Chapter 26
The phone rings the next morning, waking me up.
I peek over at Gavin’s bed, expecting him to answer it.
When he’s not there—or anywhere else in the house—I remember he had planned to speak with the manager at the cafe, which isn’t as Karen-y as it sounds.
After Dr. Blaire’s suggestion last night, I bet he isn’t wasting any time getting his bulgogi burger and kimchi aioli added to their menu.
“Hello?” I answer, wiping the sleep away from my eyes.
“Elena? It’s Jean. I made the new products you suggested—lavender salts, lavender sachets, and lavender tea.”
“Wow, you must have been busy!” It’s only been a week since our meeting with the co-op.
“I had to if we want to sell them at the next farmer’s market.”
“You’re right. The next one is in two weeks, which doesn’t give us much time to create a whole new product line.”
Jean starts to ask me if I’d be willing to try the products for research, and I say yes before she has the chance to finish her question. I wish I could say that this was part of my plan all along, but sampling self-care products is an unexpected perk of the job.
I quickly get ready and walk over to grab the bag of sample products she has for me.
As soon as I leave the house, I do a double take at Mom and Dad working in the field.
Together. Between the bickering and the passive-aggressive silences, I was beginning to worry about them.
But watching them side by side—him digging a hole and planting a seed in, her covering it up with dirt and watering it—is giving me life.
I don’t want to keep Jean waiting, so I have to force myself to keep walking, resisting the urge to continue creepily staring at my parents being cute.
After picking up the samples from Jean, I hurry back home, eager to try out her products. I reach the house at the same time Gavin does.
“So, how was it? Did the cafe accept your recipe?” I ask.
“They did. And not only that. The head chef there let me cook it for them to sample.”
“Oh my God, Gavin, that’s amazing!”
“I swear, cooking in a professional kitchen validated that it was where I should be. It felt like I was in my natural environment.”
“You’re giving me goose bumps!” I show him my arms. “You have to tell Mom and Dad. They’ll be so proud of you and happily support you when you tell them you want to go to culinary school.”
“You think?” He rubs the back of his head.
“How could they not? Gavin, this is a big deal. A restaurant is putting your food on their menu. I mean, I’m even proud of you!”
That convinces him. “Maybe you’re right.” He smiles dreamily. “Where are they?”
“They’re planting cabbage. Together,” I say with wide eyes.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.” I point at them in the field.
“They look so happy,” he concurs. “I don’t want to interrupt them.”
I nod, agreeing with him, and we quietly go into the house together.
“Where’d you go this morning?” Gavin asks when we’re in the kitchen.
“I got some samples from Jean.” I present my loot to him, fanning out the products on the table.
“What are these?” He holds up a sachet.
“They’re dried lavender sachets. You’re supposed to hang them in your closet or drawers, and they make your clothes smell nice.
” I take one and go into our room. “Here, let me show you.” I open my closet.
But when I see the state of it, I frown.
After I unpacked the items Mom and Dad brought back, my closet is now bursting at the seams. I can’t imagine trying to fit my entire wardrobe in this space.
I swear, this closet was made for people who must not have an appreciation for fashion, which, in Blaire, tracks.
“You should seriously consider downsizing,” Gavin says.
“Problem is, I can’t wear them, but I can’t throw them away. They’re too nice.”
“You could always sell them at a consignment store.”
I make a face. Then, a second later, I reconsider his suggestion. With the brand names and the pristine conditions I’ve kept them in, I’m sure I could earn enough to pay for the retainer fee I’d need to hire Kiki back.
“A high-end consignment store? Does such a thing exist?” I ask, thinking aloud.
“Let’s go ask Callie. She may know of a place,” Gavin suggests.
I grin teasingly. I know what he’s doing.
He’s trying to find an excuse to hang out with her.
Despite their obvious interest in each other, they’re taking things slow, and in Blaire it means their progress is moving at a crawl.
If slow burn was a sport, they’d be serious contenders for first place.
What I’m most surprised by, though, is the natural ease with which he suggests meeting up with Callie.
The opposite of the uptight, awkward version of him from the first time we met her.
Between the two, I like this new version of Gavin much better, so I don’t tease him about it, and I follow him out the door.
At the convenience store, we find Callie restocking the shelves, as we knew she would be. She glances over when the bell jangles on the door as we open it. Her face lights up noticing us. She quickly finishes putting the last few jars of honey on the shelf before setting her box down.
“Hey.” She smiles. “Didn’t know I’d be seeing you here today.”
“We’re unpacking some of our old things, and Elena had an idea to sell some of her gently used clothes,” Gavin says.
“Sell? Like, here?” Callie looks around skeptically.
“No, not here,” I say. If I have no use for them, no one here would either. “Is there a consignment store nearby?”
“A consignment store?” She taps her finger to her lip, looking up. “There’s a thrift store in Bakersfield. We could stop by there on the way to the farmer’s market in a couple of weeks.”
“Okay,” I say. “That could work. I’ll bring them with me.”
Callie picks up the empty boxes. Gavin and I each take a box to her car. Gavin opens the door for me and Callie, and we say bye to Hal, who grunts back a bye to us.
“Maybe you could come to the farmer’s market with us,” Callie suggests once we’re by her car.
“I’d love to, but I can’t,” Gavin says.
Callie seems disappointed. Until Gavin explains he can’t make it because he’ll be working at the cafe.
“What?” she says, confused and surprised. “How did that happen?”
Gavin fills Callie in on how Mayor Beecham and Dr. Blaire suggested he talk to the manager at the cafe to have his food added to the menu. Not only did they accept his recipe, but they also invited him to work there part-time.
“I can’t wait to try it,” she trills excitedly.
“How about tonight?” Gavin suggests.
“I can’t,” Callie says. Now it’s Gavin who seems disappointed. “Today is the first active day of the Perseid meteor shower. Are you two going?”
“Going?” To a meteor shower? How would that work? A second later I’m wondering if I even know what a meteor shower is.
“It’s a tradition for people here to get together after the sun sets to watch the first sighting of the meteor shower. It’s fun,” she says. It shouldn’t be a surprise that this is what the town does for fun, considering the majority of the people work at the observatory.
“Yeah, we’re in,” Gavin answers for us. He’s back to being all smiles.
“Okay, bring a blanket, and we’ll meet here before going to the abandoned field between the convenience store and the observatory.”
“Come again?” I say. I’m not sure what watching a meteor shower entails, but what I’m hearing so far is not promising.
“The abandoned field is the most remote part of Blaire and the best place to watch the meteor shower.” She points in the direction behind the convenience store.
“And in order to get the best view, a chair isn’t going to do it.
So you’ll have to bring a blanket to lie down on to get the full experience. ”
“On the ground. On that ground?” I point to the grassy field Callie mentioned, imagining ants and ticks and a variety of other creepy crawlers—my worst nightmares. I shudder. “Is there a place where we can see the meteors but don’t have to be on the ground?” A glass cabin, perhaps?
Callie looks up thoughtfully. “There is another place we could go,” she says. “Why don’t we meet at my place?”
Gavin and I agree. “I’ll meet you anywhere as long as it’s not on the ground,” I say.