CHAPTER 35
River
“Thank you,” she said, handing the woman her bag.
“This place is great, but have you ever considered another shop?” the woman asked her.
“Sorry?” River said.
“Franchising or something; putting another one in LA or San Francisco; really catering to tourists?”
“We get a lot of those here, too.”
“Just asking. I would’ve missed this place had I not seen that stuff on social media. Did you really get to meet Cameron Levine and Kennedy Gannon?”
“Um… I did, yeah,” she replied and looked over the woman’s shoulder at the longest line they’d had in a while, which was saying something because they’d been busy many times over the years.
“They are, like, goals, you know? Hot, strong women, and they’re together. It’s like the dream, right?”
“Right,” River said through somewhat gritted teeth.
“Anyway, I saw on Insta that Kennedy was hanging out here one day,” the woman went on.
“She came in to… buy something, yeah.”
“So, you’re, like, friends with her now? How cool? Is she here now, or will she maybe be later?”
“That was the only time. And I don’t know. I doubt it. She’s really busy.”
“Oh, cool. Well, this place is kind of out of her way, I bet, but if you had one in LA, she’d probably come more.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. We don’t really talk,” she lied. “She’s a big-time celebrity and everything. I work here.”
“Excuse me? Can I check out, please?” the woman behind this one asked.
“Yes, sorry,” River replied, thinking she’d have to get another register if this kept up and maybe another employee, too.
“Okay. Well, thanks, I guess,” the first woman said and finally walked off.
River had been slammed open to close ever since that one customer had posted the photo of Kennedy in here and mentioned the shop.
She’d had a line nearly non-stop since as well, but this was the longest it had been, and it was almost out the door.
She had Michaela over at the other counter, and she had called in her other part-timer, but Zoey had been in class and couldn’t work until later.
River would have to see if they could work more hours or she’d have to hire someone else, at least temporarily, to help cover everything.
Calista had joined them today, too, and she was making sodas and helping in front of the counter, floating around wherever she was needed, but she couldn’t be here all day every day.
River both wanted this to continue indefinitely and also needed a break.
Her favorite part of running this place had always been making people happy with the things she made, but at this pace, she couldn’t spend more than a few minutes in the back making candy, nor could she spend more than a few seconds helping someone pick out their new favorite flavor because they were so busy.
“So, Kennedy Gannon shops here?” another customer asked a minute later.
“Just that day.”
“But you’re the one from that date thing, right?”
“I won the prize, yes, but Kennedy was just here to pick out some candy.”
“She was in a shirt like yours,” the woman noted. “Like she worked here.”
“She doesn’t. I… gave it to her as a gift. Yeah, I gave it to her as a gift,” she repeated for no reason. “Something to remember the shop by.” River’s eyes went wide at her own word salad, and she handed the woman her change. “Thank you for stopping by today.”
The woman walked off then, and River sighed because it was time to close up.
Calista practically ran to the door to lock it, turned the sign from open to closed, and said, “Thank God. My feet are about to fall off.”
“Mine too,” she replied. “Come on. I’ll take the money in the back. You turn off the lights. I’ll come back out and put the fudge and stuff away in a minute. I don’t want anyone else to think we’re still open.”
River carried the cash drawer into the back, and Calista joined her a moment later with a piece of fudge for herself.
“River, this is absolutely insane. You can’t keep going like this. Have you slept?”
“It’ll die down,” she said and put the drawer in the safe to deal with later. “It’s because of that picture and the whole double date thing. Once people realize that Kennedy Gannon doesn’t actually work here, they’ll stop coming in.”
“What if it doesn’t die down?” Calista asked.
“Why wouldn’t it?” she asked back and grabbed herself a bottle of water. “And I have to make a few batches of fudge tonight, or I won’t have anything to sell to people tomorrow. Any chance you can stay and help?”
“I can stay, but only for about an hour. I’m meeting Ashton for a late dinner.”
“Okay. That’ll help. We can probably make what I need if we multitask. I’ll need a batch of just chocolate, one chocolate peanut butter, one–”
“Hey, River!”
“What?”
“Breathe for a second. We’re talking here.”
“I don’t have time to talk, Cal. It’s after seven.
We were supposed to close at six, but we had too many people in line.
I will be down here for at least the next few hours, making whatever I can before I have to drop off the cash at the after-hours box at the bank.
Then, I’ll try to get some sleep, if I can, and wake up super early to make more and clean up the front of the shop.
I need to put up an ad for some temporary hire to get through this, and–”
“Just hold on for a second. You still have to eat. Why don’t you come to dinner with Ashton and me? When was the last time you even ate something? I got here around noon today, and you didn’t stop the whole time.”
“I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not,” Calista replied and sat on the counter that River needed to use. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. We’re just really busy, and I only have two part-time employees and you.
You’ve been amazing, so thank you, but my part-timers don’t make anything.
I do all the candy making. You can help with some of it, but not all of it, and I know you have your own life, Cal.
You agreed to help occasionally when you loaned me the money, but you’ve had to be here every day, and it’s too much to ask of you. ”
“Where’s Kennedy, River?”
“What? I don’t know.”
“She caused this mess. She should be here to help you clean it up.”
“Kennedy Gannon? Movie star Kennedy Gannon? She is supposed to help me run my candy shop?”
“She stepped in and helped once. Why not again?”
“Because she hasn’t called me like she said she would, so she doesn’t know that this is even happening.”
“She told you she’d call you and hasn’t yet?”
“She didn’t commit to a timeframe, but yes.”
“Have you called her?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“You didn’t see her when she was trying to run out of here. She was scared, Cal.”
“Why?”
“Because she got recognized. The word isn’t out about her being single yet, but I touched her arm, and she worried people would make assumptions.”
“And you haven’t talked to her since?”
“No.”
“River, fucking call her. This is ridiculous.”
“She said she’d call me. I’m trying to be respectful.”
“Don’t be respectful. Just call her.”
“Cal, it’s not that simple.”
“And why not?”
“I called her ‘babe.’”
“What?”
“The day she was here, I called her ‘babe’. It just slipped out, but I fucking loved it, Cal. It felt like I was supposed to be calling her that all along. I touched her – well, not really, just on her arm – and I wanted to hold her hand and kiss her. God, I wanted to kiss her so much. She was so cute, making candy back here with me, and it was like all I wanted to do was make candy with her forever.”
“And probably have sex with her, too.”
“Well, yeah, but it’s more than that. I felt it when we met, too, Cal.
It felt like she could be the one, and I thought it was crazy because I had Lace, and she had Cameron Levine.
They were, supposedly, the world’s most perfect couple, but then we spent time together, and it started to feel more and more like Lacey and Cameron were supposed to be together, and I was supposed to be making candy with Kennedy in my tiny shop before we go upstairs to my terrible apartment and fall asleep next to each other.
It felt like I wanted to hear her complain about there being no AC, not Lacey.
I wanted Kennedy to, I don’t know, do something like threaten to stay in a hotel or make me drive up to LA because she’s not about to deal with no air-conditioning in the summer.
” River laughed at just the thought of that.
“That sounds stupid, but that’s how it feels for me,” she added.
“So, you can’t call her because of that?”
“No, I can, but I’m not going to. I’m not going to beg her to give me a chance.
I’m not going to call her when she said she would call me.
Not this time, anyway. If she’s serious about being friends, the ball is in her court.
And before you say anything, it’s not a pride thing.
I called her before. I need her to do it this time so that I know. ”
“Know that she’s serious?”
“Yes. It feels like she needs to be the one to make the next move, even if it’s just in friendship.”
“Can you really be friends with her when you’re clearly already starting to fall in love with her?”
“I’m not falling–”
“Oh, come on, River.”
“I don’t want that, Cal.”
“You don’t want to be in love?”
“Not this fast. That’s what happened with Lace.”
“So?”
“So, we missed the whole part about us not being a great couple because we let ourselves fall so fast.”
“You don’t let that happen, River. It either does or it doesn’t.
You fell for each other, and it ended. That happens all the time.
It sounds like it happened to Kennedy and Cameron, too.
They fell in love. Then, they fell out of love.
Now, you’re falling for Kennedy, and she might be falling for you. ”
“I just want a date. That’s where I want to start.”
“So, I’ll repeat my question but alter it a little so I don’t freak you out again. Can you be friends with Kennedy if you want to date her?”
“I was trying to be, and I ended up calling her ‘babe’, so I don’t know anymore.”
“Then, you’re right: you shouldn’t call her.
You need to know what you can give this relationship first. If she’s only thinking friendship and that would make you miserable, you can’t offer her that, River.
You and Lacey started making each other miserable because you didn’t want to hurt the other person, and so you ended up hurting yourselves because of that. You can’t do that to yourself again.”
“I know,” River replied. “But, Cal, I really have to get to work now, so can we talk about how I’m confused and maybe already miserable because I like someone who won’t call me when she tells me she’s going to while we make some fudge?
I’m exhausted, and I need to get this done and get to the bank. ”
“We can. Then, I’ll go to the bank for you, but you have to promise me that you’ll go upstairs and get some sleep. You can’t use the extra time to make more stuff down here.”
“I’m behind, Cal.”
“On sleep. Yes, I agree. Look, River, you have to live to fight another day. If you burn yourself out, you’ll never make it through, however long this Kennedy-related rush lasts.”
“I know. You’re right.” River stood up. “You’re on the chocolate. I’ll get two more batches started at once. That’ll be enough for tonight. I’ll do the rest tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. Let’s get to work.”
She and Calista made enough for River to feel like she could open tomorrow with at least a fully stocked shop, and Calista agreed to come in at noon again and help the two part-timers in the front so that River could make more products to sell in the back for as long as she could get away with it before needing to help with the possible rush.
Then, Calista left, and River went upstairs to her apartment, showered, and climbed into her bed.
“God, it’s hot,” she stated, got up, turned on her fans, and got back into bed.
Then, she ordered herself a new window AC unit because the old one wasn’t cutting it, and she was done sweltering in her own apartment when she could do something about it.
Her new air conditioner would be here in two days, and she’d plug it in right away, but it got her thinking.
Yes, she liked the convenience of living above her shop, but it no longer felt the same to her.
She was in her mid-thirties, renting a studio apartment above her own store, and while that saved her money on gas and time, she didn’t want this forever.
For some reason, her brain chose that moment to start thinking about what could be, and she did her best to force it to be quiet so that she could fall asleep.
Just as she was about to close her eyes and, hopefully, sleep for hours, her phone dinged.
Ken: I owe you a phone call.
River smiled and typed back.
River Ervin: Yes, you do.
She wasn’t about to let Kennedy off the hook.
Ken: I’m sorry. Can you talk now?
River wanted to say no because she needed to get some sleep, but she didn’t, and a few seconds after her response was read by Kennedy, she got an incoming call.
“Hello,” she said.