Chapter Fifteen
Fifteen
Lombardo’s upper deck, with its long bar and view of the bay, was crowded. It was set up for the event with rows and rows of folding chairs. Now, half the seats were taken and the people milling about would certainly fill the rest.
The bartender served glasses of prosecco, and a Harry Styles song played in the background. Shelby surveyed the crowd and recognized the author from her jacket photo. Dee Dee Tattinger had dark skin, close-cropped curls, and was dressed in a denim jumpsuit. Shelby gave a wave, and Dee Dee made her way towards her.
“Thank you so much for hosting,” Dee Dee said warmly, smiling and shaking her hand. “And congrats on your book. I feel like, of course Provincetown’s bookseller is also a bestselling author!”
A woman with a pixie haircut and wearing a pin-striped pantsuit inched between them. “I’m Patricia, Dee Dee’s agent. You’re the bookseller?” she said.
“Yes—Shelby Archer. Good to meet you.”
“Is there a way to rope off the stairs? I think we’re at capacity.” She swept her around, as if Shelby might have failed to notice the crowd.
“I’ll talk to the owner and see what I can do.”
She didn’t want to talk to Carmen again. While she appreciated the warm welcome, she felt more comfortable leaving it at that. But she dutifully headed back to the front of the house.
“Everything okay up there?” Carmen asked with a smile, passing menus to a server.
“Great. I think we’re full, though. Do you have a—”
She’d lost Carmen’s attention to something over her shoulder. Shelby turned to follow Carmen’s gaze and saw Justin directly behind her. He wore faded jeans, work boots, and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His dark hair was on the longer side—the way it looked when he was too busy to get it cut.
He held the hand of a slight, pretty woman wearing a bone-colored Burberry trench.
“Shelby,” he said. His expression was neutral, his expression unsurprised. Of course, Mia had to have told him she was working at the bookstore.
“Hey. How are you?” she said, smiling.
“Look at this! A reunion,” Carmen said, waving Justin and Burberry Trench inside. “Give me a sec—I need to seat some people.”
Shelby, Justin, and Burberry stepped to the side. With Carmen gone, the vibe shifted from friendly to awkward.
“I’m just here for a book event,” she said. “Upstairs.” She pointed, as if Justin and his lady friend didn’t know where upstairs was located.
“Mia told me you’re working at Land’s End,” he said.
“Just for the summer,” Shelby said quickly. “It was unexpected.”
“This is Kate,” he said, putting his arm around the woman. “Kate Hendrik, this is Shelby Archer.”
“Of course,” the woman said, reaching out to shake her hand with a smile. “Congratulations on your novel.”
Kate Hendrik ?
“You’re not...the same Hendrik as the bookstores?”
“I am,” the woman said, offering a small, modest smile.
“She’s opening a location here this summer,” Justin said.
Shelby was speechless, and aware her silence was creating a socially awkward moment. But... Justin’s girlfriend was Colleen’s competition? It was too much. It was like something out of a novel.
Like something out of a novel. She realized, in that moment, what was wrong with her new book. She didn’t feel emotionally invested in the story. She couldn’t relate. And if she felt that way, how could she expect her readers to connect to it?
Maybe she was just avoiding the discomfort of the moment, but her mind started racing with ideas. What if she changed the competing bed-and-breakfasts in her novel to sparring bookstores instead? And maybe add some kind of romantic tension—not that there was romantic tension between her and Justin. But seeing him with his new girlfriend, the irony of the bookstore situation—it gave her the idea for raising the stakes in her novel. For the first time since she started writing Guest Rooms (the title would have to change), she felt it had a heartbeat.
Her return to Provincetown was already paying off creatively. And, as Justin wished her a good night and went to be seated in the restaurant, she felt it was paying off emotionally, too. Closure was important.
But the thing with Kate Hendrik. The stakes had been raised in real life, not just her work in progress. As Duke said, Land’s End had to up its game. And she was ready to swing big for Colleen.
After running into Shelby at the restaurant, the night never fully recovered. At least, not for Justin. He had to hand it to Kate—she kept it classy. Clearly, she wasn’t the type of woman to be threatened by an ex. And she didn’t seem to notice that Carmen was clearly more interested in talking to Shelby. But hours later, he was still riled up and decided to stop by the Bollard before heading home.
He spotted Doug at the bar. If anyone would understand why the night left him feeling off-kilter, it was Doug. But when Justin walked over and tried to fist-bump, Doug left him hanging.
“Everything okay, buddy?” Justin said.
“They’d be better if your girlfriend wasn’t opening that bookstore. Colleen’s taking it hard.”
So he was pissed. Mia had been right. “I honestly didn’t think of it that way. I’m sorry.”
“Is there any other way to think of it? I mean, it’s direct competition.”
Justin realized he should have been more sensitive. But he’d lived in Provincetown his entire life, and knew that when it came to retail, Commercial Street was like Noah’s ark: two of everything. Especially in the summer, when the year-round population swelled from under three thousand to up to sixty thousand people.
Feeling bad and unsure what to say, he stood with his back to the bar and watched two guys throw darts across the room. Shelby came to mind again—the first night he’d brought her to the bar. She’d never played darts before, and he could still remember the gingerly way she’d held them at first, and how by the end of the night she was throwing them with precision and let out a delighted laugh when she hit the bull’s-eye. They hadn’t stopped playing until the lights flickered at closing time.
He turned back to Doug.
“And you could have given me a heads-up about Shelby coming back to town.”
Doug furrowed his brow. “Fair enough. The truth is, Colleen didn’t want me talking about it to anyone.”
“Why not?”
“Because she doesn’t want to broadcast her situation. She sees it as some sort of failure. She was determined to prove to her parents that keeping the store open was worthwhile, that she had the energy and focus to make it work. Now she’s not allowed to do much more than walk inside.”
“Look, I’m sorry about the bookstore,” Justin said. “I know what it seems like from your end. But if Colleen was working, if it were a normal summer, I don’t think Hendrik’s would bother you. And I had no way of knowing it would be like this.”
Doug signaled for two beers and nodded.
“Don’t let Shelby get to you, man,” he said.
“I’m not. Things with Kate are solid.”
Doug took a swig of his fresh bottle of Modelo. “So why are you here with me?”
“Why aren’t you home with Colleen?” Justin said.
Doug touched his bottle neck to Justin’s. “Touché,” he said. “Let’s just get through this summer.”