Chapter 24
Caleb was surprised that he didn’t see Rhys anywhere when he arrived at the pizza place Jonah’s family had rented out for the party.
He knew Rhys didn’t like to be late to anything.
Was he wishing he had told Tessa earlier so he wouldn’t be under pressure for him to say something tonight?
Was he afraid he couldn’t hide his attraction to Caleb if the two of them were at an event together?
Caleb was certainly worried about that. But he wasn’t going to fail to show up for his friend because the way he looked at Rhys might expose them.
Caleb greeted Jonah, then got introduced to Jonah’s parents. He chatted with Abby for a few moments at the buffet, which was filled with a variety of pizzas. Once he had chosen a slice of barbecue chicken pizza and one of a meat lovers, he looked for a space to sit down.
Tessa and Finn were at the end of one of the long tables with a pitcher of beer sitting in front of them. He wove around a group of people he recognized from Cloud Nine and made his way over to them. When she saw him, Tessa pointed to a chair next to her. He nodded in acknowledgment.
“How’s it going?” Finn asked when he was seated.
“Fine. Busy. It’s good to see you both.”
Finn nodded. “Sorry I haven’t been by Cloud Nine recently. Things have been slammed at the bakery. Everybody is wanting all the fall treats. I always think it’s not going to get crazy until closer to Halloween, and I get surprised every year. People around here love fall celebrations.”
“Yeah, I’ve had people asking if I can do coffee-to-go for a crowd or help them set up a coffee bar for fall parties. I didn’t even know that was a thing.”
“It’s not in most places, but it’s a big tradition around here.”
“I shouldn’t question it since it’s good for business.”
Finn nodded. “It sure is, but it makes the whole last part of the year crazy. The fall rush leads right into Halloween. Then we’ve got Thanksgiving and all the winter holidays.”
Caleb smiled just thinking about it. “I’m so excited about making holiday drinks.”
“I’m excited to see what you come up with,” Tessa said as she glanced around at the crowd. “Have you seen Rhys?”
Caleb tensed at his name, then hoped she didn’t notice. “No, I haven’t seen him. I’m surprised he’s not here yet.”
“He’ll be here,” Finn said. “He probably had something come up at the store.”
“It’s not like him to be late,” Tessa said. “He better not be avoiding us. He hates crowds, but I know he wants to come for Jonah.”
“Have they known each other a long time?” Caleb asked.
“We were all in the same grade, so he’s known Jonah as long as he’s known Finn and me.”
“I guess there aren’t a lot of different school districts around here.”
“That’s right,” Finn said. “We all went to the same schools all the way through high school.”
Tessa focused back on Caleb. “How are things going with your fall drink? I know you were worried about it last time we talked.”
This was exactly why he’d wanted Rhys to tell everyone before the party. What could he say that wasn’t an outright lie? “It’s going better. I’ve got some more ideas.”
“Are you going to tell us about it?”
Caleb shook his head. He wished he could say more, but he wasn’t going to.
Tessa narrowed her eyes. “I’m eventually going to get details out of you.”
“You’ll see the drink at the festival.”
She huffed. “I haven’t gotten anything out of Rhys about what he’s doing either. Why are you both so secretive? He’s never been like this before.”
Caleb shrugged as his stomach flip-flopped. He really didn’t want to talk about this anymore.
“I saw Rhys heading down to Cloud Nine the other evening,” Finn said. “Were you comparing notes?”
How many other people had noticed? Rhys thought he had been discreet, but how discreet could you be walking up and down Front Street? “He just tried out some of my equipment.” That was true, though misleading.
Tessa giggled. “Did he now?”
Caleb realized how he’d phrased that, and heat rose in his face. If only she knew both meanings were true.
Finn lightly slapped her arm. “Behave. Is Rhys thinking about getting something new for the shop?”
“I’m not really sure.” He couldn’t say anything else without fully making something up.
Tessa was studying him. He didn’t think she was buying it.
It did sound lame, but he wasn’t any good at coming up with shit like this.
He’d always been incredibly honest. Too bad that quality had been wasted on Adrian.
“I’m glad you’re getting to know each other at least a little bit,” Finn said.
Tessa nodded. “Right? We need to get you together more.”
Caleb almost choked on his beer.
“Are you all right?” Marianne asked as she slid into the seat next to him and patted him on the back.
“I think I’ll survive,” he said once he’d recovered enough.
How much of the conversation had Marianne heard before he’d noticed her?
At this point, Caleb wasn’t sure he was going to survive this party. Where the hell was Rhys?
Jonah’s party was as loud as Rhys had expected it to be. If Jonah weren’t such a good friend, he would have turned around and left, but he’d find a way to survive all the music, people talking, and even kids blowing horrible party whistles.
He noticed Caleb as soon as he entered. He was seated with Tessa, Finn, and Marianne.
Once he scanned the room, he saw Jonah, Abby, and several more of Jonah’s family members.
Before the night was over, half the town would likely have stopped by.
Jonah had lived in Frostwick Harbor all his life, and when he’d taken over the bookshop from Ms. Fran, everyone had been eager to see what he would do to revive it.
So far, he’d been wildly successful, and there were a lot more readers in town, thanks to him.
There weren’t many people at the buffet, but he wanted to speak to Jonah before he got food. He made his way over to his friend and gave him a hug. “Happy birthday.”
“Thank you. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it.”
“That means a lot.” Jonah understood that parties weren’t easy for Rhys. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in a few days.”
“I’m fine. Just busy.” Jonah glanced toward Caleb, then back, and Rhys shook his head. “Don’t start.”
“All right, but you could grab some pizza and go sit with him.”
Rhys smiled. “I could do that.”
He left Jonah to talk to other guests and grabbed a few pieces of pepperoni pizza. Before he could make it to Caleb’s table, he had to stop and speak to Mayor Gilman, Agnes, and Jonah’s parents. Finally, he made his way through the crowd and took a seat across from Caleb.
“I was wondering when you were going to get here,” Tessa said.
“I had to finish some things up at the shop.”
“And I bet you didn’t want to be early,” Marianne said.
Caleb frowned. “I thought you liked to be early.”
Tessa looked over at him, and Rhys avoided her eyes. He was certain she was wondering how Caleb knew that.
“I do like to get to work early,” Rhys said. “But I don’t do well in crowds.” Or when I have to say something that terrifies me.
Caleb nodded. He knew that too. Rhys met Caleb’s gaze.
This was the moment he’d dreaded. He needed to tell them all, or he might lose Caleb, and that was worse than being teased or talked about.
He also didn’t want Caleb thinking he was embarrassed that they were working together.
He’d learned a lot since working with Caleb.
He no longer thought Caleb’s drinks were just thrown together. Caleb was truly talented.
“I wanted to let you all know that Caleb and I are actually working together on our festival entry.” Once the words were out, he felt more relieved than he expected, and the huge smile on Caleb’s face made the risk seem worth it.
Tessa frowned at Caleb. “Why didn’t you tell me when I asked about your drink earlier?”
“Rhys wanted to be the one to spill our big secret.” He didn’t sound upset, but Rhys knew he must have hated being questioned.
Tessa looked back and forth between the two of them. “Well, now that we know you’re working together. Tell us what you’re doing.”
“We still haven’t decided between a few different ideas,” Rhys said. “We keep tweaking things.”
Finn turned to Caleb. “If you let him, he’ll keep playing with it forever. It’ll be the night before the festival, and he’ll still be insisting it could be more perfect.”
“Why not keep improving if you can?” Rhys asked.
“Because eventually, it’s good enough. Eventually, you might be going in the other direction,” Marianne said.
Rhys huffed. “I just want to get it right.”
“So do I,” Caleb agreed. Rhys smiled at him. It felt good to have Caleb support him instead of teasing him like the others. He wanted to reach out and take Caleb’s hand, but he wasn’t ready for that, not in front of everyone. He’d revealed they were working together; he couldn’t go any further yet.
When they’d all finished their pizza and had a few beers, Tessa insisted they should all get up and mingle with the other guests, many of whom were standing in groups, either having finished eating or not started yet.
Rhys hated this part. He’d rather stay seated at the table, but he stood up, knowing he at least needed to speak to a few other people.
Also, it looked like Jonah’s mother was getting the cake set up, so they would all be singing soon.
He might as well be standing for that. Maybe he could manage to get to the back of the crowd.
His group of friends split up for a bit, but once everyone was called to order for the lighting of the candles, Caleb came to stand beside him.
“I hate this part,” Rhys said. “It’s so awkward.”
“True, but I’d rather be out here singing than be Jonah standing up there.”
Rhys smiled. Jonah did look uncomfortable. His mother had dragged him to stand in front of the crowd by the cake. “True. I can’t stand everyone looking at me like that. Honestly, I don’t like big parties at all.”
Caleb stepped closer. “Maybe we can get out of here after cake.”
Rhys nodded. “I’d like that.”