Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Cooper
Monday morning crept in gray and damp, the kind of day that seeped into your bones no matter how many layers you wore.
The Coffee Cove smelled the way it always did—rich espresso, toasted bagels, the faint bite of lemon polish from the overnight cleaning crew—but today, the familiar comfort of it barely touched me.
Business wasn’t bouncing back fast enough.
I wiped down the counter for the third time, not because it was dirty, but because my hands needed something to do.
Nervous energy coiled low in my chest, tightening with every second that passed.
Traffic had picked up after last week’s fake health inspection fiasco.
I’d moved my green health inspection placard to the front window, but I still caught sideways glances from customers and hesitant footfalls outside the door before those steps moved down the street.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my apron pocket. A text from Jack appeared on the screen, and something in my gut loosened just seeing his name.
How does a tech guy drink coffee?
My lips twitched despite everything.
How?
His reply came instantly.
He installs Java.
I actually snorted out loud, earning a curious look from the woman at the corner table.
It was terrible, absolutely terrible, a dad joke that should have made me groan and roll my eyes.
Instead, my shoulders relaxed for the first time all morning, and a genuine smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I shook my head at the screen.
That’s awful.
I typed back, but added a laughing emoji.
As I slipped the phone back into my pocket, I realized the tight knot in my chest had given way. Jack somehow knew exactly when I needed a ridiculous joke to cut through the weight of the day, and that meant more to me than he probably knew.
The bell above the door jangled sharply.
I glanced up—and the sight of my friend Landon stalking inside, grim-faced, knocked the air clean out of my lungs. Landon always had a smile, a polished word of greeting, a wink to lighten the mood.
Not this morning.
He crossed to the counter, his hand clenched into a fist at his side. He leaned in and lowered his voice. “Cooper, I didn’t want to text this. You needed to hear it in person.”
The back of my neck prickled with dread. “Just tell me.”
He hesitated—one second, maybe two—but it was enough. My stomach twisted so tightly I thought I might be sick.
“It’s HelpReviews,” he whispered. “The Coffee Cove’s been review-bombed.”
I blinked at him, not comprehending. “What?”
“Fake accounts. Dozens of them. All one-star reviews posted overnight.” Landon’s jaw tightened. “Your rating tanked.”
For a beat, the world tilted. I gripped the counter to steady myself.
The hum of the refrigerator faded, and the clatter of cups at the tables blurred into white noise. All I could hear was the whoosh-whoosh of blood in my ears.
“How bad?” I managed to ask, though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
Landon hesitated again. “Bad,” he said finally. “Really bad. The page looks awful—food poisoning claims, dirty kitchen accusations, rude staff complaints. Enough differentiation in the reviews to make them look credible.”
My throat closed. I turned toward the espresso machine and pretended to check the steam wand just to get my face out of his line of sight.
I couldn’t let him—or anyone else—see how much this gutted me.
Not again.
Not after fighting so hard to drag the shop back from the edge.
“I’m so sorry, darling,” Landon said softly.
I forced a nod, my fingers clutching the counter’s edge until my knuckles ached. “Thanks for telling me.”
He reached across the counter and squeezed my shoulder—a steadying pressure—then stepped back to order a double espresso to go.
My hands shook as I pulled out my phone. I typed with stiff fingers.
Shop’s been review-bombed. Rating crashed overnight. HelpReviews.
Jack’s reply came right away.
On it. I’ll start compiling evidence. It’ll take some time, but we’ll prove they’re fake and get them removed.
I closed my eyes and breathed in slow, shallow pulls. Jack was on it. Jack wouldn’t let this go unanswered. But even his tenacity couldn’t erase the damage already spreading like a virus.
I stood there, rooted in place, helpless to stop it.
I couldn’t fix it.
I couldn’t defend myself.
I couldn’t even breathe properly.
By the time the friendly chatter of the lunch rush should have been filling the shop, thick silence had taken hold instead. The review-bombing had already crippled my business with surprising speed. Tourists must have been checking the app and falling for the scam.
I wiped down the counter again. I organized the pastry case. I precisely aligned the coffee cups.
I pretended everything was normal while the floor crumbled beneath me.
Hours blurred together in a miserable fog.
I was refilling the coffee bean hoppers when the bell jingled again, and I glanced up out of habit—
—and nearly sagged in relief. Mason charged through the door.
His brown hair was messy, like he’d been running his hands through it all morning, but there was a determined light in his eyes that cut through my despair like a lighthouse beam through fog.
He marched straight to the counter. “I saw,” he said grimly, not wasting a single moment.
I opened my mouth to deny it, to downplay it, to keep my pride intact. But the words stuck in my throat.
Because Mason already knew. And the look on his face said he wasn’t here for platitudes. He was here for me.
“We’re not letting this stand,” he said fiercely, his hands flat on the counter. “So here’s what we're going to do.”
I blinked at him, stunned by the force of his conviction.
Mason’s grin broke through the grimness. “Promotion time. Ten percent off all drinks through Valentine’s Day. We’ll create positive buzz to drown out those fake reviews.”
I stared at him, uncomprehending.
He barreled on. “I already rallied Main Street—Tides & Tales, Coastal Light Gallery, Seabreeze Gifts, Landon’s hotel, Declan at the diner, even The Nest Boutique. We’re all promoting The Coffee Cove. Flyers, word of mouth, social media blasts.”
A rush of emotion, so sharp it made my eyes sting, hit me like a wave.
“You—” My voice cracked. I cleared my throat. “You did all that this morning?”
Mason gave a shrug that didn’t hide the intensity in his eyes. “Seacliff Cove looks after its own.”
I pressed my palms to the counter and willed myself not to collapse. Not here. Not now.
“Just design a simple coupon,” he said more gently. “Print up a bunch. I’ll distribute them.”
I nodded, feeling raw, hollow, and overwhelmingly grateful all at once. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll get on it.”
Mason clapped my shoulder, his grip warm and grounding. “Hang in there, Coop,” he said softly. “You’ll be okay.”
As he left to deliver coffee to his assistant, I stumbled into the office like a man dragging himself to dry land after nearly drowning. I opened my design program with trembling hands and forced my focus onto the screen.
Valentine’s Day Special! 10% Off at The Coffee Cove — Because Love (and Coffee) Always Wins.
Simple. Bold. Hopeful.
I printed five hundred coupons and packed them up, then made my way to Mason’s bookstore. He took the bundle from me with a quick nod, his brown eyes steady and kind.
“We’ll make sure everyone knows what’s real,” he promised.
And, somehow, I believed him.
My phone chimed with a text from Jack. Slow, but making progress.
As I walked back to the shop under the heavy gray sky, chilly air biting at my cheeks, one thought anchored itself in the whirlwind of everything I was feeling: Jack was still fighting for me.
He always had been, hadn’t he? Long before fake reports and review bombs, long before this temporary relationship had started blurring into something terrifyingly steady. He was there—loyal and sure—the moment I needed him, without hesitation, without condition.
Jack didn’t just defend The Coffee Cove. He defended me.
I thought of the way he touched me without thinking, the way he looked at me recently when he thought I wasn’t paying attention: like I wasn’t just his best friend, or a project to be saved, but something worth choosing, again and again.
Maybe I’d been so focused on surviving these battles that I hadn’t noticed the quiet war Jack was waging in my heart. A war I was rapidly losing—and didn’t want to win.
The Coffee Cove wasn’t just my future.
Jack was starting to feel like it, too.