Chapter 27
Alice
"T his place is going to look amazing when you two are done with it.” Danielle says as she hip-checks the door of the former Get the Scoop ice cream shop and pushes it open with her foot. She’s holding a cardboard drink carrier filled with three Brew-Ha-Ha to-go cups. “One latte with oat milk,” she says, joining us at the table and putting a cup down in front of me. “One regular coffee with three sugars.” She hands Jake one, too. Then she sits down next to him with her own cup of chai.
Today came more quickly than expected, but Jake is Jake, and he didn’t waste any time buying the ice cream shop as soon as Kyle put it up for sale. Now that it’s official and we’ve made some progress on renovations, we invited Danielle to stop by and see it.
“Thanks for bringing these.” I turn the cup slowly in my hands. Our best friend knows our drink orders by heart. I hate that she doesn’t know everything.
Jake runs a hand over the two-day-old stubble on his face and leans forward, putting his elbows on the table. He doesn’t like this either. We’ve never lied to Danielle before, and we both agree we need to come clean.
“What’s this uncomfortable vibe I’m sensing? Oh no. Did I catch you two in the middle of another fight? What is it this time?” she asks, sounding half-amused, half-exhausted with us.
“The opposite, actually,” Jake says.
“We aren’t fighting,” I say at the same time.
She looks at me quizzically, then shifts to face him. “You’re both being weird. Just tell me. What’s this about?”
There’s a long pause before Jake reaches across the table and places his hand on top of mine. Danielle’s eyes follow the movement, then come up to meet my face. I nod at both of them. It’s time.
Jake starts to explain, “Alice and I—”
“We had sex.” I cut him off.
Jake closes his eyes and sighs. We talked about this. He was hoping for a more tactful approach, but I think it’s better to just rip off the Band-aid. For the briefest moment Danielle flinches and looks stricken, like I’ve slapped her, but she quickly plasters a smile back on her face.
“Oh. Um. Okay. I’m not sure what to say to that. Congratulations, I guess? You’re both adults. Good for you. Thanks for telling me, but you didn’t need to.” Her voice falters. “When?” she asks. “No, never mind. Don’t feel like you need to answer that.”
“The night of the hurricane,” I say.
“Before the wedding? So, when we were cleaning out your dad’s place, you two were already—”
“Dan-Dan,” Jake interrupts her but doesn’t say anything more. He clearly doesn’t want to be having this conversation in this much detail.
“No. Um. It’s fine. You don’t need my permission. I’m a little surprised is all.” She takes a sip and swallows, then she chews on her lip. “Wow. Okay. So are you two are, like, a thing? I have to say, I did not see this coming.”
The way Jake’s shy smile comes across the table just for me is a sharp contrast to the unease pooling in my belly as I watch my best friend stumble through our news.
“No. We’re not. And we’re not going to be,” I tell her honestly, and I watch as Jake’s mouth falls. “We just didn’t like keeping a secret from you.”
“Right. Sure. That makes sense. Well, the place is looking great. I’m really happy for you both, but I told Edna I would stop by The Blue Crab today, so I better head over there.” Danielle stands and offers us a small wave before excusing herself in a hurry.
“That could have gone better,” Jake says when the door closes.
I hide behind my latte and try not to resent our mutual best friend because she has confirmed what I already knew: there is no way being anything besides Jake’s business partner can work. We don’t make sense. If not even Danielle can get on board, then no one else in our lives will support it. We’ll alienate everyone while we simultaneously run this brand-new business into the ground. And for what? Maybe a few weeks of hot sex and a doomed relationship that will fizzle out the second we come back to our senses and remember how much we’ve never been able to stand each other?
Jake and I sit together for a few minutes, and neither of us says a word until I finally tell him I’m going to find Danielle and talk to our friend. Alone.
He gives me a stiff nod, and I walk outside.
It doesn’t take long to spot her across the street outside The Blue Crab. She’s sitting on the wooden glider that overlooks the water. She sees me and motions for me to join her. I do, although now my mind is stuck back in the studio, picturing the way Jake looked so hurt when I denied there was more between us. We’re both quiet, watching our feet swing.
“Seems like someone is lost in thought,” she observes.
“Hm? Oh, yeah. I guess.”
“Those thoughts wouldn’t happen to be about a tall, dark, and handsome guy covered in bookish tattoos, would they?”
I hang my head and groan.
“Oh, I totally get the appeal,” she says. “Welcome to your Main Character Era, babe. He wants you. It’s so obvious. I think he probably always has in some capacity, and I was just too selfish to realize it.”
“Hey. Don’t talk about my best friend that way.” I nudge her shoulder. “There’s no way you could have known. Jake and I didn’t even know. I still can’t wrap my brain around it. But just to clarify, yes, we did have sex, but we still aren’t together.”
“Maybe not yet. But I could see it.” She gives me a small smile. “Sorry I bailed. I just needed a minute to process. It took me by surprise.”
“Believe me, you weren’t the only one.”
Danielle laughs. “I mean, it’s a big surprise. My mind is pretty blown right now. I’m flabbergasted. Truly. All my flabbers have been gasted. I had a feeling you two might like each other because you seemed to be getting along so well, but I had no idea you were already hooking up. I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out. I guess it just never seemed like a possibility in my mind.”
I let out a small, relieved laugh. If she’s joking, she must not be too angry. “Right? Are we seriously sitting here talking about me and Jake? But don’t worry. It was just an extended hookup. Nothing more. And it’s over.”
“Hmm.” She studies my face. “It caught me off guard, I admit, but I actually think you two make a lot of sense together. You have so much in common.”
Now I’m the flabbergasted one. Has she lost her mind? “Jake and I couldn’t be more different. We can’t even agree about pizza toppings,” I huff.
“I’m talking about the important stuff. You’re both artists. You both like those crazy pranks. You’ve both been amazing friends to me for our whole lives.” She ticks off a list on her fingers. “Plus, you’re both passionate and stubborn. And finally, you and Jake are both lucky to have me to set you straight in times such as these, because neither one of you thinks you deserve to be happy. But you do. You both do. And I am more than willing to stick my nose in and nudge you along until you figure that out for yourselves.”
“Even if that stuff were true, it’s still not smart to get involved in a relationship with my business partner,” I protest.
She stares me down. “Do you remember last year right before I started dating Mike? You sat me down for some hard truths over our morning lattes.”
I hesitate before admitting, “Yeah…”
“Well, buckle up, Buttercup. The shoe is on the other foot, and I’m about to tell you something that’s gonna be hard to hear.”
I let out a long breath, then motion for her to lay it on me. “I think I can take it.”
“You, Alice Caulfield, are a scaredy cat. You’re afraid to admit you want to be with Jake because it means admitting you were wrong about him. And you’re also scared because it means everything will be different. I know things will change between all of us, but that’s part of growing up. Change is going to happen anyway, and if things are going to be shaken up regardless, I’d rather see you both happy on the other side of it.”
“That’s a pretty good point.”
“I’m not finished. You’re also terrified because you know Jake can go toe-to-toe with you, and you won’t be able to bulldoze him. He challenges you, and you do the same thing for him. Neither of you is used to being confronted like that. But you both need it.”
I groan and hide my face in my hands, resting my elbows on my lap while we glide. I think she might be right. I am scared. But it’s more than that. “He’s done so much for me lately between starting the business and helping with my dad. The only thing I have to offer him in return is…me. It’s not an even trade. It’s not fair to ask it of him,” I admit.
“Why don’t you get back in there and let him make that decision for himself?”