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)
“Of course not. Did you actually believe my ridiculous excuse?”
Heat rushed to his face. “Maybe. A little. I thought you’d forgotten to take cookies to Marianne for some library event or something like that.”
“I would have been a lot more worried if I’d screwed up like that.”
“I guess. I didn’t think a baking emergency could be all that serious, though.” A horrible thought made his food turn to a rock in his stomach. “Did Caleb know what you were up to?”
Tessa smiled. “Probably, but it’s not like he’d mind.”
“How could you embarrass me like that?”
She waved her hand dismissively. “It’s fine. He likes you. I already told you that. Now, tell me what you talked about.”
“He doesn’t like me. Not like you mean. He asked how we met. So I told him I moved here in second grade. We talked about moving and about how hard it is to come up with a drink for this damn festival.”
“Uh-huh.” She looked like she was expecting more.
“That’s it. Really.”
“Were you comfortable, or did you freak out?”
“I didn’t run away or anything. I was more comfortable than I thought I would be. He’s nice and…”
“You like him.”
There was no point in trying to argue with her. She’d been able to see through him since they were seven. “Yes, I do, but it’s not going to go anywhere. We can’t start a relationship when we’re both trying to run coffee shops here. The whole town would be in our business.”
“The whole town would be in your business, no matter who you dated. And Caleb is the new guy, so they’d be in his business too, but don’t give up an opportunity just because this town is ridiculous.”
“There’s no opportunity. He’s a nice guy. He’s friendly, and I managed to make small talk with him without completely humiliating myself this time, but now I need to work on my drink, so…”
“So I should leave?”
“I mean… Yes.”
She rolled her eyes. “And you’re going to stay here and work.”
Rhys nodded.
“What time did you get up this morning?”
What difference did that make? “Four thirty.”
“And you have to be back here tomorrow at…?”
“Five thirty like usual.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You need to go home and get some sleep.”
“You keep the same kind of hours I do.”
“I’m not opening tomorrow, and I’m also not stressing over a cute guy I didn’t have dinner with or an entry for the festival.”
Rhys huffed. “Right, because you figured out your entry weeks ago.”
“Finn figured it out, and the only reason you don’t have yours planned is because you’ve been busy stressing about Cloud Nine opening, so you haven’t had the energy for creative development.”
Rhys wanted to protest that he’d hadn’t been that worried, but he had, and Tessa knew it. Worse, she knew how bad his crush on Caleb was. He might be acting like it wasn’t a big deal, but he rarely ever fixated on a man like this.
“Come on. You need some sleep, and you can give me a ride home.”
“You don’t have your car?”
“No, I walked back to town after work.”
Rhys didn’t like that. “And you were going to walk home now?”
“It’s Frostwick Harbor. What’s going to happen? Agnes’s dog might jump out at me and demand pets. Or I might be accosted by the mayor and interrogated about the festival.”
What if she fell or something and no one was there? “Still.”
“If you’re worried about me, then take me home now and go get some sleep. You’re not in the right frame of mind to work on a new drink now. You can do that tomorrow.”
She was right. He should give up on making drinks now, but that didn’t mean he was going to sleep. How could he when all he could think about was how good Caleb looked sitting next to him, and the way he looked right into Rhys’s eyes as he waited for an answer to his questions.
The next day, Rhys had a lot more customers than he’d had during the week. There were lots of weekend tourists in town. The leaves weren’t near their peak yet, but they were beginning to turn, and the weather was gorgeous. Plenty of people were ready to get out to apple farms, pumpkin patches, and local harvest events, and plenty of them made a day of it with a stop in town.
Rhys didn’t have any time to work on his festival drink during the day, so he ordered a pizza for dinner and decided to spend the evening working. The shop didn’t open until eight on Sundays, so he’d have some extra time in the morning, not that he usually slept in. He liked keeping his routine the same every day.
He’d scribbled down a few ideas when he’d taken a break for lunch. He tried each of them, adjusted things, tried again, and repeated the process, but not a single one was any better than what he’d come up with the night before.