Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"You worked at a coffee shop for two years, but it recently closed?" Jess scrolled through the open résumé on the tablet perched on her lap.

Zach nodded. "Yes, the building sold so the shop closed. My manager decided not to reopen."

"That sucks, I'm sorry," she said.

He nodded once. "It was a long drive from here, so it'll be nice to work in town."

"Completely understand that," Jess replied. Thoughts of Charlie in his new apartment in Garrison crossed her mind, how far he must now be from home. She coughed, pushing past the thoughts, moving along with the interview. "You're familiar with basic espresso drinks. Americanos? Lattes? Cappuccinos?"

"Basic drinks, and a little extra. We could get creative with some of our flavors and what we offer, if you're willing."

"Amazing, you're hired," Kevin butted in.

Jess leaned over and elbowed his side. "Just because we know him doesn't mean he's the right fit."

"Oh come on, Jessica, Zach is perfect."

"I know I only got this interview because of Blake," Zach said. He lifted a leg up and crossed his ankle over his knee. "But I don't want you to hire me for that reason alone."

"We do love Blake, yes," Jess said. "And you're right, being his boyfriend can't be the only qualifier. We do have to consider all of our options."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "What options? Zach is willing to take a pay cut for us."

"Kevin, you want to hire him so you can work with your friends."

He beamed. "Is that such a bad thing?"

Jess shook her head, eyes back on Zach's résumé. It was impressive—he'd finished his second year at the local community college, had experience in coffee shops and restaurant settings, and was willing to take a pay cut and work the crazy early hours required for a bakery. But asking someone to work for her felt like a whole different kind of commitment, especially the significant other of a friend she respected. It felt like a really, really big ask.

Soft fingers covered in silver rings brushed her hand, matching bracelets dangling from his wrist. Jess looked up at Zach, understanding etched on his face as he gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"If working for you is going to cause strain on your relationship with Blake, then let's not do this," Zach said. "I love him and I love this little family you all have. I don't want to ruin anything. Scoops means so much to him."

Her throat tightened. Even though the Scoopers were quite a bit younger than her, that place and those people meant everything to her, too. Scoops had been her little sanctuary away from her hell for so long. But she would never admit that to them. Jay certainly would never let her live it down. And Rory probably wouldn't stop hugging her.

But Zach was perfect for the job, she couldn't deny that.

She cleared her throat. "How about this. We'll try this out for the summer and see how we're feeling by Labor Day. We keep an open line of communication, and if absolutely anything comes up, talk to me. I've never managed someone before, and like you said, we don't want to ruin any relationships. So let's be honest with each other."

Zach squeezed her hand again then sat back, a dimple appearing on his devastatingly handsome face. "Sounds perfectly reasonable."

The tension in her chest eased. "How often are you willing to work? We'll likely be open every day."

Kevin scoffed. "Every day? No, that's not happening."

Jess frowned. "We have a shop to save."

"But that doesn't mean we have to work ourselves to the bone to do it. No, I'm the boss, I set the boundaries. We're closed on Mondays."

"Do you really think that's wise with so much more on the line?" She waved an arm around the renovated shop and bakery.

"When else are we going to work through your list, Jessica?"

Zach raised a brow. "What list?"

"Nothing, ignore him."

Kevin grinned. "Jessica has a summer bucket list that she must finish in order to keep from getting fired."

"You won't actually fire me," she growled, tapping away on the new tablet courtesy of their silent investor. She hadn't thought too much of it when Kevin set it up for her, claiming it was essential for taking orders and running the business. It's not like he was wrong—her laptop wouldn't be speedy enough for what they needed.

"Is that like…an employee requirement or something?" Zach teased.

Kevin barked out a laugh. "Do you want it to be?"

"My only goal this summer is to make sure Blake isn't working at Scoops during Haverfest this year, buy him all the cotton candy he wants, and ride the Ferris wheel until he's sick of it."

"That is so cute I might scream," Kevin replied.

"Please don't," Jess quipped.

"Speaking of…I know this is absurd to ask right after getting hired, but can I have that day off?" Zach asked.

She nodded. "If that's really your only goal for the summer, then yes. Kevin and I can handle it that day."

"Hmm, maybe we should do a booth on the street like everyone else and close down the storefront," Kevin dreamed.

"That's actually not a bad idea," Jess mused.

"See, Jessica, this is why we make a good team," he said, reaching up to boop her nose again. She slapped his finger away, which only made him laugh.

Zach leaned forward. "Just to be clear, do you go by Jess or Jessica?"

"Jess," she answered at the same time Kevin said, "Jessica."

Zach looked back and forth between them, then made the correct decision. "Jess, what day would you like me to start?"

"The bakery's opening day will be this time next week. Can you be here at six thirty in the morning next Wednesday?"

"Absolutely. Mind if I poke around the shop and get my bearings?"

Jess lifted an arm in invitation. "Have at it."

Kevin leaned over to Jess when Zach was a safe enough distance from them. "Is it just me or is it absolutely crazy that Blake scored him?"

"Blake is unfailingly loyal and loving, doesn't surprise me at all," Jess responded, scrolling through her list of to-do's. Pick up the dishes and mugs she ordered from the restaurant warehouse. Stock the bins with flour and sugar. Write out the bakery menu on the chalkboard they hung up yesterday. Swing by the discount shoe store and see if she could find a new pair of clogs to work in.

"So Blake can get it." Kevin leaned back into his chair.

Jess whipped her head around and glared. "Do you take any of this seriously? We have so much to do and you can't seem to ever focus on the task at hand."

Kevin's eyes went wide at her abruptness. "Geez, Jess. Not everything is about work."

"You have a business that's failing. Right now, everything should be about work."

He looked like she punched him in the gut. "Twist the knife, why don't you?"

"I'm only being honest."

"Yeah, me too." He shifted in his seat so he was fully facing her, his knees knocking against hers. "Listen, I am pumped that we're working together and that you're getting things organized for us. But there is nothing stopping us from having fun while we do it. So I'm going to need you to lighten up a little bit."

"Lightening up won't get us anywhere."

"Neither will forcing yourself to be miserable your whole life. It's like you're a glutton for punishment or something."

She sucked in a breath, ready to serve the snark right back, when the front door slapped open. Rory looked frazzled—her mahogany hair tied up in a bun, her rainbow painted nails chipped, her seafoam-green eyes blazing with anxious energy.

Jess stood up, instantly worried. "Everything all good?"

"Um, well, actually—" Rory started.

"Do I need to beat Tyler up?"

Rory's shoulders relaxed. "No, no, this has nothing to do with Ty."

She couldn't help being protective of this girl. When Rory came into Post Road that past fall, makeup running down her face from crying and a phone perched to her ear, something cracked in her chest. Despite her best efforts to stay out of all of the Scoopers bullshit drama, she found herself offering advice. Because god knew that's what she needed when she was seventeen—someone to speak truth into her life.

Even if she warned Rory off falling in love in high school, the girl seemed hell-bent on dating her best friend. But now when she saw her and Tyler together, constantly touching when they thought no one was looking, for some reason their relationship felt different. Like Calvin and Melanie's. It made her wonder where she'd gone wrong.

Jess ignored the regret that always seemed to simmer in her stomach when she thought of Charlie. "Then what's up?"

"Do you want the good news or bad news first?"

"Good news," Kevin blurted before Jess could reply. She decided not to fight him on it.

Rory reached into her canvas tote and pulled out her laptop. "The good news is, I finished the logo."

Kevin whooped as Rory opened up the screen. At the center of the logo was a simple drawing of a bike with a basket, and inside the basket was a loaf of bread. Port Wheels was written in a clean sans-serif font below the bike, with Bikes + Bakery in a smaller version of that same font below.

Kevin gasped, holding his hands to his chest. "Rory, it's perfect. You're perfect."

"Yeah?" Rory flushed, looking at Jess for confirmation.

She nodded. "Yes, this is awesome, thank you. What do we owe you?"

"Literally nothing, you're doing me a favor by helping me expand my portfolio. I'm already nervous enough about art school this fall with nothing really to show for it except my yearbook designs."

Jess rolled her eyes. "Fine. But only if you promise to never, ever work for free again. You are an artist now and you deserve to be paid what you are worth."

Rory's cheeks went pink. "Well, I don't know about that ."

"Seriously, promise me."

Rory glanced up at her and after a beat, agreed. "Okay, Mom, I promise."

"I hate when you children call me that."

"But we're your children ," Rory said, flinging her free arm around Jess's shoulders.

Jess grumbled a few curses as Rory squeezed tighter. "What's the bad news?"

Rory stiffened. She released her hold and looked at her screen. "Okay, don't freak out."

A few taps later, Rory hesitated, then turned her laptop toward Jess and Kevin. It was a Haverport community group on Facebook, and at the top was a long post from an unrecognizable username followed by paragraphs that had Jess's head spinning. She sucked in a sharp inhale when she scanned the first line at the top.

Who does she think she is?

"What is this," Kevin mumbled, his breath ghosting her ear. She didn't realize how close he'd stepped.

Jess ignored him and read.

Here in Haverport we are proud of our small businesses. We thrive on taking care of one another, of making sure our local business owners succeed. So why would we allow for someone with such limited experience to open a business that would directly compete with Grampy's, our town's most precious jewel? At least Seabreeze partners with Grampy's to sell his baked goods in their café. But Port Wheels' newest bakery will be in direct competition. Is it her goal to drive him out of business?

Not only is she leaving Scoops high and dry, taking all of her cake customers with her, but her absence at Post Road Market is also telling. She's stealing business away from our beloved establishments without a care in the world.

Hopefully it won't last; her father's business dealings may be telling enough. If the lifeline that is Charlie Sullivan III hadn't appeared all those years ago, Cap's Boatyard would've ceased to exist. If the saying "like father, like daughter" is true, maybe this won't be something we'll have to worry about at all.

Needless to say, Haverport: spend your money wisely on the people who are actually there for you. Not the people with a greedy hand in your pocket.

Callused fingers brushed her shoulders from behind, squeezing them tight. "Jess."

"How could someone possibly post this?" Rory whispered. The girl had tears in her eyes.

"Because it's controversial and moronic," Jess said flatly. She pointed to the hundreds of likes and comments below the post. "This is the kind of shit that gets attention."

"But it's awful. Like, truly insane. Yours is a business in town, too. Why would they not support you?"

Jess swept an arm toward the front windows, toward Main Street. "Because we are directly competing, and if you haven't noticed, we don't have doubles of the same kind of businesses in town. Capitalism doesn't exist here."

"But Grampy's isn't just a bakery. He sells sandwiches and deli meats and—"

"Rory, I knew this was coming," Jess explained, her voice calm despite the crushing sensation in her chest. "There was a reason why my boss at Post Road didn't want to keep the bakery open. Competition in this town is like this evil sin. We knew we were going against the grain when we decided to open."

Rory let out a jagged exhale. "Okay. Anything you need me to do?"

"Just send us the files for the logo. You've already done so much."

"You sure?"

Kevin dropped his hands, and she found herself missing their grounding weight. "Rory," he started, "could I pay you to write Jess's menu on that chalkboard? Make it look nice and pretty, maybe draw the logo somewhere on it?"

Jess exhaled, thankful that he was taking some initiative.

"I have to be in Scoops in fifteen, but I could come tomorrow before my night shift?"

Kevin nodded. "Great, come any time after nine."

Rory gave Jess one last pointed glance, then slipped her laptop into her bag and bolted out the door.

As soon as they were alone, Jess felt every muscle in her body tense, that crushing sensation making her feel like she was going to cave in. She sucked in sharp inhales, struggling to get any oxygen in her lungs.

"Whoa, it's okay, it's okay." Kevin snatched her hands and squeezed tightly, anchoring her back into the moment. "Focus on something around you. Tell me what you see."

"Um, uh—"

"Pick something, anything."

"The…bags. At your desk. I still haven't opened them."

"Stop making a to-do list and tell me details. What do the bags look like?"

"Tan. With the old Port Wheels logo. We'll have to figure out how to get the new logo on our receipts. Maybe we could sell bags."

"Jessica, for the love of god, stop thinking about work. Tell me what's happening."

"Your hands. They are so calloused. Do you ever use lotion?"

Kevin sniggered. "Better. Tell me more about my hands."

"You're squeezing little pulses. Like a heartbeat."

"Better, Jess. Tell me more."

"They shouldn't be this dry, usually your hands are covered in grease."

"Can't ruin any more of your tank tops."

She huffed a laugh, realizing the sound had a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "They're also warm. And tan. I keep wondering if you go to a tanning bed to stay this golden all winter long."

"Nah, I'm just made of gold," he teased. "Feeling better?"

Her chest was still tight. Her eyes shuttered, and she shook her head.

"Let's try your breathing. Deep breath in for me, sweetheart."

She obeyed, concentrating on those callused hands instead of what he'd just called her. Then she took another. Then slowly, a third.

"There we go." His voice was soft. Gentle.

Before she could protest, Kevin was pulling her into a hug, sealing her up tightly to his chest. One arm wrapped around her shoulders, the other cradled the back of her head. Keeping her secure.

The tension in her chest melted away.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I need to work on that."

"You're going through a lot, Jessica. No one expects you to be okay with it all. Especially me."

She exhaled. "Why are you so nice to me? I'm really mean to you."

He was silent. Jess listened to the hammering in his chest, the beat speeding up with each quiet breath.

"Do you remember the day we met?" he asked.

She racked her brain. "Um…I think it was sophomore year? Biology lab?"

He nodded, his fingers massaging her scalp. "It was my second day in Haverport. I was wearing my favorite tie-dye T-shirt my mom made me, and my hair was tied up in a bun, like how my dad wears it. It made me feel confident, like it was my armor in this very new, very unfamiliar environment."

Images of a younger Kevin flashed through her head, his tie-dye shirt, his Chaco sandals, his khaki shorts, a hemp necklace at his throat that she later learned one of his sisters made for him. Jess remembered that confidence, the unashamed swagger as he stepped into the classroom.

She also remembered the snickering, the name calling, the way her peers pointed their fingers and laughed at his clothes. Her hands curled, grasping fistfuls of his soft cotton T-shirt.

"Do you remember now?" he mumbled, unbothered by the aggressive way she was clinging on to him.

"I remember their laughter," she admitted. "I remember getting angry."

"You stood up and screamed at them, actually," he recounted. "Told them to take their cookie-cutter clothes and their bland, vanilla personalities and shove it up their asses."

"So ladylike of me," she coughed.

"It was incredible," he continued. "Obviously, you know I sat down next to you and we ended up becoming lab partners and friends. But what you don't know is that after that moment, no one made fun of my clothes or my hair ever again. I've always admired you for that, Jess. Your ability to fiercely love the outsider, your desire to want to take care of others. Like you've done for Rory this year. Like what you did for me. Still do."

He combed his fingers through her hair, then rubbed her back. "I know your reasons for not going to college are a lot different than mine. I couldn't fathom having to do more school and tests and homework, and sitting in a classroom was never my thing. But…it's been nice knowing I'm not the only one. That you and I are kind of in this together, figuring out the world on our own terms, one day at a time."

She didn't know what to say, but it didn't matter because he continued. "You've always been a small comfort. Even if you kind of hate me sometimes."

"I don't hate you," she admitted, her lips brushing against the front of his shirt.

His arms tightened around her, like she was a little clam in its shell. The thought of clams made her heart ache, her mind drifting back to simpler times, to those early morning truck rides to the beach with her dad, and before she could stop herself, she was crying. Her tears dampened his shirt as she softly sobbed. Kevin held her tight, whispering into her ear things that she couldn't comprehend over the roaring in her heart. The sound of his voice was soothing. Maybe he had always been a small comfort for her, too.