Chapter 13 #2
Jesse tugs at the bill of his black cap and expels a breath. “Look, obviously we got off on the wrong foot.”
Oh, thank God. Clearly, he’s taken my warning. Wise of him. Very wise. He may live to see the end of this day after all.
“Let me get you a cider,” he says to Maria.
Ooh. Now I wince. I forgot to tell Maria that cider and beer are kinda all that’s on the menu out here. She’s not really a cider drinker. She’s more of an espresso martini type.
“Cider?” Maria eyes him up and down with distaste. Her face is slightly less purple but still, cobra-like, she remains ready to strike.
“Yeah, cider . Or beer. You got a problem with that?” Jesse asks, arching a brow. “It’s a brewery.”
Uh-oh. Here we go again. I want to plant my face in my hand, but I still need to try to smooth this over a bit more.
Maria rolls her eyes. Her eyelashes make the whole thing look next-level. She opens her mouth to no doubt say something even more snarky, when I jump in. “You don’t happen to have wine or champagne or anything like that, do you, Jesse?”
I am watching Maria from the corner of my eye. Until she sits down, this thing is not officially de-escalated.
Jesse’s snort answers the question for me. “Princess here too good for cider? Figures.”
Ugh. This guy’s got a mouth on him like... well, exactly like my good friend Maria . Their standoff makes me realize how similar they are. Which, in this case, isn’t cool.
“It’s principessa , you punk,” Maria informs him. “And I’ll take a cider.”
Okay, that last part surprises even me. Clearly, Maria doesn’t want Jesse to label her a princess. But I’ve never seen her drink a cider before, so this is gonna be something to watch. I’m here for it. It’ll be like seeing Victoria Beckham eat Taco Bell. Along those lines.
“What’d ya like?” He starts a list on his fingers. “I got hard cider, dry cider, sweet cider, ice cider—”
Her eyes narrow before she surprises me by saying, “Surprise me.” I mean, it’s clear she knows nothing about cider, but Maria isn’t a “surprise me” sort of person. She’s the type who tells the bartender exactly how to make her drink.
Jesse is brave enough to turn his back on Maria to pull her drink from the tap. To keep things simple, I tell him I’ll have the same, and he returns seconds later with two mugs of cider, which he slides in front of us.
“Thank you,” Maria says, but it’s clear from her tone that she meant “eff you.” She is seated, however, so I breathe a little easier.
I thank Jesse too, and he pushes open the door to the back. “Call if you need a refill, principessa ,” he says as the door swings shut behind him.
I have to clamp my hand on Maria’s arm to keep her from standing up and going after him. Her eyes are narrowed to slits.
“Wow,” I say. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen mutual disdain form so quickly.”
“He’s a jerk.” Her eyes are alight with flames.
I wince. “Yeah, it wasn’t great. He’s been cool, though. I promise you.” Then I laugh.
“What’s funny?” One of Maria’s dark eyebrows is arched.
“When I first met him, I actually thought you’d think he was hot.” I shrug and laugh again.
Maria is not laughing. She’s giving me stink-eye. “Me and Ball Cap? Don’t think so. He looks like he’d be the type to go camping .”
People who enjoy camping are mysteries to Maria.
Along with people who collect stuffed animals and adults who love theme parks.
She just doesn’t get it. It’s too far from her aesthetic.
Which is why she only leaves Manhattan for trips to SoCal to see her family.
She can get with the LA vibe, but small towns aren’t her thing.
Which makes it even more touching that she’s come to Long Island to check on me.
“Thanks for coming out here,” I say, and I mean it. Maria may be intense, but she’s also super loyal and a good friend. I’m lucky to have her. You want someone like her in your corner. “And thanks for your help promoting the festival.”
The minute I’d texted her yesterday, Maria had replied with two words: on it .
Several hours later, she’d sent me a long list of all the things she’d done or was planning to do to promote the festival, and honestly, it was a dream list. She even got a really big local travel influencer friend of hers to agree to come out and post from the festival the night of the Harvest Ball. It’s a big deal.
“Yeah, well, I was always suspicious of your reasons for coming out here, but when I asked you how it was going yesterday and you said you were having fun, I knew I had to come. There’s no way you’re having fun out here in bumblefuck.”
I bite my lip. My old friend guilt is back, because the truth is I did have fun yesterday.
I woke up to pumpkin-spice coffee, ate too many baked goods, made a papier-maché chandelier, got to plan an event all day, stuck my head out of a truck window in the autumn-scented breeze, and connected with old friends.
Plus, I got to meet Mayor Millie, who is honestly a treasure.
And I can’t forget my knitted chicken. It’s currently sitting on the windowsill in my attic bedroom.
I even had fun at the drive-in last night. I mean, only in Harvest Hollow will you get leaves shaken on your windshield while watching Gilmore Girls .
But instead of trying to explain all that to Maria, who’ll never believe me, I decide to change the subject. “So, Geoff,” I say, lifting my mug to my lips and taking a big sip of cider. It’s actually pretty good. Way better than I expected.
“I have half a dozen ideas on how to get revenge,” Maria replies, obviously warming to the subject.
Of course she does. She lifts her mug and eyes the cider with a fully unimpressed look on her face.
“Revenge? Now that’s a good friend,” I say. “What’s the most realistic idea?”
Maria’s smile is glowing. “Tie him up, roll him in honey, and pour fire ants on his head.”
“Nice. Solid plan. Only I’m not sure where we’d get fire ants.”
“Oh, I can get fire ants.”
I side-eye her. The girl can be a little scary. Again, I’m glad she’s on my side.
Maria takes a sip from her mug, and amazingly, her eyes light up.
“Good, huh?” I ask.
“For cider,” she says.
She’s not going to admit it. She’s not one to admit she’s wrong. But I can tell she kinda liked it.
“Geoff can go to hell,” I say next. “I don’t want him back. But how am I going to get a job if Steve is spreading lies about me?”
“What about your friend Kennedy?” Maria asks.
“Kenn was the one who told me the truth. But she’s still at GMJ.”
“Can she put in a good word for you anywhere else?”
“Maybe. I’ll ask her.” I take another hefty sip of the cider. Wow. It’s really good. Did Jesse make this? Is this one of his in-house brews? He’s talented . We need to publicize this stuff more. “There is one good thing about Geoff betraying me,” I continue.
“What?” I know Maria is liking her cider because she keeps drinking it. If she hated it, she would have abandoned it already.
“Him dumping me was an excellent reminder for me to not date anyone I have a working relationship with,” I say with a firm nod.
Maria’s brow arches real high. Pure skepticism. “Didn’t you say you wanted Aiden to kiss you?”
“Shh.” I eye the swinging door to the back of the bar for any sign of Jesse.
I’m still not sure what he’s been told about me.
And I definitely don’t want him to hear about my desire to kiss Aiden.
After last night, I’m wondering if Jesse also heard the “Ellie left Aiden” version of whatever story is going around.
Maybe that’s why he was frowning at me the day we met.
I haven’t told Maria about what Amber said yet either. I’m not sure how to explain it.
“Even if I wanted to start something with Aiden, now isn’t the time,” I insist. “I just broke up with Geoff. I still need to figure all that out.”
Maria sighs. “Is there anything to figure out? What you and Geoff had wasn’t exactly electric.”
I take another sip and consider her words. “Okay. You’re not wrong,” I say. “Geoff was kinda boring. But it was just so... easy with him. We both worked at the same place, knew the same people. We even ate the same thing for lunch every day.”
Maria shakes her head and takes another sip of cider. “Uh, matching lunch isn’t exactly hashtag-couplesgoals, El.”
“He loved to travel,” I weakly point out. Though we did have to plan a lot around his allergies. “He always praised my work ethic.” I think for a few more seconds. “His mom was nice.”
“Ooh, sounds passionate,” Maria drawls.
Okay. She’s really not wrong there. Geoff was convenient and safe, but we weren’t exactly smoking up the sheets together.
And I can’t even picture him giving me a sexy look with or without a spider involved.
“It’s still better if Aiden and I don’t kiss,” I say.
“We’re work partners, and I am never mixing business and dating again. ”
“If you say so,” Maria replies, taking another big swig from her mug.
We continue to chat for the better part of an hour. There’s lots to catch up on. I’ve kinda had a busy week, and Maria always has interesting stories to tell from the world of PR. She knows all the celebrity lore. It’s so fun to listen to.
As we talk, I chug my cider. It doesn’t taste alcoholic. It tastes delicious. Turns out morning drinking is fun! La, la, la.
I’ve just finished telling Maria about my smug Patagonia vest comment to Steve when she suddenly grabs my arm. She’s staring directly behind me. Her eyes are wide. “Is that him?” she intones.
“Him? Who?” I make a wobbly turn on my stool and follow Maria’s gaze toward the barn door, which has just opened. Aiden has stepped inside.
I turn back around.
Maria arches a dark brow and lifts her chin toward him.
“Aiden? Yep,” I say, nodding way too hard. Oh crap. Am I drunk?
“Oh yeah,” Maria says. “You definitely need to kiss him .”
“Shh,” I say, pressing my index finger to my lips and being far too loud about it. I am the opposite of stealthy when I’m drunk.
“Hey!” Aiden sees us and jogs over. “I was looking for you, Ellie.”
“To kiss you?” Maria whispers, and I slap at her hands. She slaps back. By the time we’re done with our eleven-year-olds’ slap fight, Aiden has his eyes narrowed on both of us.
“Hi, I’m Aiden.” He puts out a hand for Maria to shake.
“Yes. You. Are,” Maria says, giving him a totally obvious once-over.
“Aiden!” I nearly scream his name because I also get loud when I’ve been drinking. Or when I’m in an awkward situation. Both are happening at the moment. “This is my friend Maria, from the city.”
“Maria?” he echoes. “PR Maria?”
Maria laughs. “That’s me.”
“Thank you for helping us promote the festival,” Aiden says.
“Maria’s the best!” I exclaim.
“I hear you’re pretty good too,” Maria says to Aiden. She’s eyeing him like a sushi appetizer at a fancy work function.
Aiden furrows his brow. “Good at what?”
Maria bites her lip. “Catching spiders.”
An alarm is going off in my head, but it’s dulled by the delicious cider I have been slamming. My huge mug is nearly empty. When did that happen?
Aiden gives me a smile so sexy it makes me gulp and press my thighs together. “What have you been telling your friend Maria about me?”
Honestly, it would be a shorter list to tell him what I haven’t told her about him, but I’m not drunk enough to say that. Instead, I say, “Would you excuse us for a moment?”
Aiden’s still eyeing me and smiling, but he nods. “Sure. I was going to ask you about the budget, but we can do that later. There’s something I need to talk to Jesse about, anyway.”
Seconds later, Aiden’s gone around the counter and disappeared into the back of the brewery. I immediately turn to Maria. “Be cool,” I tell her.
“What? I am cool. As Ariana Madix would say, I was born cool .”
I have to smile at that because Maria really was born cool, but that’s not what I mean. “Don’t tell Aiden.” I am still being too loud, but I can’t seem to stop myself.
Maria leans toward me. Is she drunk too? “Don’t tell Aiden what?”
“ Don’t tell Aiden I wanted him to kiss me! ” I nearly shout, and then I immediately want to sink through the floor and disappear because at the exact moment I say it, the door to the back opens again and Aiden steps out.
He heard me. I know he did.