Chapter 30 #2
Donning clothes I was able to procure at the convenience store (there’s something I never thought I’d say), I head out the door without a dose of dry shampoo or running a flat iron through my hair.
I wear my hair down to hide my best features—angular jaw, high cheekbones, and pouty lips…
. Well, I guess it’s impossible to cover all my assets.
Regardless, I’ve hidden enough of my distinguishable attributes to make me less recognizable.
When I get to the cafe, I spot Gavin and Brennan right away. They already seem to be deep in conversation. When they’re not looking, I slip into the booth behind them. Luckily they don’t notice. I only hope I haven’t missed too much.
“Speaking of the farmer’s markets,” Gavin says, “Elena’s contributions have been surprisingly successful.”
A grin instantly forms on my lips. Being here has made me realize what I’ve taken for granted all these years, and Gavin is one of them. He is a good older brother. And maybe he always has been.
“Surprisingly? How?” Brennan says, taking the bait.
My smile grows even larger.
“I’ve never seen her this motivated about anything,” Gavin says.
“Really?” Brennan says. “She seems very goal-oriented to me. In fact, I’m not sure how to say this without sounding vain, but I’m pretty certain she might be showing interest in me.”
He knows? Of course he does; I was laying it on pretty thick.
“But you’re not interested in her?” Gavin guesses.
“Nothing against her, but I’m interested in someone else.”
My heart sinks. That confirms it. Brennan does have a crush. Just not on me. Suddenly my face burns with embarrassment. Is this what it feels like to be a B-list celebrity?
“You are?” Gavin asks.
“I wasn’t really looking for a relationship or anything, so this one caught me by surprise.
I came to Blaire hoping to learn a lot about science and maybe make some friends along the way.
Luckily I’ve been able to do both. I already had more than I could hope for during my time here, which is why my feelings for this person caught me completely off guard.
And it’s funny, because you know me.” He lets out an awkward chuckle.
“Stumbling on discoveries is kinda my jam, so I should be in familiar territory. And yet…” He hesitates.
“This new and unexpected discovery is making me nervous.”
“Oh yeah?” Gavin asks. “Anyone I know?”
“Maybe?” Brennan says teasingly.
“Anyone you’re willing to tell me about?”
“Maybe?” Brennan says again in a playful, almost coy way.
Not that I want to hear about the person who has captured the attention of Brennan so that he can’t entertain the idea of liking anyone else, but I also kinda, sorta do. So I lean back deeper into the booth to hear his response.
“You,” Brennan says.
I wait for Brennan to say more, because that can’t be the end of his sentence, can it?
“Me, what?” Gavin asks, thinking the same thing.
“It’s you,” Brennan says. “I thought maybe we had a connection.”
Oh. That.
I was expecting to be shocked by the name responsible for claiming Brennan’s affections, whoever it was, but I never would have guessed in a million years that it would be my own brother, of all people.
I can’t be mad at Gavin. Clearly he didn’t know how this was going to end.
At least he tried to help me. And it does help to know that I truly didn’t have a chance.
“I thought you were into women?” For some reason, Gavin thinks this is a reasonable response. I have to physically stop myself from reaching over and smacking him on the head.
Despite Gavin’s poorly worded question, Brennan doesn’t seem offended. “I am,” he says. “But I am also attracted to men.”
“Oh,” Gavin says.
Wait. So I did have a chance with Brennan, and he still picked Gavin? I’m back to being wounded. Somehow it hurts more the second time.
“I should mention that Callie and I are kind of a thing. We haven’t made it official yet, but we’ve been hanging out, and I’m ready to take our relationship to the next step.”
“Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The chemistry between you two is pretty obvious,” he says. “You make a good couple.”
“Thanks. And I’m sorry things didn’t work out….”
“It’s all good. I really am happy for you and Callie. She’s like a sister to me, and you— Well, I think we both know that you’re not like a brother to me.” They both laugh. “But I’d like to think we’re friends.”
“Totally,” Gavin agrees.
“I just hope Elena is going to be okay,” Brennan says. “She seems to have a very intense personality. Wouldn’t want to crush her spirit.”
“Elena will be fine,” Gavin says. “She has the attention span of a Chihuahua. She’ll move on to the next thing in no time.”
My senses jerk me back to the not so distant past. Is Gavin insulting me?
Brennan laughs. “You sure about that? She seems to wear her emotions on her sleeve. Especially when it comes to what she wants.”
“Oh, you should have seen her before. You would’ve thought she had no ambition whatsoever.”
“Really?”
“Trust me. At the rate she was partying, the only thing on her college application would have been a disco ball emoji and an Insta handle.”
Brennan laughs. A little too loudly.
My skin prickles as soon as I hear the familiar guffaw, and my anger is solely directed at the one person who should have my back.
Gavin is family. He should be on my side.
Instead he’s laughing about me. When he agreed to sus out Brennan’s feelings about me, I finally thought we were through with the petty bickering.
But I was wrong. So wrong. Gavin isn’t on my side, like he wasn’t all those years ago, and he never will be.
When the waiter comes to take their payment, Gavin has moved on to my appearance and how deep my superficiality went.
If he didn’t have to stop to pay the bill, who knows how long the Elena-bashing session could have gone on for.
While Gavin and Brennan are preoccupied with splitting the bill, I take the opportunity to sneak out of the booth.
On my way out of the cafe, I bump into someone.
Callie is as startled to see me as I am to see her. “I was going to surprise Gavin before my shift started, but I’m glad I ran into you. We finished making our first batch of lavender-honey ice cream. Do you want to come over later today?”
“Ice cream makes everyone feel better,” I muse. Though I doubt it’ll have any effect on me today.
“Right?” Callie says. “We’re so grateful for your suggestion. We’re even thinking about naming the flavor after you.”
“Really?” My mood lifts. At least there are other people here who recognize my efforts.
“My shift ends at five. We can meet at my house to sample the ice cream. If you think it’s good, we can make enough to sell it next Saturday.
We just need to figure out how to arrange our table now that we have so many new products.
Which is a good thing,” Callie reassures me.
“Thanks to you, we’ll earn enough to replenish our beautification fund and more. ”
“I’ve been wondering about the farmer’s market,” I say, thinking out loud.
Callie’s recognition of my talents gives me an idea.
“What if, instead of going out to a different town, we have the people come to us?” If I want to make money faster, I have to save where I can.
And I can’t spend half of my profits on diesel.
Callie blinks. “I’m not sure I follow.”
“Sorry, I’m just spitballing here. But what if we held our own farmer’s market?”
“How could we? The cars would all have to be compliant, and it would be a bigger drain on our resources if we had to monitor the vehicles that came into our town or did anything to disrupt the radio telescope.”
“What about maintenance days? Since they happen once a month, we could use those designated days to organize the farmer’s market.
With the addition of the new products, we’re quickly outgrowing the booth.
This way we could set up multiple booths, each dedicated to a different product. We could call it the Blaire Fair.”
“That’s perfect!” She gasps. “We’ll just have to think of a way to get the word out there. Blaire isn’t really a town people talk about.”
“True,” I say. That is a snag I wasn’t prepared for.
“Let’s keep thinking of ways to market it.
In the meantime, I’ll go get the permit for it.
” Callie literally takes my idea and runs with it, rushing off before I have a chance to say bye, which is a good thing.
Because I can’t live with Gavin for much longer, not after today.
And if I want to get out of here, I need to hire Kiki back ASAP.
I make my way through the lobby, and just as I walk out the front entrance, I hear someone call my name.
At first I think it’s Callie, so I stop.
Before I turn around, she calls out to me again.
“El? Is that you?” It’s a voice I recognize, but not from anyone I’d know here.
I slowly spin on my heels, and my jaw drops when I’m faced with the last person I’d expect to see here.
“Willow?”