Chapter Sixteen
The JV and varsity football teams need assistant coaches for the upcoming season!
This is a volunteer position, but background checks and agreeing to the Code of Conduct are nonnegotiable.
Ideally, we’re looking for three to five people with not only a passion for, but actual knowledge of the game.
Contact Coach through the school’s athletics page if you’re interested!
—Wayward Harbor Online Community Group
“How do you add the colors, though?” Taylor asked, looking at the sketch in Lucy’s notebook.
It was an idea she was working on for gender reveal parties, with a clear shot, and then guests would use an opaque dropper to add blue or pink tinted Bailey’s Irish Cream. The color would then disperse through the clear alcohol.
Her problem was that using the necessary clear liquors needed for the base was boring. But if she added stars or some other fun confetti, it interfered with the dispersal of the thicker liqueur.
“You can tint Bailey’s Irish Cream with food coloring,” Lucy said. “Just not too much because it’ll make it thin and it won’t create the right effect. It’s just years of knowing the different ingredients and how they layer and interact with each other.”
“I bet they’d love that up at the resort,” Willow said. “They host so many events there.”
Lucy nodded, though she didn’t take the bait. The resort a little way up the coastline might host a lot of events, but it wasn’t Miami. It would be seasonal work, and it wouldn’t be nearly as much. Also, it wasn’t in Florida.
The bell over the door rang, and Willow sighed. “Be right back.”
On the one hand, the fact Willow had cleaned off a small table in the back of the kitchen so Taylor could sneak in the back door and they could all have coffee together was ridiculous. On the other hand, they all got to have coffee together, which was the important part.
“Lucy, it’s for you,” she heard Willow call.
“That’s odd,” she said, closing her notebook and getting up. The only people who could be looking for her were Nick and Mattie, and either of them would have sent her a text message. Or called.
It wasn’t until she was already pushing open the door that she thought of the online trolls. It had been a while since she let them take up space in her head. But she was already committed, and if it was one of them, they’d just follow her into the kitchen anyway, Employees Only sign be damned.
Then she saw the woman who’d come in and squealed with excitement.
“Gran!” As tempting as it was to try to leap onto and over the pastry counter like an action movie star, Lucy recognized her limitations and took the time to walk around it. “You’re home!”
Very few things in Lucy’s life had ever felt as good as Helen’s arms wrapping around her and squeezing did. “Oh my goodness, sweetheart, it is so good to see you.”
“I didn’t know you’d be home today. You didn’t even tell me you left!”
“I wanted to surprise you the way you tried to surprise me, and I thought I’d be later, but I took the highway instead of the scenic route and made good time.”
Lucy wanted to reply, but all she could do was nod. While she’d talked to Gran so many times since she’d arrived, and felt the love and support, there was nothing like a good squeeze hug.
“Lucy, are you crying into my hair?”
“Of course not,” she said, sniffling as she lifted her head. She tried to swipe away her tears before she stepped back, but she was absolutely busted.
But Helen was crying, and she was wiping away a few tears, too.
“Have you been home yet?”
“Not yet. I saw your car wasn’t in the driveway and thought you might be here. I can use a coffee and a sweet snack after all that driving.”
“This will probably sound weird, but we’re actually having coffee and sweets in the back of the kitchen right now.”
Gran looked around the empty shop, clearly confused. “Does somebody have the tables all reserved?”
“Actually, it’s because Taylor joins us, and it’s better for business than covering the windows so nobody can see her and rat her out to Kim.”
“I have to go anyway,” Taylor said, and they turned to see her face barely peeking out through the door. “My break’s over, but I’ll call you later, Lucy. It’s good to see you, Mrs. Griffin.”
“It’s good to see you, too, Taylor.”
After grabbing their mugs and plates, as well as Lucy’s notebook, they joined Helen at a table in the front of the shop. It worked out for the best, as customers began trickling in for a midafternoon pick-me-up, so Willow was up and down.
They talked about Helen’s adventures until well after their mugs were empty. She had a ton of photos, of course, but they saved those for when they could sit side by side on the couch.
When Helen excused herself to use the restroom, Lucy realized with a start that she hadn’t even thought about Nick. She needed to tell him her grandmother was back because it was going to change everything.
She pulled out her phone and typed in a quick message. Gran is back in town. She wanted to surprise me. We’re at the Scuttlebutt but I wanted you to know.
Helen was sliding back into her chair when Lucy’s phone dinged with his reply. I had to make a run to the hardware store and heard her car had been spotted. I probably won’t beat you back to the cottage, but I’ll be there shortly.
Lucy realized he’d said the cottage and not home, and a pang of sadness took a little of the joy out of the day.
“Is everything okay?”
“Of course,” Lucy said brightly, dropping the phone into her bag. “I was telling Nick you came early to surprise me, but, of course, he’d already heard you were back in town.”
“It’s not easy keeping a secret in this town, that’s for sure,” Gran said as they gathered their things to leave. She must have caught Lucy’s wry look, because she gave her a sheepish smile. “Well, small ones, anyway.”
Because they were in separate cars, Lucy had the drive home to wrap her head around the fact her life was about to look very different again. With Nick giving the primary bedroom back to Gran, he wasn’t going to have any place to stay.
And Lucy couldn’t very well invite him to share her bed because, one, she had no idea how Gran would feel about that. But secondly, they’d agreed not to share that part of their lives with anybody.
Nick had actually beat them to the cottage because his truck was next to Helen’s car in the driveway. Lucy pulled up behind her grandmother’s car and walked slowly up the stairs to the porch.
She’d known this day was coming, but she thought she had more time.
The first thing she saw when she walked through the door were Nick’s duffel bags, sitting on the floor by the kitchen table.
Miscellaneous other things, like his sneakers and extra sweatshirts, were set next to them.
She stared at them for too long, willing herself to put a smile on her face, but she couldn’t quite manage it.
“Lucy?” It was Nick, and she turned to find him standing in the bedroom doorway. “You want to help me remake this bed?”
“You don’t have to do that,” Helen protested. She’d had her back to Lucy, sifting through a large tote bag, so she’d missed her granddaughter’s reaction to seeing Nick’s bags packed.
“You know I’m going to make that bed,” Nick said, his voice warm with affection. “The bedding that was on it is already in the wash. It’ll just need to go in the dryer when it’s done.”
“I think I left my other glasses in the car. I’ll be right back.”
Left alone, Lucy watched Nick go back into the bedroom. She followed him and took the corner of the sheet he handed her. “You don’t have to go.”
“Of course I do. We talked about this. Helen’s back and it’s her bedroom, so it’s time for me to leave.”
But she didn’t want him to go. “Of course Gran should sleep in her own bed, especially after two months of traveling. But you can sleep in the second bedroom and I’ll crash on the couch again. It’ll be like old times.”
“No, Lucy. We’re not doing that.”
“What are you going to do?”
Was that guilt that flashed across his face? “I’ll head home and sleep in my own bed, I guess.”
“What about your brother and the kids?”
“They’re back in their own place, actually.”
Well, that was certainly news to her. “When did that happen?”
Nick scrubbed his hand over the back of his neck, not meeting her eyes. “A couple of weeks ago now, I guess.”
“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to do with that information.
“Didn’t make sense to drive back and forth to work on the deck,” he said, and she could see that. But he was rubbing his hand over the back of his neck, which was a sure sign there was something else he didn’t want to admit.
“That doesn’t really explain why you didn’t tell me. You could have said Beck and the kids went home, but you were going to stay until the deck was done.”
“And I know the quiet gets to you at night, so I thought maybe you wouldn’t want to be alone.”
That was very sweet, but it still didn’t explain why he hadn’t shared the good news. But she could see the reserve creeping in—the grumpy mask sliding into place—and decided to let it go.
“Well, I’m belatedly happy for them. The kids must love being back in their own home.”
He shrugged, smoothing his hand over the top sheet. “I think so. They like hanging out with their uncles, but having all of their toys back and their own rooms probably makes up for it.”
“Found them,” Lucy heard Gran say, and she blinked away a tear. “It’s going to take me days to sort that mess of a car.”
“I’ll carry in your bags,” Nick called back to her. He gave Lucy a sad smile before walking into the living room. “But the crumbs between the seats are all you.”
Helen laughed, and Lucy made sure to rearrange her expression into a happy one before joining her in the living room. It seemed like no time at all before Nick had brought everything in from the car. Then, while Lucy and Gran started dealing with that, he carried his own stuff out to his truck.