself," Melanie said. "Everything okay?"

"Yes, why?"

"You're, um, ten minutes late picking me up."

"Right, shit, sorry," Rory said, flinging her backpack over her shoulder. She forgot she'd promised to drive Melanie to school this week. Calvin usually did, but he had finals and had to focus on his studying. "Lost track of time."

"I mean if we're skipping school, I'm down, I just need to know," Melanie teased.

She hopped in her car, putting her phone in the holder and tapping the speakerphone option. "Skipping school, Melanie Albertson? What would Yale think?"

"Doesn't matter now," Melanie said firmly. "Because I already got in."

Rory froze, her hands on the steering wheel. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah…but I haven't told my parents yet."

"I feel like this is the kind of conversation that requires lattes on the beach."

Melanie chuckled. "Do we have time?"

"Well, no," Rory said, turning the keys in the ignition. "But it's senior year. Think they won't let us graduate if we're a little late?"

"If they don't, at least we'll be stuck here together."

Rory grinned. "Sounds perfect to me."

* * *

Hillside Park was still prettyempty, but in just a few months, it would be packed. Despite how much she hated it when the summer people descended and made everything in the Port far too crowded, Rory was excited for the season to begin. With Scoops finally opening back up in four days, the Scoopers were meeting that afternoon for the first staff meeting of the year.

They climbed out of her car into an empty parking lot, a sheet of fog rolling up from the ocean and breezing through Rory's hair. She shivered, taking a big sip of her latte to keep warm as she leaned against the hood of her car. Melanie did the same, tucking her cardigan tight around her waist with one hand, her own latte in the other.

Rory turned to Melanie, propping a leg up on the hood. "Alright, spill, Mel."

Melanie sighed. "I found out I got in two days ago."

"And you're not excited about it."

Melanie grimaced. "That obvious?"

"Well, yeah," Rory said, shrugging. "You told me last summer you'd been working your ass off trying to get into Yale."

Her friend sighed, looking out toward the ocean. "I hope my parents won't be as perceptive when I tell them. I'm afraid to admit to them how I feel."

"And how do you feel?"

Silence lingered, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Rory took a sip of her latte, leaving space for her friend, and let herself wonder if the high school was calling her mother to let her know she was late for class. Good, she thought. It would give Gabi an excuse to finally talk to her. Plus, this little escape gave her more one-on-one time with her friend at the beach.

"The idea of going to college scares me," Melanie finally answered. "I just…don't think I can be around the parties and the drinking and—" She broke off, letting out a shudder. She fidgeted with the blue elastic headband in her hair, and the action seemed to steady her. "Being here, in Haverport, it makes me feel settled. I have my…moments. But things generally feel okay. And when I think about going to Yale, nothing feels right."

"What made it feel right before?"

"I honestly thought it would make my parents happy, but after this summer, after…" Tears welled in her eyes as she took another shaky breath. "I realized I was living my life playing defense, doing whatever it took to be the good kid because they had their hands full with Duncan. I wanted them to feel proud."

Rory scooched closer to Melanie and ran a hand through her friend's hair. "That makes sense, Mel. But now…you're feeling like it doesn't make sense anymore, after…everything."

Melanie nodded. "I've realized that it's not worth trying to live up to others' expectations. I mean, look at Calvin. He's going for what he wants, no matter what people think of him."

"And he's a bit annoying about it, if I'm being honest."

Melanie's bright laughter rang through the empty lot, almost like it would lift the fog they were sitting in. "I want to be the same, Rory. I want to just go for something that feels right. Even though I'm not exactly sure what that is."

Rory sighed, looking down at the frayed edges of her shirtsleeve, realizing how much Melanie's little speech was also speaking to her heart. Going to Baybrook would mean living on her own terms, not the expectations Gabi had set for her. Gabi didn't even consider what she would want; her mother only assumed and went for it, working as hard as she could to make it happen. Did that make her a horrible daughter if she chose herself instead of her mother's dream?

"Okay, enough," Melanie said, swiping at the tears in her eyes. "Your turn."

Rory scoffed. "You already know about Baybrook."

"Yessss, but you haven't exactly been filling me in on what's going on with Jay."

"Oh."

"I know I've been MIA, but I still expect updates," Melanie said. "Are you still seeing him? Are things official?"

Rory stammered. "Um, well, things aren't anything, actually. We broke things off. I broke things off. With him."

Melanie's eyes went wide. "Did something happen again with Tyler?"

Rory drained the last bit of her latte, then squeezed her empty cup and tossed it into the trash can next to the beach entrance. Her stomach churned as she thought about what to say next. She was probably the only one who knew Tyler and Zoe were fake dating, about Mr. Clark's football connection. But she didn't know the other part of their agreement, and she didn't feel it was her place to talk about it.

What would she say instead? That every time she thought about Tyler moving to Texas, she felt like her chest was caving in? That Tyler confessed his true feelings for Rory but was now pushing her away in an attempt to protect her heart?

Stupid, selfless, nice Tyler. She wished that for once in his life he would be selfish and kiss her face already.

She sighed, turning to Melanie. No, she wouldn't reveal this to her. Not yet. She still had so much to work out in her head.

"Jay is going through some stuff, and he kept closing off," Rory admitted. Not exactly a lie, but not the full truth. "Things…fizzled out, I guess."

"Are you sad?"

To her surprise, she shook her head. "No. I think it's for the best."

Melanie linked an arm through hers, the two of them sitting there staring out at the ocean, the fog beginning to lift around them. Rory leaned a head on Melanie's shoulder, feeling thankful that she had a girlfriend she could rely on in what could sometimes be a suffocating town.

She would tell her everything else about Tyler. Soon. Just…not yet.

* * *

Rory pulledinto the Scoops lot later that afternoon and parked next to Tyler's Jeep. She rushed into The War Room, knowing she was a few minutes late, but it didn't seem to matter. They were waiting on Jess too.

"You're late," Calvin announced.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Rory deadpanned. "I'm not the only one."

"We will start without her," Ron said. "Okay, team, take a seat wherever you can. We'll be here for a little while."

The Scoopers shuffled around The War Room, finding places to sit. Rory's eyes flicked to Tyler, but he didn't notice as he flipped over the empty garbage bin and sat down.

She sighed, scanning the room, and thought about Jay. It felt strange not having him at the first Scoops meeting of the year; being away at college was enough of an excuse to miss it. She did miss him, missed his fuller-than-life presence, the way he made her laugh. But what she said earlier to Melanie still rang true. Breaking things off with him felt right, and even if she missed him as a friend, she didn't miss anything more than that.

She hopped onto the cabinet next to Melanie as Jess flung open the back door, looking frazzled. She still had on her Post Road Market uniform, a smear of pink frosting on her shirt.

"I can be here for a half hour, but that's it," Jess announced, grabbing a folding chair from the back. "Let's make this speedy."

"You know it's never speedy with Ron," Blake quipped.

Calvin glared at him, a clear warning to keep his mouth shut.

"I think we'll start with the biggest news," Ron said. "It feels bittersweet to announce that this will be my last summer as the manager of Scoops."

The room went dead silent, the drips from the sink the only sound Rory could make out.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," Ron continued. "I am still staying on as owner, but after this summer, I will be handing all managerial roles over to Calvin."

The Scoopers sighed in relief, then followed with a few whoops and cheers. Tyler reached over and slapped Calvin on the back.

"You guys know he's been working in this type of role here for a while, but he'll have his degree by next summer and it was always our goal to have him take over officially," Ron said.

"Does this mean we're done experimenting with horrible flavors?" Jess asked unapologetically.

The Scoopers snickered at that, remembering Ron's choice to bring in the Blue Bombshell ice cream last summer that, in Rory's opinion, tasted like feet.

Ron frowned, but Calvin gripped his shoulder and answered for him. "Maybe not at first, but I won't stop reaching out to and experimenting with local suppliers and vendors. It helps to drum up business from customers outside of town if they know their favorite flavor is being served somewhere else."

"Just make sure it tastes good," Jess mumbled. Calvin kicked her foot.

"Speaking of new flavors…" Ron started.

They all groaned, but listened as Ron explained what he was adding to the menu this year—some sort of almond butter flavor with amaretto that sounded repulsive. As the Scoopers listened to Jess pleading with Ron not to add a new flavor, Rory's eyes strayed over to Tyler again. For a brief moment, he returned her gaze, their eyes locking across the room. He gave her a bashful smile, and his confession in the rain washed over her again.

It was killing her.

He broke their gaze, and she wondered if she imagined the entire thing. Focusing again on Jess, Ron, and Calvin, she bounced from person to person as they debated about the ROI of bringing in a horrible new flavor for the summer…whatever that meant. She didn't manage to get his attention again, and a half hour later, Jess was flying out the door as Ron was calling the meeting to an end. By the time she made it outside after everyone, Tyler's Jeep was already gone.