Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Jess was skeptical that the space would be up and running in a week. And yet, somehow, it came together without any issues. As if some kind of magical fairy was behind it all, spinning spells to make sure renovations went smoothly and appliances were delivered on time and installed with ease. In six days, Port Wheels was transformed as Kevin's vision for the bakery came to life.

She dipped a roller in a tray with beige paint, carefully lifting it before turning back to the wall. Even though Jess was meticulous about keeping her dripping to a minimum, she'd shielded the entire storefront and the bikes in plastic just in case. Which proved to be the correct choice when Kevin kicked the front door open, causing Jess to flinch and splatter paint on her shirt and the plastic covering the shiny new espresso machine next to her.

Jess set the roller down carefully and scowled at Kevin as he came marching in, one hand holding a couple of canvas totes filled to the brim, the other balancing a pizza box.

She frowned. "Weren't you supposed to be at Lowes?"

"I was at Lowes," he replied brightly, plopping the bags down before setting the pizza on the plastic-wrapped counter between them. "But they didn't have everything you requested so I also had to stop at True Value and Target, and Penny's was on the way home."

"Can you even afford pizza?" Jess chuffed.

"I told Penny her next repair is on me," Kevin said, lifting a hand and pointing at her face. "Also, stop being such a Debbie Downer. It's depressing."

"I'm not being a Debbie Downer, I'm being honest. We shouldn't be frivolously spending on anything. We should be focusing on getting in the green as quickly as possible."

Kevin groaned, tilting his head back. "Jess, working together is supposed to be fun ."

"If you wanted fun, you should have asked someone else to work with you," she replied. "Now hand me those bags."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Now hand me those bags….?"

Jess frowned. "Kevin…"

"Manners are such an important life skill, Jessica."

She growled at him, which only made his smirk stretch wider. He lifted the bags in front of her to make a point, swaying them back and forth. "Say the magic word, and they are yours."

"You're insufferable," she grumbled. She rolled her shoulders, making sure to glare at him the entire time, she conceded. "Now hand me those bags, please ."

"So polite," Kevin said, taking a step back from her, bags still in hand. "But no. You can have them after you take a break and eat a slice."

" KEVIN !"

He pointed to himself. "Boss, remember? Now eat."

She swore to herself, watching as he placed the bags on his desk at the opposite end of the shop.

"Fine," she snipped, flipping open the box. When she noticed the toppings on the pizza, she paused.

"Veggie is your favorite, right?"

She glanced up, realizing Kevin was standing back at the counter, holding a paper plate in midair.

"Ye—yes," she breathed, taking the plate from him. "How did you know that?"

"How could I not? I was at Scoops visiting Calvin one time and he had ordered pizza for lunch since you were both working a double. You stepped into The War Room to give him shit that he got you a slice of pepperoni and not veggie."

"And you…remembered that," Jess said. It wasn't a question, more of a statement. That somehow Kevin remembered such a small detail about her from years ago.

He shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"You're willing to…eat a vegetable pizza with me? Literally no one lets me get it because there's broccoli on it."

"I don't mind broccoli," he continued, lifting a stringy slice and setting it down on her plate. "Believe it or not, I actually order the veggie sometimes myself."

"Yeah right," she replied. She pulled a slice of mushroom from her pie and popped it in her mouth. "You're probably saying that to be nice. Just like you were about my favorite band."

"Definitely Maybe? Oh but I wasn't lying, they are my favorite band," he said, placing his half-eaten slice down on the counter before pulling out his phone from his back pocket. "‘You and Me' is an absolute bop. Should we listen to it now?"

Her mouth fell open. "You looked them up?"

"You + Me" blasted through the speakers at Port Wheels at an ear-piercing volume. Kevin grinned, his eyes not leaving hers.

She shook her head at him and bit into her slice, watching as he bobbed his head. He danced with his slice of pizza dangled between his fingers, lifting his hand to pull the cheese with each bite.

At some point, Jess found herself on the other side of the counter joining him, another slice in her hand as they danced along to each song in the plastic-covered bike shop, not minding that she was sweating through her ratty Haverport High varsity field hockey shirt.

When the last song of the album came to end, Jess found herself laughing as Kevin dipped low into a curtsy like a ballerina at curtain call.

He popped back up and grinned at her laughter. "That has to be the most beautiful sound," he said.

She reached over and slapped his arm. "Stop that. You're being weird."

"No, I'm serious." He followed Jess as she tossed her paper plate in the garbage and went back to her painting behind the counter. "Jessica, when's the last time you actually laughed like that?"

A long ass time , she thought to herself. She racked her brain trying to recall her last truly joyous moment, but nothing came to mind. It was always work and stress and paying bills and occasional sex with Charlie when she had the energy for it. Nothing had felt amusing to her for a while.

Her silence was telling enough, so she let it linger as she lifted the paint roller and dragged it up and down the primed wall.

"Come on, I'm serious," he said, reaching around her to grab the other paint roller. "You told me what you thought you wanted for your life isn't exactly what you want anymore, right?"

She bristled at his abruptness as he recited her words from weeks ago, but decided not to lash out at him quite yet. He did have a point. So she nodded.

"Okay, then what do you want now?" he asked.

She rolled a few strokes of pale beige on the primed white walls. "I'm not sure. Everything feels so…new and strange right now."

He nodded, reaching to fill in the white spots near the ceiling that were too high for Jess to reach. "That makes perfect sense, you lived that way for so long."

"Right. So how in the world can I know what I want when it hasn't even been a week?"

Kevin froze mid-stroke, his abrupt pause causing Jess to slow herself.

"I have an idea," he said, dropping the roller back into the tray and charging for his desk. Jess watched as he ripped a piece of blank paper out of a legal pad and grabbed a pen, heading back toward her. He leaned against the counter over that piece of paper and wrote the number one at the top.

"You're right. Trying to figure out what you want for your new life probably feels like a lot."

"No shit," Jess grumbled.

"Manners, Jessica. That mouth of yours won't get you anywhere."

She rolled her eyes and flipped him off.

He laughed in response. "Let's focus on the now. What are the things you want to do right now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like…" He tapped the pen in his hand as he thought through his response. "You've spent your whole life working to make money and live in this reality that you thought you wanted. But in that time, there were probably things you never got to do. So…what do you want to do?"

"As in…activities?"

He grinned. "Exactly! Think of it as a bucket list of all the things you want to do that you haven't had the chance to since graduating high school."

"A bucket list," Jess repeated.

"We could even kick it up a notch," he added, tapping the pen incessantly. "Let's pick ten things we should do by the end of this summer."

" We ?" she balked.

"Oh yes, this is a we activity. Consider it team bonding. An extended clause on the offer."

"Or what? You'll fire me?"

"Yes," he deadpanned. "I'm the boss. You must do as I say."

"I feel like you probably shouldn't be using that excuse all the time…"

"Or what? You'll call HR?" he teased. "Because I am HR."

She groaned. "You really are insufferable."

"I take that as a compliment," he said, clicking the pen. "Now, let's start. Number one."

Jess set down the paint roller, realizing there really was no way out of this. Plus, would it really be so bad if she spent her summer doing the things she'd always wanted to do? It seemed a little silly but…it also sounded nice.

She crossed her arms. "Open up my own bakery."

He pointed the pen at her face. "That's a cop-out."

"My summer bucket list," she quipped. Before Kevin could quip back, she cut him off. "You seriously telling me that all the work we're doing to start this bakery can't count?"

He huffed. " Fine , but no more work stuff on this list. Number two."

She tapped her finger to her lips, glancing at the glass display case and thinking of all the treats that would soon fill those pristine-looking shelves. "Take a professional baking class."

"I said no work stuff!"

"That's not work stuff, that's fun stuff," she answered, pointing to the paper. "Write it down, boss."

He smiled, his teeth gleaming as he shook his head, scribbling it down. "Yes, ma'am."

Jess felt an unfamiliar tightening in her chest at his yes, ma'am. She watched the way his mouth twitched as he wrote. She tore her lingering gaze away before he could notice, then paced back and forth about what else she really wanted to do.

Her mind went to the vacation she'd miss out on this summer, how she would never go to the Cape with Charlie again. But that also meant she would… never have to go to the Cape ever again. She was free to go wherever she wanted. Charlie's idea of a vacation was visiting a carbon copy of their hometown. Now? She was free to vacation however she pleased.

And buy whatever she pleased. And spend her time how she pleased.

Her mind began racing with the possibilities.

"I want to go camping," she said. "Not backpacking, just camping. Somewhere far from here, out in the woods. Maybe Maine or New Hampshire."

"Or Vermont," Kevin said, winking at her before he looked back down at his paper. "Love it. Writing it down."

"I want to go to a grungy underground rock concert," she added, the ideas now spilling out of her. "And the location has to be extra sketchy. I want my shoes to stick to the floors from spilled beer and god knows what else, and for there to always be the possibility of someone getting punched in the face."

"How…oddly specific. I dig it."

"I want to watch all of The Lord of the Rings movies in a single sitting—the extended versions. Charlie hated those movies and I haven't had the chance to rewatch them since high school. I want to drink gross energy drinks to stay awake and eat lots of popcorn and end the marathon with the sun rising and feeling utterly sick to my stomach from junk food."

"An absolute rager with Frodo and Samwise. I'm in."

Jess whipped around from where she was pacing to face him. "You'd really watch all three of them with me? That's a twelve-hour commitment."

"Jessica, if you're doing it, I'm doing it."

Her chest tightened again. She rubbed at it as she turned away, hoping it would ease the feeling as she brainstormed the rest of her list. "I need new jeans. I'd like to find the perfect pair."

"Oh now see, I draw the line at shopping." He said it with such a straight face.

Her shoulders sagged. "Really?"

For a beat, he was silent. But then he smirked, and she realized he was toying with her. She reached over and shoved his shoulder as he laughed.

"Jessica, we will find you the pair of jeans," he said, writing it down. "Where you go, I go."

She crossed her arms, deciding it was time to start playing with him. "If that's the case, then I also want to go skinny dipping."

She relished the way his cheeks turned pink, his eyes widening.

"Where you go, I go, right? Looks like you'll have to hop into the Long Island Sound butt naked."

"But that would also mean you would have to get butt naked," he said, that infuriating smirk curling up the side of his face again.

She wanted to wipe it right off, and thought of just the way to do so. "I want to hook up with a stranger."

His face paled. Success.

"I-I, well—"

"I mean, it's been so many years with Charlie…I never really got to try the whole one-night stand thing," she said. "You could be my wingman."

He ran a hand through his hair, brushing it out of his face. "I don't think—"

"That it's a good idea? This is my list, but hey, if you'd rather we not do this, we could scrap the whole thing…"

"No," he said rather abruptly. "We're doing this. You deserve this."

Her chest did that weird thing again as they stared at one another. Kevin coughed to break the silence, looking back down at the sheet of paper. "You, um, have two more."

Jess paced, thinking through what her life would be like without Charlie. It hit her then—for the first time in almost a decade, she was single. Alone. Well…not completely alone; she had Calvin and his Gram and the staff at Scoops and her infuriating friend turned bossy boss. But as she wondered whether she'd feel that familiar loneliness this summer, something she'd never had the capacity to do with Charlie hit her square in the face.

"I want to get a dog," she whispered

Kevin's face brightened, as if he himself were a dog and Jess had offered him a treat. "A dog?!" he squeaked.

"Calm down, tiger," she said, shuffling through the logistics of what having a dog would entail. "Out of all of these, that feels the most unrealistic. They're so expensive, and with the bakery opening I'm not even sure if…"

"Stop, stop, stop," Kevin said. He moved around the display case to her side of the counter, then placed his hands on his shoulders. His favorite position with her, apparently. "We can easily find solutions. And you're about to have money , Jess. You won't have to pay rent for a little while."

"I can't mooch off the Balls forever, Kevin."

"Yes, but they're in no rush to have you leave. You can take your time."

She huffed. "I should probably ask them if it would be all right before we get our hopes up."

He squeezed her shoulders with a little too much enthusiasm. "Did you say we ?"

Jess felt her face flush. "I-I, shit, I didn't mean—"

"Aww, you want to be co-parents as well as co-workers, how cute," he teased, booping her nose with his finger. "I would love to be the father, you didn't even have to ask."

She scowled at him. "I didn't ask."

"Minor detail," he said, shooing her comment away. "I've kept a note of different dog names I like in my phone for years now. I'll send it to you for your consideration."

"How kind of you," she grumbled.

"Thank you. Now, I believe you have one left," Kevin said, snatching the list and writing DOGGIE!!!! in bold for number nine.

Jess reached for the roller in the tray and began aggressively painting the walls again. She knew what her last one should be, but sharing it with Kevin felt way too intimate.

"Hey, hey, don't shut down on me," Kevin said softly, reaching for her again. She twisted out of his reach.

He got the message straight away and took a few steps back. "Okay, how about this."

She paused, peering over her shoulder at him.

"How about we each pick something for number ten, something that we do at the time of our choosing."

Jess frowned. "But then that would make it eleven things."

"We won't have to finish them this summer, they can exist outside the list."

She considered it for a moment, then nodded. He handed her the paper and pen, encouraging her to write it down. Jess leaned over, then with a shaky breath, wrote down number ten.

10. See them again.

She exhaled, then thrust the list back into his hands. Kevin glanced down, nodding at what he saw, then added the last item to the list. He folded it up and slipped it into the pocket of his board shorts.

Jess frowned. "I don't get to see what you wrote?"

"Don't worry, you will soon."

She scowled. "But this is my list. Shouldn't I be the one to hold it?"

"Yes, but I am the keeper of the list. I make sure that you're not cheating and you actually do all ten things here."

"Has anyone ever told you how frustrating it is to be your friend?"

"Aww, Jessica, we're friends? I'm touched."

"I hate you."

"There she goes lying again, " he said. He pulled a bandana out of his pocket and tied it around his neck, then grabbed the corner and pulled it back, tucking his hair neatly behind. "All right, put me to work, boss."

"I thought you were the boss."

"Oh yeah, that's right," he said, taking a step back. "Should I leave then?"

Jess reached a hand out and grabbed his arm, his skin warm against her palm. "No, stay. Help me paint."

She felt his bicep flex at her touch and wrenched her hand away quickly.

He laughed, grabbing a roller. "Then paint I will."