Chapter 9 #2
‘Don’t you need to like trip and fall and spill your drink on him or something for that to happen?
’ Elliot offered with a grin. He’d watched plenty of those romcoms with Leigh.
He knew how it went. Big-city girl (or in this case guy) meets small-town guy, they crash into each other in some kind of silly scenario, spend some time hating each other, and then inevitably fall in love. It was all so simple, so appealing.
Did he still watch them now to ease his anxiety and because it was comforting to see things work out? Yes, yes, he did.
‘Oh, shut up, you’re the one fake-dating the small-town florist. And you know what happens next don’t you?’
Of course he knew, but he asked anyway. Maybe he’d feel better if someone else said it. ‘What happens next?’
‘You fall in love for real. It happens every time.’
Elliot’s stomach flipped. Nope, not better.
Still panicking. Because even if there was a chance they would fall in love, he knew all too well that those movies weren’t real, that after the happily-ever-after there was still so much life to live.
And there were no guarantees that the happiness would last forever. It didn’t for him and Leigh.
‘Not this time.’
Jack rolled his eyes. ‘Okay.’
‘I’m serious. I’m just doing this to help Daisy get the town off this whole curse thing.’
‘Right-o.’
‘Really.’
‘Okey-dokey.’
Elliot sighed. ‘I know you don’t believe me, but neither Daisy nor I are looking for real relationships. We’re just doing this to get everyone off our backs. Daisy gets more business, and my mother will return to Tampa happy and finally leave me alone.’
‘Whatever you need to tell yourself, bud,’ Jack said, returning Elliot’s not at all comforting pat on the back.
‘I’ll ask Daisy out for real when you ask out Gabe.’
Jack stared him down, and for a minute Elliot panicked that he was about to call his bluff.
‘Be careful,’ Jack said, jabbing a finger into the center of Elliot’s chest. ‘One day I might actually do it.’
‘Well, let me know when you do. I have to go.’
‘Say hello to Daisy for me,’ Jack said with a wink.
‘Try not to stare at Gabe’s ass all day,’ he fired back.
Jack gasped dramatically and Elliot laughed.
‘Bye!’
‘Goodbye forever, Elliot! We are no longer friends!’ Jack called behind him, but Elliot could hear the laughter in his voice.
‘See you tomorrow, Jack!’ he said with a wave, heading out into the warm spring sunshine. He had to get to the library.
Alex from the bookstore had agreed to meet him there so he could pick their brain about town history.
He’d learned at various town meetings that Alex, while one of the younger residents of Dream Harbor, seemed to know an awful lot of its lore.
And after going down some inn-history rabbit holes, Elliot wanted to know more.
Alex was already there when Elliot arrived, sitting at a table by the windows surrounded by several small stacks of books. Their short lavender hair was bright in the sunshine.
‘Hey, Elliot,’ they said with a smile when he approached.
‘Hi, thanks for meeting me.’
‘Always happy to help a fellow history buff.’
Elliot slid into the chair across from Alex, ready to dive in. He never got tired of this, digging into the past, uncovering how people used to live, wishing he could go back and see it with his own eyes.
‘So, this is a particularly fun one,’ Alex said, pushing a thin book across the table.
Elliot picked it up, turning it over in his hands.
Dream Harbor History. Pretty straightforward.
‘A former mayor wrote that back in the nineteen-thirties, and it’s filled with bizarre stories,’ Alex said, their face lit up with the same excitement Elliot felt. ‘I’m not sure how accurate anything is, but it’s certainly an interesting look into one of our illustrious leaders.’
Elliot flipped it open to a dog-eared page in the middle, reading a few paragraphs before he realized what he was seeing.
‘Wait a minute, this mayor thinks he’s clairvoyant.’
‘Yep!’ Alex said with a laugh.
‘And so does our current mayor…’
‘It’s a whole thing, actually. Multiple mayors throughout the years have claimed to have premonitions, dreams, future-telling abilities. There was even one that read people’s tea leaves as a side hustle.’
‘You’re kidding.’
Alex shook their head. ‘I would never joke about this.’ They were grinning and Elliot couldn’t help but laugh.
‘That’s wild.’
‘That’s Dream Harbor for you.’
Elliot was still chuckling when Alex passed him another book. ‘This one has more about the inn. It was one of the first buildings in town and it’s one of the few original buildings still standing. The flower shop is one of the others.’
‘Really?’
Alex nodded. ‘That string of buildings—The Daisy Chain Flower Shop, the ice cream parlor, the pet shop—they’ve all been here from the start. Right around the middle of the eighteenth century. Of course, it housed different businesses at the time.’
Elliot looked at the page Alex had opened to.
An old black and white photo of Main Street from about sixty years after the town was founded was in the center of the page.
It was probably one of the first photographs of the town but Main Street looked eerily familiar, other than the dirt road and horses.
And there it was, the building that would become Daisy’s flower shop.
He wondered if Daisy would want to see this.
If she’d want to hear about what he’d found.
He might have to visit the flower shop and find out.