Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“Have you really never recommended a book I didn’t like?” Talk about being good at your job.
“Not yet.”
No way had he gotten it right this time. “We’ll see about this time. I need to go finish cleanup at the shop.”
“All right. Give me a report tomorrow.”
Something about the book made him nervous. “What if I want to spend the evening planning my festival entry?”
Jonah shook his head. “That’s the last thing you need to do tonight.”
Rhys sighed, knowing Jonah was right. Thinking about the festival meant thinking about Caleb, and he did not want to do that. As he walked to Frost + Foam, he hurried past Agnes and a few other people who clearly wanted more than a quick wave from him. He’d done all the talking he could that day.
CHAPTER 6
After Rhys left, Caleb hurried through the rest of his closing duties and reset for the next day. He was too full of restless energy to head up to his apartment over the shop. He needed to move, so he started walking toward the harbor and let his mind wander. Why was he feeling so down? He hadn’t expected Rhys to agree to work with him, but when he’d said no, Caleb’s chest had tightened, and it felt like his stomach dropped down to his toes.
He was doing great here. The shop was almost as busy as it had been on opening day, and he was getting repeat customers and lots of compliments. He’d met lots of great people. Tessa and Finn had invited him to go apple picking with them and some other friends next week.
He wasn’t sure he could leave the store for a whole afternoon, but he loved that they’d asked him. The town was welcoming, and no one besides Rhys had seemed to question that he belonged there. Why did Rhys’s opinion matter so much?
And why did he feel like he needed to win Rhys over for things to really work out in Frostwick Harbor? His goal in starting over was to have something that was his and to focus on building that, staying positive, and finding people who were genuine, not fake-ass pieces of shit like Adrian.
He’d nearly reached the end of the promenade so he leaned on the railing and stared out at the water, lit only by the lights of the harbor and the sweeping glow of the lighthouse lamp. He didn’t want to think about his ex, but he couldn’t stop himself. He’d thought he was in love with the asshole. Adrian owned a coffee shop in Boston, and Caleb started working there after college. He’d immediately started pursuing Caleb, even though Caleb was his employee. That should have been enough of a red flag, but Adrian excelled at manipulation and seduction.
He made Caleb his manager, insisted they move in together, and kept saying he wanted to make Caleb part owner of the shop, but it quickly became clear that what Adrian really wanted was for Caleb to do all the work while he got the vast majority of the benefits. He kept stringing Caleb along, saying eventually they’d make a business plan and he’d become part owner, but the time was never right.
Caleb eventually lost touch with all of his college friends. Since he was only ever around Adrian’s friends, they did nothing to dissuade him from continuing to wait. After two years, he’d finally had enough. He’d always been a positive person. In college, his friends had teased him about how much he smiled. He’d truly enjoyed life, but after enduring his relationship with Adrian, he rarely felt positive anymore. He was angry and snappy with everyone, and he rarely looked forward to starting the day.
It didn’t matter how charming Adrian had seemed, how good he was in bed, or how hard Caleb had fallen for him, Adrian wasn’t going to change him, no matter what. Caleb decided he wasn’t going to let that asshole manipulate him anymore. He’d moved back in with his family so he could regroup and start over.
After countless talks about how he would have run Adrian’s shop differently, his sister, Kate, encouraged him to work on a plan to start a shop of his own. He’d wanted to stay in New England, but for years, he’d longed to try small-town life. When he started searching for properties he could rent, the available space in Frostwick Harbor called to him immediately, since he remembered his cousin talking about how charming it was there.
He’d made a good decision, and he was going to prove that he could run the store better than Adrian had run his. He was also finally feeling like himself again most days, even if he wasn’t feeling particularly positive at that moment.
After heating up a frozen pizza and quickly eating it, Caleb stretched out on the couch and called his sister. Talking to his her usually either cheered him up or put him in his place. He certainly needed one or the other, so he pulled out his phone and called her.