“Half the town has power, the other half doesn’t. The shop never lost power, so everyone wants fresh food and coffee ’cause they can’t make it at home,” River explains with harried frustration in his voice. His black curls are pushed back with a bandana, and he sounds exhausted. “Can you help me with the food? I’ll make the drinks.”
“Sure, bestie.”
River grins, and that’s when I notice the bruise on his neck, just below his collar. That’s not a bruise. That’s a hickey! What the hell? The little shit inside me demands to say something right now, but I can read a room better than anyone, especially after all my years with Anthony.
“I like the hair, Tucker!” Mr. Fields says as I hand him his muffin. I wince at his yell, but he’s eighty-two and I gotta give him a pass.
“Thank you!”
He pats his gray hairs thoughtfully. “Can you help me do that to my hair? The grandkids would get a huge kick out of it.”
“Sure! Maybe light blue?”
Mr. Fields grins and steps away with a pep in his step. The crowd disperses as we hand out food and drinks. My gaze catches on Charlie in the corner, Cupcake by his feet. He’s scrolling through his phone, and every now and then he smiles at a townsperson, giving them a smile that’ll surely make their day.
River lets out a tired breath once the store is empty. He grabs a half-drank iced coffee from below the counter and dips down to a squat, exhaustion bleeding through every movement he makes. I wash my hands at the sink, just to ensure I don’t accidentally gluten myself after handling all the baked goods. River winces as if he didn’t consider it, but I wave him off because it’s not a big deal at all.
“River saves the day again,” I sing as I dry my hands.
River mock laughs a littlehaha, then lifts a hand to wave in what I’m sure he assumes is Charlie’s direction. “Thank you, Charles!”
“No big!” Charlie calls out.
I have to actively fight the lovesick grin from exploding across my face. River sends a knowing look my way, but I keep my face as neutral as possible. Annoyed by my lack of giving up information, River rolls his eyes and takes a big gulp of his coffee.
“The pink is fading,” River notes without an edge of judgment.
“I’m thinking of doing lime green next.”
River makes a considering face. “I think that’d be cute. I liked when you did light blue back in high school, but that was with the curls. You looked like you belonged in the sky.”
“That’s very sweet.”
“Suck me.”
“No, thank you,” I deadpan, making River giggle in obvious exhaustion.
He rests his head against his knee, worn-out looking, so I take pity on him. I dip down to my knees and squeeze his chin between my fingers. “What’s wrong?”
“Didn’t get much sleep last night. Well, not for the past few nights really. Now we’ve got to make sure the town is cleaned up in time for the festival this weekend. We still haven’t sold out. I don’t want to disappoint Ms. Marcia. Shereallytrusts me to handle this.”
I can hear it without him saying the words. He’s worried he’ll disappoint Ms. Marcia like he’s disappointed his parents. He owns a coffee shop on Hope Island, not a chain of coffee shops throughout the Southeast. He’s not rich, not perfect like them. It’s been River’s struggle his whole life. Sure, his parents aren’t awful, but River has always said he feels like he was a box for them to check off, nothing more, nothing less. In a way, we wear our wounds differently, but we’re exactly the same.
“The lantern festival is going to begreat, I promise. We’ve got time still! The hurricane is gone. The power will come back to the island. It’ll be all right.” I kiss River’s cheek in a rare show of affection, hoping it’ll boost his spirits. It has the right effect because River grins as if I just gave him the best pep talk of all time. “Now, let’s figure it out, yeah?”
“Yes! You’re right!” He stands up abruptly, almost knocking me over. He grabs my bicep and tugs me up in apology. “Sorry. How can we sell out?”
“I have an idea,” I whisper while looking toward Charlie.
The man must feel my stare because he looks up from his phone, excited at first, then a little concerned when he finds both of us staring at him.
“What?”
“Wanna record something with me?” I ask playfully.
Charlie fumbles his phone in his lap, a flush stealing across his cheeks.
“Oh wow,” River says in clear shock at the visible effect I have on Charlie.
