Chapter 18 #2
“Uh-oh.” Mia looked at me. “You don’t have enough money yet?”
Not even close, I thought.
“I’m working on it,” I said, pulse picking up. I was working on it, but could I do it?
“Well, I still think it’s so cool, Audrey,” Kenzie said. “Taking a gap year to do what you really love?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Henry sit up straighter.
“Something like that,” I lied, suddenly shy about admitting that I was choosing glassblowing over college. “If my year at Blue Ridge goes well, doors might open for me. Ideally, I’d travel for other courses or residencies.”
“What about Penn?” Jared asked. “Wharton?”
I shrugged before explaining how important improving my craft was. “Henry and I want to build Golightly Glass into a real business someday.”
Kenzie gave Henry a look. “I thought you wanted to be a Hollywood agent.”
“Entertainment lawyer, actually,” he said. “I’ve been following some lawsuits recently…”
He is such a nerd, I thought, unable to hold back a smile.
“So how are you going to work for Golightly Glass?” Mia asked. “My older sister is in law school now, and she barely has time to eat lunch.”
My unrivaled time management skills! I expected Henry to say, but when his mouth clamped shut, I felt my pulse falter.
“Milkshakes!” Hamburger Hill’s owner announced, interrupting my train of thought.
I unsuccessfully tried to track it down as she handed out our shakes—coconut for Mia, strawberry for Kenzie, banana chocolate chip for Jared, and chocolate peanut butter for Griff.
As always, Henry got his black-and-white and I’d ordered mint chip.
“Fries will be up in a few minutes,” Heather told Griff before he could inquire.
“Okay, so what’s your plan for Audrey?” Kenzie asked Griff, in a sweet effort to distract him until his chili fries arrived. “Expansion?”
Griff brightened. “Yes, major expansion…”
“We’re already on the hook, Keeler,” Henry said when Griff teasingly trailed off. “Time to reel us in.”
“Chen, I’m trying to build the suspense.”
“It’s been built,” I assured him, then took a sip of my milkshake. “Talk.”
“Okay, so hear me out—”
“Keeler.”
“You should rent out your actual house,” he said.
“Before your parents get home. Fair Winds has been fun and all, but to get real money—enough money—you need to think bigger and better by posting the mansion on Here-to-Stay. It’s gigantic, private, and has all the bells and whistles for a good time. ”
Rent… out… my… house… ? White noise buzzed in my ears. Was he serious?
“Fries!” Heather was the one to cheerfully break the ice. Griff (and Kenzie) immediately dug into the chili fries, but I didn’t acknowledge my sweet potato waffle fries until Mia asked if she could try one.
“That,” Henry finally commented, “sounds terrifying.”
“Oh, come on,” Griff said. “Think about it, Chen.”
Henry shot him a look that suggested he was most definitely not going to think about it, but I at least mentally ran through why the idea was so implausible.
Starting with the fact that my parents would be back on American soil in only nine days!
Nine days wasn’t enough time to ready the house, market it, and host. A cozy guesthouse was one thing, but I had a feeling it would take a lot of bait to hook a reservation for a mansion.
The booking wouldn’t be instantaneous; someone special had to come along. Who knew how long that would take?
And this was all assuming I was totally cool with someone sleeping in my bed!
“Griff, I can’t let people stay in my house,” I said. “No way.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t Fair Winds your house?” He shrugged. “If it weren’t, you wouldn’t be worrying about that kid breaking something.”
I didn’t know what to say. Okay, he wasn’t wrong; I was extremely protective of Fair Winds. But my house was different. It was my house.
“You need to make more money,” Griff continued, eyes locking with mine. His were as blue as the Sound on a sunny day, but no zing zipped through me this time. “This is the ultimate opportunity to be a little enterpriser.”
“Entrepreneur,” Kenzie whispered to him.
“They’re interchangeable,” Henry whispered to her.
I shifted in my seat as the whole table sipped their shakes in anticipation. “I’ll think about it,” I told Griff in an effort to answer without answering. “I have two booking requests for Fair Winds next week. Let me assess those to see where they’ll get me.”
That, thankfully, was true. Two people had reached out during the Constellation party.
But they still wouldn’t boost me to six thousand dollars.
Griff grinned. “Hey, you could even rent both out.”
Kenzie gave him an incredulous look. “Where would she sleep?”
“A tent in the backyard,” Jared proposed.
“An air mattress in the pool house,” Mia joked.
“I appreciate the suggestions,” I said dryly. “But, if anything, I’d take the Chens up on the open invitation to their guest room.”
“She brought us brownies during her last stay,” Henry said as I popped a sweet potato fry into my mouth. “How thoughtful was that?”
I laughed so hard I almost choked on my food.
GRIFF DIDN’T OFFER TO DRIVE ME HOME, AND once he walked off with his arms around both Kenzie and Mia, neither did Henry. I tapped him on the shoulder while he chatted with Jared, who was waiting for his dad to pick him up. “Hey, I have a question.”
He raised an expectant eyebrow. “A question?”
I internally rolled my eyes; he was going to make me work for it. “A favor,” I amended after Jared rode off in his dad’s Honda. “I need a ride home.”
“Hmm…” Henry hummed, contemplative. “A ride home.”
“Well, not just a ride,” I said, smiling and reaching for his hand. “It would make my night if you could drive me home and see me inside safely.”
“Now you’re speaking my language.” Henry smiled back and squeezed my fingers. “I’m nothing if not a gentleman!”
“The swooniest one in town,” I quipped. I’d always known it, deep down, but I guess I never thought he was the swooniest one for me.
Several minutes later, we made it to his Highlander—which was horrifically parallel parked in front of Sandwitch—and Henry opened the passenger door. “Don’t look at me!” I told him as I tried to get into the front seat without my minidress riding up. “This is a standing dress, not a sitting dress.”
He averted his eyes. “Okay, Midge.”
I smirked. With a professional comedian for a father and an affinity for high-budget productions, Henry never stood a chance against The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It was his comfort show. He also couldn’t get through an episode without saying how gorgeous Midge was.
“Thank you!” I chirped once I’d buckled my seat belt, and Henry leaned in for a brushstroke of a kiss before closing my door and walking around to the driver’s side.
Goose bumps bloomed on the back of my neck, and if Henry weren’t a strict two-hands-on-the-wheel driver, I would’ve threaded my fingers through his while he drove.
“So that’s some strategy Griff came up with,” I said once we were cruising on Main Street.
“Uh-huh.” Henry nodded. “It’s definitely a vision.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Do you really think it’d be a shitshow?”
“Wait.” Henry abruptly hit the brakes at a red light, hard enough that I pitched forward in my seat. “Are you actually considering it?”
“No!” I blurted, before I realized that maybe I kind of was—or was at least wondering if someone would pay for a couple of nights in the house. Rent would be at least a thousand per night, minimum. Right?
Here-to-Stay would suggest a range, I thought before kicking myself for thinking that.
“You’re going to have enough money for Blue Ridge,” Henry said.
“But what about enough for my parents’ bank account?”
Henry was quiet, well aware we were four thousand short.
God, what was going to happen when they realized most of their money was missing? How was I going to explain? Here-to-Stay profits, plus my savings and a generous donation from Henry, put me in the six thousand and change ballpark.
It wasn’t the full ten thousand, but it also wasn’t terrible, was it?
Henry cleared his throat. “We should probably hide some of Golightly Glass’s inventory at my house so it looks like you sold most of it while they were away. You’ll need to be able to explain how you can suddenly afford the fellowship.”
I shifted in my seat to look at him.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said, but smiled after he reached across the center console for my hand. My heart twisted and twirled in my chest when he kissed my knuckles. “Pay attention to the road,” I joked.
“You pay attention to the road,” he joked back, and it was only then that I realized Henry wasn’t driving me home. Instead, he flipped his blinker to turn onto his street.
My open invitation to the Chens’ guest room.
“But I didn’t bring any brownies,” I whispered over the sudden lump in my throat.
Henry chuckled. “Hepburn, no one wants your brownies.”
EVEN THOUGH THE CARS IN THE DRIVEWAY said otherwise, it turned out Charlotte and Tess weren’t home; they’d taken the train into the city for a concert. The thought sent a thrill up my spine, and I grinned in the darkness as Henry and I walked up his front path.
I decided to let him take the lead.
“Do you want something to eat?” he asked after switching on the kitchen lights. I watched him casually slide off his suit jacket and drape it across the back of a chair.
My heart swelled.
“We just finished our second dinner,” I pointed out.
He flushed a little. “Oh, right.”
We stood in silence for a few beats, until I gathered up the courage to ask when his parents were going to be back. Hopefully the question would plant the seed of an idea, if it wasn’t already on his mind.
“I gave them a midnight curfew,” he said, then consulted the invisible watch on his wrist. “Although it looks like they’re going to break it…”
He looked at me, deep-brown gaze unwavering.
“Maybe we’d be moving too fast,” I heard myself whisper, “but—”
His phone pinging cut me off. Its chime was usually pleasant, but couldn’t be more obnoxious right now. “Jeez,” Henry chuckled. “At this time of night?”
“Your mom?” I asked when he pulled the glowing iPhone out of his pocket.
“No.” He shook his head, brow furrowing a little. “It’s Ellie.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Ellie?”
Why was Ellie texting Henry?
“She’s asking if we can talk,” he said. “She wants my advice.”
On what? I thought, which came out as, “How mysterious.”
Henry shrugged while his thumbs flew over the screen.
A lump formed in my throat. “I’m going to head to bed, then.”
“You sure?” He glanced up from his phone.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Can I borrow something to sleep in?”
“Of course.” He moved in to give me a hug. His warm embrace, despite his arms’ pointiness, had become one of my favorite places. “My sweats are in my bottom drawer.” One more squeeze. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“See you in the morning,” I echoed, then climbed the stairs with heavy feet. My ears strained to eavesdrop on him speaking to Ellie, but his voice was too low to hear.
They’re just friends, I reminded myself once I’d crawled under the covers of the guest room bed. You and Henry are more than friends.
Although he hadn’t exactly said he loved me back when I professed my feelings, had he?
Just friends, I repeated to myself like a mantra. He loves you, even if he didn’t say it out loud.
Just friends.