Charlie’s expression dimmed a bit, even as Jane’s brightened.
“Lizzy?” Mrs. Bennet said, her voice louder, as if she had gotten closer to her phone. “I thought you were surfing?”
“I was,” she called out. “But I’m just parked up at Main Beach. It’s a walk, but I’m sure Jane won’t mind.”
“What about your board?” Will asked.
She shrugged. “I can carry it.”
“Okay, Mom. We got it figured out.” Jane gave the screen a tight smile. “See you soon!” She quickly hung up and handed the phone back to Charlie as the smile fell. “I’m so sorry.”
“Why? This is great!” he replied, threading an arm around her waist. “I can’t wait to meet your mom. We’ll have so much fun.”
“Right.” Jane nodded, though she didn’t look convinced. “Okay, well, I guess we should get going.”
“You don’t have to,” Charlie said hopefully. “Stay. Lizzy, too! We could all hang out. Maybe play charades? Or a card game? Or—”
Will was about to tell Charlie to leave it alone, but then he caught the look shared between Jane and Lizzy. It was too quick to decipher, but it was enough that Lizzy stepped forward with an apologetic smile. “Unfortunately, I’ve got to steal her away. The bakery’s basement took some water damage last night, so it’s all-hands-on-deck.”
“Oh, okay,” Charlie said. “Well, I can walk down with you, if you want?”
Jane nodded and quickly grabbed her bag from inside before saying a gracious thank-you to Will. Then she and Charlie began walking down the path to the beach.
It looked like Lizzy would follow them, but then she stopped in front of Will. “Thanks for taking such good care of Jane.”
“Of course,” he replied. Suddenly, muscle memory kicked in, and he stuck out his hand like he was saying goodbye to one of his investors.
She stared down at it for a long moment.
Damn it. He thought she would laugh, even walk away, but instead a smirk teased her lips as she finally reached out and shook it, her skin warm against his.
“Always a pleasure, Will.”
Before he could reply, she released his hand and started down the path to the beach to catch up with Charlie and Jane. Will watched her go, then turned around and went back inside. Annabelle and Vivienne were bickering, but he ignored them, the same way he ignored the memory of wild red hair and torn purple neoprene. Instead, he focused on brewing another cup of coffee, then picked up his book and headed upstairs, determined to relax.
Ten minutes later, he was sitting on the balcony off his bedroom just as he intended. But his coffee was cold. His book hadn’t been opened. And all he could think about was the fact that he could still feel the warmth of Lizzy’s hand against his palm.
CHAPTER 11
“This place looks like something out of a horror movie,” Lydia murmured.
Lizzy wanted to tell her sister she was being melodramatic, but as she looked around the basement of Bennet Bakery, she had to admit that Lydia wasn’t too far off. It was bad enough that two inches of murky water covered the ground, seeping into the bags of flour they had stored along the walls, but the power was still out, so the entire mess was lit only by their flashlights and a few battery-powered lanterns from their dad’s boat.
“An extreme weather event caused by the ravages of global warmingisa real-life horror movie,” Mary said from where she stood perched on the stairs, arms crossed over her chest.
“Thanks for the perspective, Mary.” Lizzy pushed a strand of red hair away from her sweat-soaked brow. In addition to being flooded, the basement felt like a sauna.
To be fair, it could have been much worse. A tree fell down on the Prada boutique around the corner and, ironically, the Brazilian blowout salon across the street had its windows literally blownout, so hairbrushes and bottles of leave-in conditioner littered the sidewalk.
But unlike so many other shops downtown, this wasn’t the Bennet Bakery’s first storm. Lizzy and her father had prepped the space just as they had a dozen times before. It should have worked. But they hadn’t taken into account that the hardware store next door would forget to close the window to their basement, which also happened to share a wall with theirs.
Now it was noon, and while all the other shops had cleaned up and were open for business, the bakery was closed. Mr. Bennet was on hold with the insurance company at home, so Lizzy had been tasked with assessing the damage, along with Mary and Lydia. Meanwhile, Kitty and Jane were helping their mother dry out three hundred pairs of leggings that had until that morning been stored in the basement’s far corner.
Lizzy looked down at the water sloshing around her rain boots. The numbers were already starting to tally in her head: 108 pounds of flour, 82 pounds of sugar, 27 pounds of yeast… then there was everything in the refrigerator. With the power out, they’d have to throw away the butter and eggs and milk… she almost choked as the math began to add up.
Even with insurance, it could be weeks before they saw any reimbursement. In the meantime, if they wanted to get Bennet Bakery back up and running, they would need to put thousands on credit cards, which would mean calling to beg for their limit to be raised again.
She let out a deep breath. If they hadn’t already been at a breaking point, there was no doubt they were now.
