Candle In The Wind

Chapter Sixty Six

Hello Means Goodbye

I finalized the menu with Ava with a long sigh—this would be our last time working together. Leaving with Pinky was definitive. Which was very nice of her to do as a friend, but I was still going to miss her, and so would everyone else—Ben-Ben, even Bailey who didn’t want to admit it, and definitely Val, who was sitting across from us on a table he was supposed to be cleaning because he came in just around closing time. He was sulking like a big baby. In fact, we were all sulking at this pity-non-goodbye party we were definitely not throwing. I couldn’t help but think about how tomorrow would be, how empty the shop would feel without Ava. I could practically see it, Bailey will become even more stoic than ever, and I’d have absolutely no one to talk to—I couldn’t bother Ben-Ben in the kitchen forever.

I sighed again as I looked out the window. The Barn was well decorated for Christmas, the garland lights framed the window perfectly and we even had a decorated tree near the shelf. We put out an Elf on the Shelf and so many other Christmas knick-knacks. The playlist was now a cheery Christmas playlist—our hot chocolate had gotten really popular. All that was left for a perfect Christmas was snow. Well, it wouldn’t be as perfect anymore now that Ava wouldn’t even be spending Christmas with us.

“God—would you guys tone it down a little?”

“I can’t,”

I sighed loudly, “you’ll forget all about me soon,” I whined.

She laughed as she glanced at me. “How could I? Not when I’ll be able to get a free meal and coffee from here.”

I pulled my lips into a thin line and looked at Val.

“And we’ll keep in touch,”

she added.

“You don’t have to worry about that with me,”

Bailey butted in.

I sent him a snarling look.

“I wasn’t even dreaming of it,”

Ava barked back with a scoff as she chuckled.

I laughed. In the corner of my eyes I saw Val watching Ava laugh, my brows furrowed as I slowly stopped laughing. I couldn’t believe those two hadn’t done anything all year—even if they did and didn’t tell me, Val still looked like he was pining. Like a dog who’d been kicked. He hadn’t said anything this whole entire time, it has just been Bailey and I conversing with Ava as we cleaned up and Val admired her from afar while doing nothing pretending to do something. But it was so painfully obvious—I was sure even Ava could see what he was doing. That man had zero shame, he was dedicated to savoring every single minute Ava had left with us.

“I’ll be back for your wedding,”

Ava said as she lightly tapped me with the kitchen rag that was in her hand. She was smiling like she would die proudly after saying that— and the fact that she was so sure of herself.

I burst out laughing uncontrollably. “what?”

I sucked in a breath as my nose flared trying to breathe and laughing wasn’t working out so well, “me?” I pointed a finger at myself.

She sent me a long look because apparently she didn’t find this half as amusing as I did.

“Yes, you.”

She walked towards me and slapped my shoulder, “why is that so funny?”

“Because there’s still more to experience, more people to meet,”

Bailey said as he ran a hand through his hair.

All of us turned to look at him, confused.

I shook my head as I wiped a tear under my eyes. “No that’s not it.”

Ava kept her eyes on Bailey. “Oh, my god!”

she slowly slurred out with suspense.

My brows furrowed as I looked back and forth between them.

“Bailey,”

she gasped, “My god.”

“What?”

I mumbled as my brows furrowed.

“What’s going on?”

Val looked at me for an explanation.

I shrugged, just as confused as him.

Ava slapped a hand over her mouth, as she smiled—shaking her head at Bailey, and he looked freaked out.

“Please stop freaking Bailey out, Ava, what’s going on?”

“Bailey has a crush on you!”

she blurted out.

I blinked. Once, twice, then I slowly turned to look at Bailey because that couldn’t possibly be true. I shook my head as I chuckled. “No, Bailey has been giving me shit since I met him, and you’d think as his superior he would at least be scared of me but no—a crush?”

I laughed, “please.”

“Wait a minute,”

Val whispered, I glanced at him as his brows furrowed, “he always listens to you.”

I sent Val a long look, “I’m his boss, and like a thousand years older than him.”

He was a spiteful, angsty teen—just this conversation alone could make him quit. And I couldn’t afford that right now. Not when I was already losing Ava.

“I’m so happy I was able to confirm this before I left—”

Ava clapped excitedly, then she looked at me, “I’ve always caught him staring at you for a long amount of time, then he always make your sandwiches, and he always talked back to you in a mean way but I could tell, somehow, he was flirting with you.”

My skin crawled as I visibly cringed. I felt like a cougar, and not the fun, sexy, legal kind. But then I looked at Bailey, whose face was burning with embarrassment—he couldn’t even look at me. I pulled my lips into a thin line as I signaled for Ava to stop teasing him about it.

We’ve all been there, liked someone who was older than us—it was uncomfortable for the recipient and embarrassing for the sender. Unless you were a teenage protagonist girl in a romantic novel and your older brother has a friend you were into I didn’t see how anything like that could ever actually work out.

“It’s alright,”

Val said, “own it. They’re your feelings, just because they aren’t being accepted doesn’t mean they aren’t right.”

I nodded. “Yeah, there’s gonna be a prettier girl than me who’s going to be obsessed with you.”

Ava sighed as she finally sat down, “it’s not a bad thing,”

she looked at Bailey intensively, “I just got too excited about it—I actually think it’s really sweet—”

“But maybe check back in…in a couple years, and if Juliette is still not married—”

“Val!”

I cut him off.

He laughed.

Bailey finally laughed.

I smiled as I sent him a sympathetic look. “It’ll pass,”

I sucked in a breath as I paused, “and please don’t quit.”

“And if you do, don’t take Ben-Ben with you.”

Ava raised her finger in Bailey’s direction.

“I won’t quit,”

Bailey finally said.

I sighed in relief.

“I’ll take c of the new hire for you before I leave,” Ava said.

“I have a new hire?”

She looked at me blankly. “You’ll need a replacement for me otherwise you’ll be short-staffed.”

“But I’ve always been short-staffed,”

I deadpanned.

“It’ll be worse.”

“Fine,”

I mumbled to prevent us from bickering.

“Good, it’ll be the very last thing that I do for you before leaving—and feel free to call me anytime to make the menu, or just about anything really.”

She smiled.

I nodded. And I would be forever grateful to have worked with her and gotten to know her. Ava became a part of this place, and it would really take me and probably—maybe—everyone else some time to process.

I looked at Val who’d barely been speaking, it was always interesting to see the way he was when he was around Ava. He got absolutely quiet, and that was impressive. I had no idea if something did or did not happen between them. They never talked about each other. For months, it always felt like they were playing a cat and mouse game and left everyone out of it—or maybe my hopes were too high, and I sucked at reading the room.

Bailey stood up. “Okay, I’m clocking out now.”

My brows furrowed. “Wait, you were still on the clock this whole time?”

“Yeah, like I’d talk to you guys for free,”

he retorted.

“Heyyyy!”

Ava and Val both groaned out.

Ava slowly began to chuckle as she rubbed a hand over her forehead. “So, what you’re doing is actually a felony.”

“Yeah, you’re stealing time,”

I deadpanned.

Bailey blinked and just stood there like a six foot tall statue.

I sighed, “goodnight, Bailey.”

Without another word Bailey walked around the counter and clocked out using his phone number and left.

“You’re too sweet on him, Jules.”

Val stretched as he stood up, it looked like everyone was slowly leaving. The pity-not-so-goodbye party was coming to an end.

“Goodnight, Val,”

I mumbled.

“Right,”

he looked in Ava’s direction, “goodnight.”

I slowly turned my head to look at Ava—she was looking at him.

“Goodbye,”

she softly uttered.

He smiled softly, and she nodded like she understood this was their only version of goodbye. They silently stared at each other with what felt like longing tangled with the idea of what could’ve been. But they were too late, and that was their reality. They’ve feigned ignorance for too long—so long that they’d become the epitome of too late.

In life…I thought everyone who encountered someone who their heart gravitated towards had possibly met their one great love without even realizing it. People that passed by in your life and touched you without scarring you. People who became a childhood scent or a nostalgic taste. The people that never truly left you, no matter how much time went by. Sometimes it was the people who made you feel warm even through the harshest winter—they turned on the light for you through the darkest days. Loving them became as inevitable as breathing.

You only meet them once…or twice.

Once is a coincidence, twice is destiny.

They had one more chance to meet again and finally fall in love.

They didn’t hug or make a big deal out of it, they just shared one last glance and before I could process anything, Val had already walked out the door.

Ava deflated in her seat, like she could finally breathe again.

I remained silent in my seat and strangely my thoughts ventured to Callum—I began to think about how he was everything that I just described. Loving him was as inevitable as breathing—if more—it was suffocating. Like I couldn’t breathe without loving him.

I sucked in a sharp breath as I stood up. I had to be home soon—Callum had been home all day with Clay. Ava stood up as well and looked at me.

“Thank you for letting Pink crash,”

Ava said, “my place is…” she rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh, and I understood she didn’t want to talk about it while pretending to explain herself.

I nodded understandingly, “I know what that’s like.”

I gently grabbed her hand, “that’s why I always thought if you’re in the position to help someone, help them.”

Ava broke out into a smile. “You sound like a bible scripture.”

I pressed my lips together to hold myself back from laughing, but that backfired—I couldn’t look at Ava with a straight face. “I’m pretty sure a Jehovah’s Witness told me that.”

I finally laughed.

“That checks out.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “No, but—hearing that meant a lot.”

“Yeah,”

she nodded, “I’m gonna miss you, Jules.” She pulled me into a hug, nearly choking me.

I forcefully wrap my arms around her. “I’ll miss you even more.”

After a few seconds went by I froze as I realized that this wouldn’t be our final goodbye, today was just Ava’s last day of work…“We’re literally heading home together,”

I deadpanned.

“Oh yeah!”

She laughed.