Chapter 19 #2
“Two of those,” he says. “And two rainbow sprinkled donuts.”
‘You have those, too?” I ask, with wide eyes, trying to ignore the way Graham’s hand burns on my hip. I can feel every finger through the thin fabric of my sundress, and it’s terribly distracting.
“I’ve been trying to keep them in stock just for you,” she says with a wink, not at me, but at Graham.
I look at him, increasingly confused by this visit, but Graham just shrugs as if he doesn’t understand, either.
Mrs. Miller has also been a bit of a character, so I just brush it off.
A moment later, she hands us the white pastry bag with donuts, then takes Graham’s card before we’re instructed to step aside while Mrs. Miller takes another customer’s order, and we wait for our coffees.
“I think I want to do more of that,” he says, and I look at him with wide eyes.
“More of…?” My mind is still on that simple touch, the idiot I am.
I quickly learn that Graham’s is strictly on business.
“Working with local businesses, seeing if we can wholesale from them and carry their products in the gift shop. I was about to place a wholesale order for gift shop items, but maybe it’s better to be more niche.
Benefit the local economy, create community, like you keep telling me is important…
make it obvious that we’re not just here for the season, but here to actually benefit the town as a whole. ”
I stare at him in awe. It seems my weeks of ranting and raving and gushing over the town that I love so much are paying off.
“That’s genius, Graham.”
“You’re the one always telling me how amazing but small this town is.
If we want this place to work long-term, it can’t just be for tourists; we need support from the town year-round.
” I nod, agreeing. “Let’s spend the afternoon looking around.
Do you know any places that would be good candidates?
” I blink at him before hesitantly nodding.
“I mean, yeah, but—”
“Great. Show me around, June. Introduce me to your favorite place on earth.”
There’s something about the way he says it, like he not only understands that Seaside Point is genuinely my favorite place on earth, but also wants to give me the gift of sharing that with him.
I can’t help it.
I move to my tiptoes, wrap my arms around his neck, and hug him tight.
“Oh my god, this is going to be so fun!” I say, cheer dripping into the words. He just stares at me before giving me my second-ever Graham smile and wrapping an arm around my waist to return the hold.
We walk the entire boardwalk.
I show him the candy shop where my grandmother used to get saltwater taffy, and we leave with a giant bag.
I point out the bagel shop Grandpa used to take me to every Sunday.
I show him the best arcade, and the one that’s a total scam.
I show him the little store that makes statues out of shells.
I show him the only sweatshirt place I actually recommend, the one that isn’t just overpriced tourist crap.
I show him the store where they shine up beach diamonds and make all kinds of jewelry.
I show him the candle store, the one that makes the mugs Mrs. Miller showed us, and the shop that has art prints.
“Yours should be up there,” he says low, tipping his chin to a wall that says local artists. I push at his shoulder and roll my eyes before bringing him to our next stop.
“What about these?” Graham asks as we walk through a gift shop.
I’ve been making a list of items that would work in the gift shop to try and find local creators or sellers to reach out to over the next few days, but when he points to a cage of hermit crabs, I can’t help but laugh. “They’re kind of terrifying.”
He bends a bit, looking into the chicken wire with a dozen sets of little claws latched onto them with a look of disgust. I can’t blame him, since they aren’t exactly cute. Not that I would ever tell Claire th at.
“They’re hermit crabs. Claire has nine of them, now.” His head lifts, looking at me with confusion and a bit of horror.
“She has nine of those terrifying things? On purpose?”
“They’re rescues. It started as six, but she added three more this spring.”
“How does one rescue a hermit crab?” he asks almost reluctantly, and I smile, wide, remembering it well, since I was her lookout the day she stole Big Gina and crew last summer.
“She stole them.”
“Why…why would she steal hermit crabs?”
“They were being mistreated. It’s actually super unethical to sell hermit crabs the way they do, and they’re deceptively hard to keep alive. The majority end up dying, hence the rescue mission. So, if you sell them at the shop, there’s a good chance Claire is going to want to rescue those.”
“And by rescue…” We both move out of the shop and down the boardwalk, headed back toward Daytrip.
“Steal. She would steal them, and I’d help her because it would be fun.”
He looks at me, blinking once, but I just smile sweetly.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to tell your boss that.”
“We’re friends right now, not boss and employee,” I remind him with a gently hip check and a smile. When he doesn’t argue my claim, bliss explodes in my chest, but it quickly deflates when a familiar face comes into view.
“Fuck,” I mumble.
“What?”
“My arch-nemesis,” I explain. A small laugh leaves his lips, and I don’t even have time to bask in the beauty of it because I’m too busy focusing on stupid fucking Cecelia Stevens, the biggest bitch to grace Seaside Point.
I pride myself on being a girl’s girl, but sometimes, a girl is just a bitch who hates other girls.
When that happens, I then have free rein to hate her, and I hate Cecelia.
Her family and mine have a long history of animosity that started when her father tried to date my mom, and my mom chose my dad instead.
I don’t know why he’s so mad about that, since they would never have worked together, but it’s a long, deep-seated legacy of hate that has continued between the Stevens and Taylor kids.
“Where?” He looks across the way, but I tug at his arm.
“Stop, don’t look!” But my luck must be hiding, because Cece spots us instantly, a smug smile spreading on her face as she makes her way over to us, an extra sway to her steps. “Oh, god, she’s coming our way.”
“Who is?” Graham says, looking around in confusion, because he might be a business genius, but he’s still a boy.
“The bottle blonde, I say through gritted teeth. “She’s my number one enemy; her family and mine have despised one another since the dawn of time. Her dad is the one who tried to cancel your permits, and you fired her brother,” I say.
“Ahh, so we hate her.”
Some sick part of me greatly enjoys the we in that statement.
“So much,” I agree.
“Why is she coming over this way?” he asks. I bite back a groan, instead putting a sweet smile on my lips and looking up at Graham as if I don’t even notice her.
“Because she’s a bitch, and I hate her, and she wants to rub salt in whatever wound she can find. Can we head back to the office as naturally as humanly possible, so it doesn’t look like I’m trying to avoid her?”
“I—” he starts, but my hopeful naivete is long gone when my name is called in that annoying, squawky voice.
“June? June Taylor? Is that you?” I tighten my jaw and sigh, turning toward the voice and giving her a tight, fake smile. “It is!”
“Cece,” I say, not able to have any real excitement in my voice. “How are you?”
“Oh, I’m just great! You know, summer off, getting to get my tan on.
” She waves her hand down her stupidly perfect body, a bikini top holding in the perfect boobs her dad bought her as an eighteenth birthday present.
In a moment, her face goes a bit mean, and a small smile spreads on her lips.
“So sorry you were fired, June,” she says, not a single ounce of apology in the words.
“I hear you’ve got a little art side hustle going, though. How fun!”
For as long as I can remember, she has always been able to find and grind all my sore spots with perfect accuracy.
Normally, I can brush it off, but right now, I’m tired, and I’m hot, and I’m in front of Graham, who I want to think I’m cool and fun and likable, not some loser who got fired and is now selling silly little art projects to keep the lights on.
Kill me now.
Kill me right fucking now.
“You know, I’ve gotten into art myself. I’m going to be doing the mural this fall,” she says with a grin, and even though I’ve nearly written off bidding on it, I can’t help but tip my head.
“I heard it was a bid process? Did they change that?”
She gives me a coy look and waves her hand.
“Oh, well, my daddy said that my entry is the most impressive, so I’m basically a shoo-in. Why, were you thinking about entering?”
“I haven’t decided,” I say through tight teeth. She lifts a careless shoulder, probably sensing she already hit her target and can move on, knowing she ruined my day.
“Well, I was just about to go get a tan, but I saw you and your friend and thought I’d say hi.
” Her rude tone softens to something sickly sweet, and she leans in, touching Graham’s forearm, eyes eating up every inch of him.
It takes everything in me not to push her away, and not to question where the hell that came from.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” she asks.
I don’t want to introduce them. I don’t want to give Cece any kind of in, any kind of upper hand. She seems like she would be his type—put together, gorgeous, sure of herself, and I know he would be her type—hot, wealthy, powerful.
“This is Graham. Graham, this is Cece—”
“Stevens,” she says, putting a hand out to Graham.
He stares at it for a long moment before eventually taking it and shaking stiffly.
Cece bats her eyelashes at him. “I haven’t seen you around.
We don’t get many new faces in Seaside Point.
I’d love to take you around, help you get to know our great town. How do you know our June?”