“Does this bougie monstrosity make you think of a restaurant with a weekly seniors’ special? The kind of place old Mr. Butterfield comes to eat his weight in lobster and nap or where Mr. Hobbs comes for chowder before visiting his wife’s grave every week? Or a place that donates leftovers to homeless shelters or participates in local fairs and has a lobster shaped float in the Fourth of July parade?”
“No. Definitely not,” I say emphatically. “This is a fancier place. Maybe in Portland? The kind of place that tourists flock to for trendy holiday meals but locals avoid.”
“Exactly! You’re hired!” Terra exclaims. “As long as you didn’t tell Logan why you’re here.”
“What? No. I didn’t tell him, but why does that matter?” I ask.
“My brother Declan, you haven’t met him, he’s currently at some business seminar or convention or some garbage in Boston,” Terra explains, leaning closer. “He had this site built last year by some fancy agency in Boston that didn’t even do research. They just went off his vision.”
Terra makes exaggerated air quotes as she says that last word and then rolls her eyes. I have to bite back a smile. “I love him, but he doesn’t see this restaurant for what it is. And he doesn’t listen when we all say that we like it homey and simple. So I’m taking control and retooling the website. But the less people who know about this in my family, the better.”
“Okay…” I reply cautiously. “Who knows and who doesn’t? How many of you are there? Aspen acted like she was referring me for some spy operation and now I understand why.”
Terra nods. “There’s so many of us, I’ve lost count. Let’s see…Logan can’t know. My brother Finn also shouldn’t know. He has a big mouth. Nova, who works here, is Declan’s wife. She doesn’t like the current website either, but I don’t want to put her in the position where she has to lie to him. Basically, don’t say anything to anyone but Jake and me. Ultimately, you’ll report to me and only me and shouldn’t talk about it with any other Hawkins or Hawkins-adjacent person. Is that okay?”
I nod. “But I haven’t even told you my rates.”
“Will it be more than you charged Patti? Because I called her when I was in the back and she told me what you charged her, and we can totally work with that.”
“I can charge you the same rate as Patti,” I say.
Terra grins and extends her hand. “Deal!”
I shake it but can’t help but advise, “I have a contract that I usually have clients sign with a payment schedule and a scope of the project. To avoid any confusion.”
“Did Patti sign that?”
“She did…well, she drew a star on the signature line,” I admit, and we both start laughing.
“In Ocean Pines, a person’s word isn’t made more significant by a signature,” Terra explains. “But of course I’ll sign it.”
“Okay. I’ll email it to you later tonight, with the app quote,” I say and get off the stool. Terra grabs a business card from a holder by the register and pulls a pen from her pocket and scrawls her personal email on the back.
“Sounds great. I like you, Chloe. This is going to be a great partnership.”
“I think so too,” I say as I wave good-bye.
Despite my hip still aching and the smoking car I have to drive home in, I feel lighter and happier leaving Hawkins Lobster Shack than I did walking in. It’s such an unfamiliar feeling that I almost get uncomfortable. Happiness and contentment hasn’t come easy in recent years.
In the corner of the parking lot, next to a beat up, old, green SUV, is Logan. As he’s fighting his way out of those rubber overall thingies, his Henley lifts and I can’t help but glimpse his abs and the dark chestnut treasure trail. He kicks at the pants and finally steps out of them. Now he’s bending over to pick them up, and his ass is pressed against his jeans and damn, that’s a work of art too.
He finally notices me as he tosses the pants into the back of his SUV. He gives me a sheepish grin, and it’s so appealing my lips automatically respond with a matching one.
“Hey. So you waitressing for us?” He blinks when my smile drops and I stare back confused. “You were meeting with Terra, so I just thought it was for a waitressing gig. We’re looking for a part-timer.”
“No I…” I remember Terra said to keep the website gig on the down-low. “I didn’t get it.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“It’s not the end of the world,” I reply and pull my car keys out of my purse. “I’ve got to focus on renting out my apartment anyway.”
He stares at me a little longer than feels normal before he nods. “Hope you have better luck finding a roommate then.”
“No, not a roommate. I inherited this big old house. There was a storage room and double garage on the ground floor that I turned it into a two-bedroom apartment so I can rent it out for extra cash,” I explain and then scold myself.Shut up Chloe.He doesn’t need to know this.“Anyway…nice meeting you.”
I quickly walk over to my car and don’t realize he’s following me until I toss my purse onto the passenger seat and his deep baritone is right behind me. “How much for the apartment?”
“What?” I do that silly thing people do where they say ‘what’ even though they heard the question. I shake my head a little. “Oh. Umm…I was thinking six hundred a month.”
