Chapter 12

Joelle

I didn’t hear from Andre for the next few days. Was he avoiding me? I tried to tell myself he wasn’t, but the truth was I didn’t really know him that well. Maybe he was the kind of guy who was only looking for sex and once he got it, he moved on.

At first I was angry about that, but then I decided it didn’t matter. I wasn’t staying. I didn’t know where I was going to end up, but it wasn’t in MacKellar Cove. I ran there to get away from my mother and Thomas, not to start a new life. My future wasn’t there, and Andre made it clear his was. If all we had was one night together, it was okay.

Which was why I was heading into town on Wednesday after breakfast to get some sunshine and enjoy my day. I was tired of sitting around the Inn and hoping Andre would show up.

I debated finding a new match on Book Boyfriends Wanted, but every time I reached for my phone, I worried about my mother calling again, and I never turned it back on.

School was still in session for the local kids, which meant the town was quieter on a Wednesday than it was over the weekend. Shops had doors thrown open to let the fresh breeze blow through, and I was loving the weather.

I stopped into Cove Bakery for a treat from Valentina and spoke to Harriett for a few minutes. Harriett suggested heading over to Catherine Park, where the festival was the weekend before, to enjoy the Cove view and the sunshine.

I took her up on the suggestion and carried my blueberry lemon tart and iced coffee a few blocks over to the park. Young kids chased each other and their parents. Older couples sat on Adirondack chairs and smiled at the families. A few runners skirted the park along the sidewalks nearby.

I found a chair in the shade of the gazebo and sank onto the warm wood. Staring at the water, with the massive ships floating past and the smaller boats zipping around, brought me peace. I always enjoyed water of any kind, finding it soothing in a way that nothing else ever was. It didn’t matter if it was a shower pounding down on me, a bath with a glass of wine, a pool or hot tub, or open water like the river or a lake or the ocean. I loved it all.

My blueberry lemon tart was as delicious as everything else Valentina crafted, and the iced coffee was the perfect balance to the sweetness. I leaned back in my chair and enjoyed both treats as the scenery and the sound of kids playing brought me peace.

I closed my eyes and let the breeze drift around me. A book would have made the morning better, but I didn’t have one with me. I considered stopping at Finley’s store, where book club was held, before I went back to the Inn for the day. Zoey and Piper had well-stocked shelves, but I wanted something I wouldn’t feel the need to return as quickly as possible.

As I sat there, the sounds around me faded. The wind picked up, toying with my hair and making me smile. Until I heard a rumble of thunder.

I opened my eyes and sat up. Almost everyone was gone. The families had cleared out, the runners were gone, and the older couples were heading for their vehicles.

And the dark clouds were rolling in fast.

I pushed out of my chair and headed toward where I’d left my car. I stopped to throw away my trash and stepped onto the sidewalk as the sky opened up.

I was soaked in ten seconds, and as I hurried across the street, the door to the place in front of me opened and a hand waved me inside.

“Joelle! Come here!”

I didn’t expect someone to know my name, but when I stepped inside I recognized Blake from book club. She wore an apron and a black tee that read ~Cracked~. “Blake!”

“Hey. I saw you crossing the street. Didn’t know the storm was coming?” She led me to a table near the door.

I shook my head. “I was enjoying the fresh air. I guess I should have opened my eyes.”

Blake chuckled. “All good. Can I get you a coffee? Or lunch? You don’t have to buy anything to sit here, though.”

My stomach rumbled, echoing the thunder outside, and I shrugged. “I guess lunch.”

Blake grinned and pointed to the menus sticking out of the condiment corral in the middle of the table. “I’ll get you some water while you check things out. Unless you had enough water and want coffee or hot chocolate or something else?”

“Ooh, hot chocolate sounds good. And water, if that’s okay.”

“Of course. I’ll be right back.”

I thanked her, then picked up a menu. Eggs were the main ingredient, which made sense with the name. Everything sounded good, even though I’d already had breakfast. But I loved breakfast food and would not turn down a chance to have it twice in one day.

Piper made stuffed French toast that morning, so I looked at the other options while I waited for my water and hot chocolate.

A man burst through the door, bringing a wet wind with him. He stomped his shoes and shook off his raincoat before looking around the restaurant.

“Hey, Landon!” Blake said, smiling at the man as she carried my drinks over. “The weather got you, too?”

The man named Landon nodded. “Pretty busy today.”

“Yeah. People are hanging around a little longer with the downpour. I’m sure someone will share their table, though.” Blake delivered my drinks as she spoke.

I met the man’s gaze and felt like an ass if I didn’t offer to let him sit at my table for four. “You can join me if you’d like.”

“I’m meeting a friend. Is it okay if we both join you?”

“Of course. I’m Joelle.”

Landon paused for a second, then chuckled. “Nice to meet you, Joelle. I’m Landon.” He offered me his hand to shake.

I smiled at him, feeling better about a random guy and his friend joining me since Blake knew him. We shook hands, with zero zip, and he took a seat diagonally across from me. He was an attractive man with dark brown hair and a friendly smile. He smelled like dirt and something floral.

Landon grabbed a menu immediately and thanked Blake when she returned with a coffee for him.

“Are you ready to order, or do you want to wait for your third?”

Landon shook his head. “I’ll wait a minute, if that’s okay.”

“Of course. Joelle? What about you?”

“Um, I can wait. Thanks, Blake.”

“My pleasure. How are you enjoying your week?” Blake looked at Landon and added, “Joelle is on vacation in our little town. She’s staying at the Inn.”

“I know,” Landon said.

The hairs on my neck stood up with his words. “How do you know that?”

Landon nodded to the door as it opened.

Another man walked in, but this one was one I knew. Intimately.

“Andre,” I breathed.

His head snapped up. His hair was plastered to his head, his shirt the same. He looked between Landon and me, then scowled.

Blake disappeared, leaving me alone with the two men.

“What’s going on?” Andre asked Landon in a tone that was less than friendly.

Did they not like each other? Enemies?

“Place was crowded when I got here. Joelle was nice enough to offer me a seat. And one for my friend,” Landon said, accentuating the last word.

Andre narrowed his eyes at Landon.

Landon held his hands up in defense. “I’m just sitting here, dude.”

“Better be.” Andre slid onto the bench next to me, sitting close enough that his leg pressed to the side of mine. “Hey.”

“Um, hi. You two know each other?”

Andre nodded, and Landon leaned back in his chair and smirked. “Yeah. Good friends.”

I looked at Andre to confirm what Landon said.

“The buddy I mentioned.”

“The break-up,” I blurted before I could stop myself.

Landon scowled at that one. “Thanks.”

“We were talking about falling in love and break-ups. That’s all,” Andre defended.

“And Reegan stomping all over my heart was the topic?”

“I just said you’d been through a rough break-up,” Andre said.

“That’s all he told me. I apologize. I didn’t mean to make it sound like we were gossiping about you. I promise you, that wasn’t it. He didn’t even tell me your name. But you obviously knew mine when you sat down.” I raised an eyebrow at Landon, daring him to argue.

His cheeks reddened. He twisted his mouth to the side and nodded. “True. But nothing bad. Just that he likes you.”

It was Andre’s turn to be embarrassed. He widened his eyes at his friend while Landon smirked.

Then Andre turned his gaze on me, and my cheeks heated.

“Hi,” Andre said, his voice low and intimate in the small gap between us.

“Hi,” I whispered.

Blake reappeared and set down a carafe of coffee with a thunk, smiling when we all looked up at her. “Are you guys ready to order?”

I busied myself with my hot chocolate while Blake took Andre’s and Landon’s orders. She finished with mine, then winked at me before she walked away, making me feel like she wasn’t trying to interrupt whatever was going on with Andre and me.

Of course, I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t hear from him for days, and I assumed he was done. We didn’t make plans to meet, and I wasn’t supposed to be at Cracked.

What the hell was I doing?

“So, Joelle, are you enjoying your vacation?” Landon asked me, sipping his coffee and ignoring the glare Andre was giving him.

“I am. MacKellar Cove is a very relaxing place.”

Landon nodded. “It is. I agree. What have you been doing? You’ve been here a couple of weeks?”

“Yeah. I really haven’t done much. Resting. Walking around town. I went to the festival last weekend.”

“How was that?”

“It was fun. I’ve never been to something like that.”

“No? They don’t have festivals where you live?”

“I… don’t go to them.”

“Where is home?”

“Why are you interrogating her?” Andre blurted.

“Just making conversation,” Landon said. He smiled again, sipping his coffee.

“I’m from DC,” I said, knowing Landon was asking questions for Andre.

“You are?” Andre asked.

I nodded. “I am. I’ve always lived there. The city is busy and fast, and being here is everything it’s not.”

“I don’t think I could live in a city. Too much pollution,” Landon said.

“He owns the local florist with a massive garden where he grows most of the things he sells,” Andre explained.

“Really? That’s amazing. And I agree on the pollution. It’s horrible. I use public transportation as much as possible and buy as much local and organic as I can.”

“That’s really smart. I made my own natural insecticide. It’s not perfect, but I don’t like the idea of having a ton of chemicals on my plants, or on myself.”

“They’re so horrible. Especially when you’re the one who’s always using them. For most consumers, it’s not a huge issue, but for the people who are caring for multiple yards or for big spaces like a garden, it’s dangerous. I have been trying to get my mother to change to organic and natural products for years, but she always argues with me.”

“Does she have a big garden?” Landon asked.

I realized what I admitted and nodded, rolling back the conversation. “She does. Her gardener agrees with me, but she won’t listen. She said having bugs, even ones that promote healthy vegetation, isn’t okay. She wants a completely insect free space.”

“That’s not reasonable. You’d have to have a greenhouse to do that, and even then, it’s not guaranteed,” Landon said.

I nodded. “She doesn’t care. She’s not an overly reasonable person in a lot of ways.” Talking about my mother was not where I wanted the conversation to go. “But we can’t choose our family, right?”

“That’s true,” Landon said. “Not everyone wins the parent lottery like Andre.”

I looked at Andre, and he grinned.

“Landon’s just jealous because my parents wanted me to live with them as long as possible and his were ready for him to move out as soon as he turned eighteen.”

Landon flipped Andre off. “My parents wanted to downsize.”

“And get rid of you,” Andre teased.

Landon shook his head and chuckled. It was obvious they’d had the conversation more than once. “My parents bought a camper and have been touring the country for the last few years. They spend a few weeks or a few months in every state and then move on when they feel like it.”

“Wow. That’s unique,” I said. I didn’t know anyone who’d ever owned a camper.

“It is, but they love it. They come back every year to visit me. They always wanted to see the country. They’re retired and having fun. They keep talking about going up into Canada and making their way through the provinces before they come back in the winter.”

“Life here is very different than I’ve ever known,” I admitted. “I’ve always thought everyone wanted power and money and to work constantly. It’s exhausting, but being here is refreshing. Hearing about people who just take off and enjoy life… I never knew that was a real thing people did.”

Andre and Landon chuckled.

“Life is slower here,” Andre said. “People still want things, but it’s different. When I moved back, my priorities changed. I was never as driven as you’re saying, but I thought something was wrong with me for not chasing after more all the time.”

“I’d still argue there’s something wrong with you,” Landon said.

Andre rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I’m just saying everyone has to choose what they want their life to look like. Having more and doing more isn’t bad, but saying no to that isn’t either.” He trailed off like he was thinking about something.

“You’re going to do it, aren’t you?” Landon asked.

I looked between them, wondering what I was missing.

Andre nodded. “I think I am.”

Blake delivered our food, stopping me from asking what Andre and Landon were talking about.

“This smells amazing.” My mouth watered from the scents of the food Blake distributed.

“Enjoy,” Blake said. “More coffee? Hot chocolate? Anything?”

We all shook our heads and stared at our plates.

Andre reached across the table to snag a breakfast potato from Landon’s plate, and Landon slapped his hand. Andre popped the potato into his mouth and groaned. “Damn, that’s good.”

“You should have ordered some. Instead of stealing all of mine,” Landon growled.

“It’s more fun to steal yours.”

I giggled at the two of them. I’d never known friends who acted like they were. Or anyone. The teasing and the closeness were something I was envious of. I’d seen it in the women at book club and Zoey and Piper around the Inn.

I didn’t have anyone who knew me well enough to tease me about anything. Or who I knew well enough. I lived a very isolated life with my mother playing gatekeeper to my every move. She told me where to go to college, who to hang out with, who to be friends with, and who to marry. She orchestrated my career, ignoring my desire to study environmental science and forcing me to get a degree in broadcast journalism, then kept me in an office where my curvy figure wouldn’t be an issue.

The world was becoming more accepting of plus-size people, but not my mother. She’d never been accepting of me in any way. She controlled everything and slapped down every independent idea I had.

And I continued to let her.

I choked down my food, the wave of anguish I felt at how I’d allowed my life to be nearly pushing me too far. I hated every aspect of my life, and every day I spent in MacKellar Cove showed me it didn’t have to be that way.

Landon and Andre continued to joke with each other as they ate, and I sat and listened to them, laughing at their teasing and enjoying the way they brought me into their circle.

That could be my life. Not exactly since I wasn’t staying in MacKellar Cove, but something similar. With friends and a boyfriend who chose me for me and not because of who my mother was. Maybe even a career I enjoyed instead of a fake job that meant absolutely nothing to the big picture of the company.

Not going back to DC was the only thing I knew so far. Choosing what I didn’t want was as important as choosing what I did want.

And I wanted what Landon and Andre had. I wanted what Zoey and Piper had. I wanted a life I could enjoy and be proud of. A life that I chose.

With people I chose.