Chapter 3
”You’re doing great, Keely,” Michelle told her between bites of her fish tacos.
”Thank you.” She sipped her lemonade and turned to look out over the vast expanse of ocean to her left.
Keely had grown up relatively close to the Pacific Ocean and had spent plenty of Saturdays at the beach growing up, but living right at the edge of civilization still felt novel and extraordinary.
The Pacific Coast Highway was perched on the cliffs at the end of the country, with all of North America on one side and nothing but wide blue sky and inscrutable ocean on the other.
Her sponsor had driven out to meet her in Half Moon Bay, which offered the closest Narcotics Anonymous meeting to Keely’s new home. They had walked from the meeting to the nearest restaurant to catch up before going their separate ways.
Michelle was nearly ten years sober, a mother of two, and a successful business owner. Even with all of that going on, she made time for her.
Keely was deeply grateful for her sponsor’s generosity, but there was still a sharp edge of shame to the gratitude that she felt. What had she done to deserve the forgiveness and grace that she had been offered?
Well. She took a breath and settled herself. If she hadn’t earned it yet, there was still time.
”There’s a really cool nonprofit in Pelican Point,” Keely said as she pushed the last of her rice and beans around on her plate. ”They fix up old houses to make them habitable so that people can afford to stay in their hometown. Or come back. I was thinking that I could help with that. To keep me busy.”
”Very cool,” Michelle said.
”Chloe works with them. You know, my brother’s girlfriend? She’s not the building type, but she runs their social media and designs the T-shirts and stuff. Her friend Nat started the thing.”
”Sounds like a great way to get involved with the local community. But maybe after you find a job?” Michelle prompted gently.
”Yeah, I’ve been looking. There are no ads up for jobs in town, but I’m going to try it the old-fashioned way. Go door to door, see if anyone’s hiring.”
”Ah yes, like we did in the olden days.”
Keely grinned. ”You know what I mean.”
”We passed a couple of Help Wanted signs walking to the restaurant just now.”
”I’d rather not drive up here every day if I can help it.”
Michelle cocked her head to one side and looked at her with open curiosity. ”It’s a pretty drive.”
”It is,” Keely acknowledged. ”That’s not what I mean. I don’t mind the drive. I’d just rather get a job in town, you know? Meet my neighbors. Feel like I’m a part of things.”
”That makes complete sense. I hope you find something.”
”Thanks.”
Michelle checked the time on her phone. ”I would love to stay longer, but I need to get home to relieve the sitter.”
”Yeah, of course.”
She put some money down on the table and stood.
Keely got up from the table to hug her goodbye. ”Thanks for coming all the way out here.”
”It’s a pretty drive,” Michelle said again. ”I don’t get quiet time to myself very often, so I enjoyed it. I won’t be able to make it out here every week, but maybe once a month? Every other week if I can manage it.”
”Sounds good.”
Michelle gave her one last hug. ”You’ve got this, kid. You’re doing great.”
Keely swallowed past the lump in her throat. ”Thank you.”
”Call me anytime, day or night.”
She nodded and sat back down as Michelle walked out. The day was young, and she had no plans, so she sat there for a long while nursing her lemonade and enjoying the sensation of standing on the edge of something. At the start of something.
True adulthood, a whole new chapter in her life.
She was ready.
Or… ready to be ready.
It was early afternoon when she got back to Pelican Point, and she had no desire to go inside and sit in her house alone. Time by herself wasn’t the pure torture that it had been six months ago, but too much downtime still gave her a creepy crawly feeling underneath her skin. Better to keep moving and not let the feeling set in to begin with, because it could be hard to shake once it took hold.
She left her Jeep parked close to the cottage and walked down the road to town – ”town” being the single charming commercial street that cut through the center of the small peninsula.
The day was cool, and a fierce wind whipped in through the buildings, but the sky was a vibrant shade of blue. The January sun was warm on her upturned face, and she felt a tentative peace settle over her.
First she walked the length of the street aimlessly, just taking in her new town. She had spent time in Pelican Point before deciding to move there, but it was different walking through town with the knowledge that this was her new home.
She desperately wanted to feel a part of the community, and she knew that working in town would go a long way toward making that happen.
When the road gave way to the residential part of town, she turned and walked back. She felt a little nervous going into stores with no résumé in hand and no help wanted signs in sight, but she had to start somewhere. So she challenged herself to walk into each business and ask if they were hiring.
She walked into the hardware store first and felt a small surge of relief when the girl behind the counter told her that they weren’t hiring. She didn’t know the names of even half of the things in there, and that would have been a steep learning curve for her first job in town.
Back in Rocky Hill, she had worked a series of jobs that ranged from boring to soul-crushing. Cashier work, cleaning houses, babysitting the holy terrors that lived next door to her parents. She didn’t want to be too picky, because she knew that the pickings here in town were slim, but she wanted to land a job that she could look forward to. A job that brought smiles to people’s faces, like Chloe did scooping ice cream at Kula.
With the exception of the vape shop where Adam had worked, which she walked past with a repressed shiver, she walked into each of the businesses set along the street to ask if they were hiring. Not a single place said yes, but she got a ”maybe” from the little grocery store with its specialty products and wall of local produce. They told her to check back the next morning, when the general manager would be in.
Buoyed by the prospect of a job that she might actually enjoy, she jogged over to the ice cream shop. Chloe had already told her that Kula was not hiring, but she had other motivations for stepping through those glass doors.
”Keely!” Chloe’s smile was sunshine bright. She had cut back on her hours at the ice cream shop to reduce time spent on her feet, but she still served up ice cream with a smile several days a week. ”How is your day going?”
”Pretty good. Better once I’ve had some ice cream.”
”Isn’t that always the case?”
”I never met a day that couldn’t be made better with ice cream.” The falseness of that statement bit at her as soon as it was out of her mouth. She was still haunted by the dark days in her recent past that no simple glimmers like ice cream or sunshine had been able to reach. She pushed the memories back down her throat and away.
Her expression must have changed, because Chloe was looking at her with a quizzical expression.
”What do you recommend?” Keely asked, trying to bring the brightness back into her voice.
Chloe grinned. ”I just made a fresh batch of pumpkin spice.”
”Like it’s made with a pumpkin spice blend, or with actual pumpkin?”
”Both! It tastes like pumpkin pie.”
”Sold!”
”Awesome. Any toppings? We have whipped cream, homemade sprinkles, homemade marshmallow fluff that I can toast—”
”That! Definitely that last one.”
”Cup or cone?”
”Definitely one of your homemade cones. Please.”
”Coming right up!”
The bell on the door jingled as another customer walked in, and she turned to see Chloe’s friend Willa. She was shorter than Keely with a mass of curly dark hair and a warm smile.
”Hey! Keely, right? Nick’s sister?”
”That’s me,” she said wryly. She had thought that she’d escaped the ‘Nick’s sister’ tag when she graduated high school and left Rocky Hill. But she supposed that she’d asked for it, moving to the town where her brother had unexpectedly settled.
”Good to see you again,” she said, then turned to Chloe. ”Hi!”
”You again,” Chloe teased. She handed Keely her mouthwatering tower of waffle cone, pumpkin spice ice cream, and toasted marshmallow before turning back to Willa. ”What can I get for you?”
”How about a scoop of your ginger ice cream for each of us? Come and put your feet up for a minute.”
Chloe wrinkled her nose in protest. ”I’m working!”
”There’s no one here. It’s just us girls. Take your fifteen-minute break with us.”
”Well, when you put it like that…” Chloe scooped out two spheres of cream-colored ginger ice cream and joined them at a wooden table in the corner of the shop, where she put her feet up on an empty chair and leaned back to enjoy her midafternoon snack.
”Keely’s been looking for a job around town,” Chloe said between bites. ”Do you know of anything?”
”I can’t think of anything,” Willa said slowly, ”but I’ll let you know if I do.”
”Thanks,” Keely said. Most of her attention was on the phenomenally delicious ice cream. It was rich and flavorful, with a strong kick of ginger and nutmeg over the mellow sweetness of pumpkin and cinnamon. The marshmallow fluff was phenomenal, recalling early childhood days of roasting marshmallows over a campfire.
”Chloe, this is amazing.”
Her ever present smile widened. ”Thanks!”
”I hate that there are no openings here at the ice cream shop,” she said with a sigh. ”Maybe I could fill in for you in a few months? When you go on maternity leave?”
”Maybe,” she said brightly.
”What do you do for work?” Keely asked Willa.
She smiled self-consciously. ”I’m a stay-at-home mom right now. Man, those are words I never thought I would say all in a row. It’s not forever, but I’m really happy. Like, so happy.” She seemed amazed to be speaking those words all in a row as well.
”She works with CPR too,” Chloe put in.
”That’s the Pelican Point nonprofit?” Keely asked.
”Yeah, Community Property Renovations. I don’t think the nonprofit would have gotten off the ground without Willa. Nat is brilliant when it comes to renovations, but I don’t know that she would’ve started the full nonprofit on her own.”
”It was a group effort,” Willa said modestly. ”None of us could have done it on our own.”
”True that.” Chloe held up her ice cream cup and tapped it against Willa’s with a papery clink.
”I’d like to help with that,” Keely said. ”I don’t have experience with property renovation, so I’m not sure how much help I would be…”
”An extra pair of hands is always a help,” Chloe enthused.
The bell above the door sounded as a large family walked through, and she hurried to shove the last spoonful of ginger ice cream into her mouth and resume her place behind the counter.
”She’s right,” Willa said. ”We could always use another pair of hands.”
”Good. I’m excited to help.”
”And I’ll ask around about local jobs. What do you like to do?”
The black hole of her past mistakes sucked at her thoughts again, and she fought her way back to the surface.
To buy herself a moment, she shrugged and shoved the rest of the ice cream cone into her mouth. As she crunched the last of the pumpkin-flavored wafer, she mulled it over.
What did she like to do?
”I like to read,” she said when she’d swallowed the last of her ice cream cone. ”I stopped for a while… but lately I’ve been picking it up again, remembering how much I love it.”
”I love that. I wish there were a bookstore in town.” Willa tapped her chin. ”There is a library, though. Our friend Ali works there. You’ve met her, right? I could ask her if they’re hiring.”
”That would be great.”
”What else do you like to do?”
”I like to bake,” she said without thinking. ”Half of the books that I brought with me to Pelican Point are cookbooks.”
”Teach me your secrets,” Willa said with a self-deprecating little laugh. ”I’ve tried, but I just don’t have the baking gene.”
She smiled. ”There’s no gene. Just recipes and measurements.”
”You say that. But you haven’t seen me try to bake.”
”Why don’t we bake something together sometime?”
”I would love that! And my kids would love it even more. Would it be all right if they joined us?”
”Of course.”
”Speaking of kids, I have to run and pick them up from school. When you meet them, don’t tell them that I went to the ice cream shop without them.”
Keely laughed, but Willa’s expression was serious.
”I mean it,” she pleaded. ”Don’t tell them.”
”Okay.” She bit back a laugh. ”I won’t tell them.”
”Good!” Willa brightened. ”I have your number from when you were here before, so I’ll text you later and we’ll figure out a time to bake. How about this weekend?”
”It’s a date,” Keely agreed.