Chapter 23

Her first thoughtwas to stop at the diner. She wanted to confront Gabi, tell her what she knew: that her father lived less than an hour away, that she'd met him, and that she finally knew the extent of the sacrifices she'd made for her. Even if that meant Gabi would be pissed she wasn't in school, even if Rory had applied to Baybrook against her wishes, this moment felt bigger than all of that. She just needed to see her. If she was about to be grounded for eternity, well, so be it.

Her conversation with Fred Barry had her thoughts swirling. She refused to refer to him as her father anymore—that man didn't deserve the honor. Despite how mad she was though, Rory was shocked by how much relief she felt following the interaction. She no longer had to wonder about who her father was, or what it would be like to have him in her life. Fred Barry was a deadbeat, a man so bitter and hateful she was glad he hadn't stuck around.

Her phone pinged with a text. It was from Vanessa.

U ok? Didn't see u in English.

Rory stopped at a red light two blocks from the diner. She snatched her phone and typed back.

Yep, doc appt

Vanessa responded straightaway.

So ur coming to the review?

Rory groaned, resting her head back on her seat. She'd forgotten about the yearbook review. It was their last big push after Penelope's final copy edit. It was supposed to be a long one—Penelope even promised dinner would be provided for the entire staff. Typically their editor-in-chief was stingy with the club budget, given their funds were far from stellar to begin with.

A horn honked behind Rory's car, making her jump. She quickly sped off, driving right past the diner before turning on Boston Ave.

She would have to deal with the wrath of Gabi later.

* * *

"This page has it, too,"Rory said firmly, pointing to the spread.

Penelope growled. "Seriously, Michaels, you're killing me."

"She's only doing her job," Vanessa said softly.

"Yes, but this is just being nitpicky," Penelope snipped, tossing her leftover crust on a paper plate. "I had to edit the copy, remember? The text is fine."

"But you don't think it looks weird?" Rory said, pointing to the way the blurb on the page looked uneven. "Especially with an orphan here at the end."

"Goddamn orphans," Sean mumbled. "We're going to be here all night."

Rory clicked to the next spread and pointed to another singular word at the end of a paragraph, the "orphan" that stood out like a sore thumb. She heard the entire staff groan, a few soft mumbles of disbelief. Rory glanced at the clock above the computer lab door—9:37. It had been the longest day of her life, and seeing how they were only three quarters of the way through approving the yearbook spreads, it was far from over. They hadn't even reached the senior section yet.

She sighed, looking over at Penelope, who had her face in her hands. "Okay, how about this. Given that the way the text looks on each page seems to be an issue, we'll divide pages to each staff editor to fix right now, and we"—she pointed to Penelope, Vanessa, and Sean—"can approve the rest of the spreads for the book."

She heard staff editors sigh with relief, a few thank gods murmured among them as Penelope assigned pages for each editor to fix. As the team dispersed, Rory joined the other leaders around Penelope's computer.

"Before we dive in, just want to triple check that we're all good for prom night," Penelope said. "Sean, I reserved a ticket for you so you don't have to pay since you're technically working all night. Just find me when you check in."

Sean's cheeks went pink. "Any chance we can make that two tickets?"

Penelope raised a brow, causing Vanessa to giggle to herself.

"I—well," he said, stuttering slightly under Penelope's razor-sharp gaze. "I have someone who offered to help me and I—"

"The senior pages are orphan-free," Gina interrupted, sliding next to Rory with a mischievous grin on her face. "Also, he's lying, he asked me to go with him."

Sean's face went from pink to red as Penelope rolled her eyes. "Will you actually be helping him, or will you serve as a distraction?" she asked Gina.

Gina winked. "Both."

"That's my girl," Rory said, high-fiving her teammate.

"Alright fine, as long as you get the photos in by the end of the night, I don't care," Penelope said. "Vee, how are things looking with the printers?"

Gina leaned in closer to Rory as Vanessa began briefing Penelope about print proofs and shipment dates. "Hey, have you talked to Helen lately?"

She cocked her head. "No, Helen and I never really hang outside of soccer stuff."

"Gotcha," Gina said, chewing her lip in concentration.

Rory frowned. "Is everything alright?"

Gina looked around the group to make sure no one was listening before turning her attention back to Rory. "So apparently she turned down her scholarship to play at Northeastern."

Her eyes went wide. "You're kidding."

"Yeah, and her parents are, like, furious."

"Where does she plan on going?"

"She told me she's going to Barnard instead."

"Do they even have a team?"

Gina shrugged. "Yeah, through Colombia. But she said she's not playing at all."

She shook her head, completely baffled. "That makes no sense. She hasn't shut up about wanting to play college soccer since I met her in middle school."

"Right? It doesn't make sense to me, either. I'm wondering what's behind it—"

"Hey," Penelope snapped (her fingers literally snapping in front of Rory's face). "Did you hear me?"

"Um, no?" she said, flustered. "Sorry."

"I asked if you and Vanessa are still good to work on the spreads after prom."

Prom. Images of Tyler and Zoe this morning flashed before her eyes, the way the school cheered for them. The idea of having to watch that all night, of having to somehow find a date that wasn't Tyler…it made her want to scream. It made her not want to go. At all.

"More than good," answered Rory, shining a bright smile in Penelope's direction. "I'm actually not going, so I can get them done earlier."

Penelope inhaled sharply. "Not…going?"

"Oh, thank god, I don't want to go either," Vanessa said, her shoulders relaxing as she admitted her truth. She stood up and linked her arm with Rory's. "I'll come hang at your place. Maybe I'll even get my mamá to make us empanadas for dinner."

Rory's heart warmed as she smiled at her friend, relief flooding every crevice of her being. "That sounds perfect. And tell your mother I want her to adopt me."

"Alright, enough of this, we're getting sidetracked," Penelope said, looking like she was ready to pull her hair out. "If we don't finish approving these spreads in the next hour, I'm going to lose my mind."

"Wait, you haven't already?" Rory teased.

They all laughed, including Penelope, who then gave Rory the finger.

Before turning her attention back to the screen, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

We need to sit down and talk

Crap, Rory thought as she read the text from Gabi. She'd snuck into the school after the last period, heading straight for the computer lab, trying to lie low so no one would see her. The school had probably reached out to Gabi about her absence. Or worse…her father reached out.

Before she could respond, Gabi already sent her another message.

I'm off Sunday night from the pub

Rory exhaled. It wasn't going to be tonight. Gabi was giving her a few days to think. She typed back quickly.

Sunday is Mel's birthday. After?

Fine, after

Rory sent back a thumbs-up emoji before shoving her phone in her pocket.

Vanessa leaned toward her. "Everything good?" she whispered.

She smiled. "Seriously, does your mom want to adopt me?"

* * *

Rory openedthe back door at Scoops the next evening and froze. Tyler was in his uniform, signing in, twirling his Scoops hat with his other hand before fitting it on his head.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Tyler frowned. "Someone looks disappointed."

"Well…yes," she said, her chest tightening. She wasn't sure if disappointed was the word she would go for to describe this moment. Caught off guard was more like it. Maybe even winded…especially with the way his turquoise Scoops shirt fitted tightly to his shoulders. "I was…I was supposed to be working with Mel," she stuttered.

"Calvin called me in, said Mel needed the day," he replied, his expression blank.

She twisted her hands, knowing what that meant. Tomorrow was Melanie's birthday, her first one she would celebrate without her twin brother. Her friend probably wasn't doing well.

She didn't realize Tyler had walked up to her, his massive frame hovering over her like a shield. "She'll be okay, Ry."

Rory nodded, not really believing it. But she didn't say anything as she shuffled around him and got ready for her shift, not daring to return his gaze.

It was just one shift. They'd had dozens together before, so it really wouldn't be a big deal. She would let herself get lost in scooping flavors, blending up milkshakes, and decorating sundaes. If they stayed busy, her mind would be distracted. And before she knew it, her shift would be over.

She stepped out of the bathroom as thunder boomed outside. The sky had gone from dusty blue to charcoal gray, the skies ominous as lightning cracked through the clouds and rain started pounding on the windows.

"Looks like we're not getting good tips today," Tyler grumbled. He glanced over at her, his dark chocolate eyes roaming her face like he was trying to get a read on what she was thinking.

She felt panic rise in her chest as she whipped her head in a different direction. She didn't want to spend her shift sitting here, staring at him. It sounded like a special hell designed just for her.

"Scoops customers are crazy," she babbled. "They came during a hurricane once; a thunderstorm won't stop them."

"Yeah but—"

"Until then, we'll clean," Rory said, shoving a rag and one of the buckets of soapy water toward him.

Tyler frowned. "This place is already spotless."

"Then we fill candies or fudges or make waffle cones," Rory said, feeling flustered. "Last thing I need is for Calvin to come in here and think we're slacking."

"I—but—"

She walked away before he could complain, turning on the Bluetooth speaker and blasting music to drown out the nervous thumping of her heart, doing anything she could think of to keep her hands busy.

After they filled the spoon containers and the cones and the napkin dispensers, polished the stainless-steel appliances, even vacuumed under the machines to get rogue candies, and mopped all the floors, they still had two hours left of their shift. Only a handful of customers braved the storm for a scoop, licking their ice cream cones in their cars as rain came down hard, leaving their tip jars depressingly bare. So now they stood there, leaning on counters at opposite ends of the shop, letting the storm sounds slice through the awkward silence between them.

"I didn't see you in school yesterday," Tyler muttered.

"Sick."

"You feeling better?"

She huffed. "No."

He looked confused. "Then why are you working?"

"Not the kind of sick that's contagious," she explained carefully.

"Then what kind of sick?"

She sucked in a breath, already regretting the words coming out of her mouth. "The kind of nausea you get when you watch the most absurd promposal in Haverport history."

Ty looked hurt. "It wasn't that absurd."

Rory rubbed the sweat from her palms on her khaki shorts. "Yes, it was."

"Ry…" he said, taking a step toward her.

She couldn't deal with this, couldn't deal with the way he was looking at her and having to talk about prom and how much she wanted him.

So instead, she changed the subject. "I found him."

Tyler frowned. "Who?"

She turned her face from him, looking out through the foggy windows. "My father. I found him."

"Wait…what?"

"I found out who he was from Gabi's old yearbook, and I tracked him down," she explained. "I met him yesterday."

Tyler closed the distance between them, placing one of his massive hands on her shoulder. "How'd it go?"

She shook her head, her breath catching. She wished she hadn't spent so much time daydreaming about a man who wasn't even worth the sticky old chocolate sauce smeared on the bottom of her sneaker. "There's a reason Gabi never wanted me to meet him."

"That bad, huh?"

Rory just nodded.

"I'm so sorry, Ry."

She couldn't help concentrating on the path of Tyler's thumb stroking up her shoulder and down to her collarbone. She also couldn't help how her eyes drooped to his lips, then to his shirt, the tightness around his shoulders and biceps making her mind go fuzzy. She heard him take a deep breath as he crowded her. A breeze rolled through the screen of the front window, the smell of fresh rain on pavement filling her nose, goosebumps flecking her skin. His face was so close she almost felt like she could smell the spiced cinnamon from their hot chocolate on Christmas, or the autumn leaves covering the backyard when he first kissed her. When her entire world changed.

She finally dared to look up at him, his eyes also drawn to her lips. He moved his hands slowly, gracing them up her neck and cradling the back of her head, her Scoops hat falling back onto the counter behind her as he drew her closer to him.

But then he stopped, his eyes still on her lips, so close they could almost brush.

"Kiss me, Ty," she pleaded.

He massaged his hands in her hair, her ponytail coming loose.

"I want to, Ry," he said. "So bad."

"Then why don't you?"

"Because if we do this, if I do this, I would never be able to forgive myself."

"For breaking my heart?"

He nodded, leaning down as he placed his forehead against hers.

Rory traced her hands up his side, placing them on his chest. "Ty, not being with you…I think it's already breaking my heart."

His grip tightened. "Every day I'm not with you causes me pain down to my bones. But then I think about leaving you, and I just…long-distance is hard. I don't want to make things harder for you."

Rory huffed. "Stop being so honorable, Chapman, and kiss me already."

"If I do, I don't think I'll be able to stop."

She smirked, nudging his nose. "Fine by me."

"Rory…"

Pounding on the window outside made them jump. Tyler dropped his hands and whipped his head around, making room for Rory to see the unhappy customer.

But it wasn't a customer on the other side of the window, completely drenched.

It was Jay.