Chapter 11
ON FRIDAY MORNING, I WAS A LITTLE ANXIOUS about leaving Sandy and Ron alone on the property.
I woke up earlier than usual, got dressed, and ate breakfast while glancing out the window every five seconds.
Their car still sat in the driveway, and there was no sign of movement inside the carriage house (though, in all fairness, it wasn’t even seven a.m. and they were on vacation—of course they were asleep).
It wasn’t that I worried about them breaking into the house. The keypad locks my mom had recently installed on all the doors were more comforting than a guard dog, and I doubted the Taylors were the smash-and-grab type. Leaving them alone was just… well, weird.
Henry usually met me in the quad before homeroom, but surprisingly, today it was Griff.
I waved, and saw he was holding a white bag with Rise inside was a guava and cheese Danish, my new favorite pastry.
How did he know? “How was the first night?” he asked cautiously, as if he wasn’t totally sure I’d forgiven him for spilling the beans yesterday.
Everything was good now—I mean, he’d meant well, and our Hamburger Hill Summit had been a success; in fact, I felt bolstered by it.
We’d huddled together in the Sgt. Pepper–themed booth in the back, where I very quietly explained to Kenzie, Mia, and Jared the reason for Fair Winds, and that there was absolutely no world in which they could tell anyone.
“But can we help?” Jared asked, to which I answered, “Yes, by taping your mouth shut.”
All three cater-waiters nodded.
“Where is Henry?” Ellie ventured after everyone signed the NDA Henry had pulled off Google earlier. I swallowed a giggle at the crossed-out sections and highlighted paragraphs—seriously, it was so Henry. My heart sparked with excitement to get back home and fill him in on the meeting.
“He’s back at my house,” I said. Griff’s leg accidentally brushed mine under the table. For the first time ever, we were sitting next to each other. “You know, in case the Taylors need anything.”
Which was partly true. According to my mom, sometimes you had to jiggle the shower’s faucet a little to get the hot water to work. Sandy and Ron didn’t know that.
Remind me to draft a list of FW’s quirks, I texted Henry.
He thumbs-upped my message, then wrote: Nothing to report here. Looks like they left to grab dinner somewhere.
It sounded like we were spying on them; we weren’t, I swear. But I’d only been a host for several hours. I needed more time to settle into the role.
Ellie nodded, then handed over her NDA. “Please tell him he’s as clever as ever,” she said before scooting out of the booth. “I can’t stay for food; Chase is waiting for me outside. We’re getting Italian.”
“Are we ever going to meet Chase?” Kenzie asked.
“Trust me, Kenz, you don’t want to,” Griff joked, then muttered under his breath, “Dick.”
Interesting, I thought. Griff doesn’t like Chase either?
“Maybe.” Ellie shrugged. “He leaves for Boston soon.”
I couldn’t help but notice she didn’t seem very excited over Chase anymore.
She waved before slinging her purse over her shoulder and heading toward the exit.
Kenzie, Mia, and Jared started talking about the Constellation wedding next week, and as I sipped my mint chip milkshake, Griff leaned close—close enough that I could feel his warm breath against my ear.
“That guy doesn’t deserve her,” he whispered. “Bad news all the way.”
I squinted in Ellie’s direction, but she’d already disappeared out the front door. “Yeah,” I whispered back. “He sounds like it.” I paused. “Do you think he has something to do with her ditching her pink hair?”
Griff sighed. “It wouldn’t surprise me. She didn’t have Tate dye it until after she and Chase first broke up.”
“Huh,” I said, intrigued. Maybe her pink hair signified her time with Henry? Had it really ended in her mind? I cleared my throat. “Did you ever hear—”
“Hey, Griff!” Kenzie said. “Can I try your shake?”
He grinned. “Of course.”
I wanted to roll my eyes but resisted. Griff could flirt with whomever he wanted. Instead, I tapped my passcode into my phone and texted Henry:
Do you want pepper jack on your burger?
Cheddar, please, he said. Thanks to the Enchilada Incident, I’m now spice-free.
I smirked. Roger that.
How’re things?
Good, I wrote. Circle of trust established.
I left out the part about Ellie being amused by his NDA.
It didn’t seem that important.
GRIFF AND I TALKED ABOUT THIS YEAR’S rumored prom theme—“When in Rome,” whatever that meant—until the bell for homeroom rang. I hadn’t responded to his cheeky prom text, even though Henry hadn’t asked me yet. I couldn’t crap out on our fake relationship so soon. We needed to hook Ellie.
Henry caught the last five minutes of homeroom, per usual.
He spent most of it in the front office, broadcasting the morning announcements.
Somehow, he managed to make something as mundane as cap and gown distribution sound like the biggest event of the semester.
“I’m sorry I missed you earlier,” he said before first period. “I had an eleventh-hour pop quiz.”
In Henry-speak, a pop quiz was when he put on his peer-tutor hat and quickly grilled one of his many pupils before an imminent exam. Griff always scheduled his before Spanish presentations.
“It’s cool,” I told him, squeezing his fingers as he took my hand so we could brave the bustling hallway together. “Who was it?”
“Kenzie, actually,” he said. “Medieval history debate.”
“And she needs your help? She already likes to talk.”
“Well, not about the Church of England.” He chuckled and guided me toward the math hallway. We both had calculus, but with different teachers in different classrooms. “What was that eye roll? I like Kenzie.”
“I do, too,” I said, nodding for emphasis. Because I did. “She just…” Greatly enjoys flirting with Griff!
Henry let me trail off. “Did you get your Danish?” he asked. “Or did Griff eat it himself?”
“Oh no, he gave it to me.” I sighed happily. “It was delicious.”
“Good.” Henry beamed. “It was their last one.”
“Wait…” I blinked. “You bought it for me?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Ellie and I stopped at Rise I needed to get into the hot shop. It was more than a week since I’d blown glass. “Hello!” I singsonged to the empty studio. Then someone cleared their throat and said, “I don’t think you’ve ever sounded that happy to see me.”
I spun around to see Griff in an old lifeguarding windbreaker and gray sweats, with a bemused look on his face.
“Griff, hi,” I said, suddenly self-conscious. I’d haphazardly pulled my blond hair back in a clip and wore old, pilled leggings and an oversized green, black, and white Philadelphia Eagles T-shirt. “What are you doing here?”
“I knew Sandy and Ron were splitting this morning and figured you might want a head start with the cleaning.” He paused. “What is Here-to-Stay’s cleaning fee, anyway?”
“Thank you,” I said, a little taken aback. Griff had come over to clean? “Although I won’t be playing Cinderella for a couple of hours…”
“That’s okay.” He smiled. “I’m good to just hang, if that’s cool.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, still dazed. “That sounds—”
“I’m sorry I’m late.” Henry appeared out of nowhere with a cardboard tray of iced coffees.
“Ten a.m. mass ran over and Rise & Grind’s line was out the door by the time I got there.
” He set our drinks down on his base of operations, then comically blinked upon noticing Griff. “Keeler, what brings you here?”
“He’s going to hang out while we attend to business,” I explained. “Then help us freshen up Fair Winds.”
“You might regret it,” Henry told Griff. “Ron must’ve cooked Sandy a romantic dinner, because all I smell is Old Bay.”
Simultaneously, Griff and I channeled our inner bloodhounds, sniffing the air. “I’m not getting anything,” he said, but I wrinkled my nose. Now that Henry had pointed it out, I couldn’t not smell paprika.
Fantastic.
“Shall we?” Henry nodded at the worktable where we ritually packed all Golightly Glass’s orders.
“We shall,” I said, and Griff took that as a signal to wander over and flop down on the groupie area’s couch. He connected his phone to the hot shop’s Bluetooth speaker, and the opening beats of whatever EDM song he’d chosen pulsed as Henry pulled up Golightly Glass’s order history.
For the next hour, we packed up cute red-and-white toadstool ornaments, pineapple paperweights, rocks glasses, small strawberry sculptures, and my signature pendants. I called them mermaid teardrops because of their shape and shimmer.
It was amazing to see the shipping labels, to know that my artwork was traveling to places like Kansas City and Little Rock and San Francisco. There was even a necklace headed to Ireland!
But the adrenaline coursing through my veins wasn’t only from pride. I desperately wanted to fire up the furnace and work. It was almost impossible to stand in the hot shop without a blowpipe in hand. “You’re fidgeting,” Henry noted after a while.
“No, I’m vibing with this,” I joked, gesturing to the speaker. We were listening to Griff’s master playlist, which blended every genre—ever.
“You really don’t need to do this to yourself,” he said. “But the lost time will be worth it, right?”
I shrugged. “Do you really believe that?” It was hard when I had a potentially messy apartment upstairs and no payout in my bank account yet. Why did the short-term rental gods have to withhold it?
“I’ve already told you we’re going to pull this off,” Henry said. “You’ll reimburse your parents, and you’ll have the chance to turn up your nose at Blue Ridge’s cafeteria food, don’t worry.”
“I’ve actually heard it’s really good—” I started, but a gasp across the hot shop cut me off. I glanced at the groupie couch, where Griff was grinning at something on his laptop.
“Audrey, c’mere,” he said, frantically waving me over. “Someone left a review on Fair Winds’ profile!”
My breath caught. “Sandy?”
It seemed impossible. There was no way the Taylors had made it home yet.
“Maybe Ron’s driving,” Henry mused. “Or, more likely, they’re at a rest stop.”
We joined Griff on the couch and leaned in to see:
Jet-setter Sandra
Washington, DC
*****
“Look!” Griff exclaimed. “Five stars!”
Oh my god, I thought, my stomach dropping in shock before it roller-coastered back up.
We had the most wonderful weekend stay at this serene (and very clean!) spot, Sandy had written.
Fair Winds is a secluded and cozy guesthouse with a waterfront view, beautiful decor, and a kitchen that included all the essentials.
Our hostess was SENSATIONAL! She made sure we had everything we needed, and even went above and beyond to provide a recommendation guide for charming Essex Harbor and its neighboring towns (order a #8 at Sandwitch—you’ll thank me).
We hope to come back in the autumn to see the leaves change!
Heart swelling, I beamed when Henry and I made eye contact. “Now do you believe me?” he asked, beaming back.
I nodded. Sandy’s review was glowing.
“You’re amazing, Audrey,” Griff said. “That review’s worth some serious legend points.”
“It was a team effort.” I blushed. “What are legend points?”
“They date back to seventh grade,” Griff said as Henry sighed heavily. “Henry helped Jason and me devise a point system where—”
An unfamiliar ping came from my computer, idle on the worktable. I remembered I had a Google Chrome browser pulled up, with a Here-to-Stay tab open. Either it was a delayed announcement about Fair Winds’ first review… or…
Might the sensational Audrey have another interested party?