“Boston is less than two hours away,” Juliet said. “You guys could totally make that work.”
“He’s tall,” Alex said. “And rich. Other than that, what’s his deal? How was he camping? Do you like him?”
He’d beenokayon the campout. Not all that competent, and not great in an emergency, but she wouldn’t judge him solely on his lack of wilderness skills. As to whether she liked him… Sure, she liked him well enough.
“All that’s a little premature,” Tess said. “Let’s just get through the evening and see where we are. For all I know, he simply has another night to kill before heading home and wanted something to do.”
She changed the subject and gave them a quick rundown of how the week had gone.
“Sounds like every day was a fresh disaster,” Juliet said.
“That’s an understatement,” Tess said. “I’m going to suggest we nix the weeklong ones. Stick with what’s been working.”
“Speaking of all that,” Alex said. “Have you given any more thought to buying The Outpost?”
“Actually, yes,” Tess admitted. “I’m gonna go to the bank on Monday and inquire about a loan. If that works out, I’ll call Moody. Beg him to let me buy it.”
“That’s amazing,” Faith said. “I know everything will work out for you.”
“We’ll see.”
Most of the other guests had arrived, and they split up to mingle. The party was a low-key affair—family, friends, and a few coworkers.
Tess was chatting with Coach Reed, her high school basketball coach, and Juliet and Maddie’s dad, when Max walked in, Logan at his side. She did a double-take.
Max had texted earlier asking if it was okay to bring a friend. She’d said yes, thinking, perhaps hoping, he’d meant a woman.
Behind his back, she and her friends had secretly—yet lovingly—decided that a woman might be what Max needed to nudge him out of the funk he’d fallen into. It had been almost seven months since Jenny passed, which seemed like a respectable amount of time before dating again.
Tess excused herself from Coach and went to greet them.
“Hey,” Logan said. “Happy birthday. Thanks for letting me party crash.”
“Oh, no problem,” Tess said. “Can’t say I’m not surprised though. Didn’t think you’d still be in town.”
“Actually, he’s gonna stay for a while,” Max said, hugging Tess and wishing her happy birthday. “He’s volunteered to help me out at the inn.”
“Doing what?” Tess asked.
“Assist with the renovations,” Logan said. “In exchange, I get free room and board.”
Tess had wondered what Logan did for a living. Especially after he’d acted so cagey when she’d asked on the campout. A drifter, working odd jobs for a place to stay, wouldn’t have been her first guess, but okay.
Faith and Alex had closed in behind Tess and heard the comment.
“That’s fantastic,” Faith said.
“Yeah,” Max agreed. “I needed something to give me a shove. Turns out it’s him.”
Nick and Brody approached and greeted Logan with bro hugs—part handshake, part side hug, part Heimlich maneuver. Clearly, this wasn’t their first time meeting.
“How do you guys know each other?” Tess asked.
“Sorry, that’s top secret,” Nick said. “We’d tell you, but then we’d have to kill you.”
“You’re so weird.” Tess shook her head.
“We hung out last night watching the Sox get their asses handed to them,” Brody said.
