Celia had said last night, “Dad didn’t know how to teach us to build that foundation. We’ve had to find a way to learn ourselves.”
Juliet couldn’t believe the wisdom both Celia and Ivy seemed to have. She wanted to learn from them.
On the other side of the door, Theo sat waiting for her. He had his laptop open and his hands folded on the table before him. The restaurant was empty, and he hadn’t turned on the OPEN sign. She had the sense that he didn’t plan to. That he wanted to go back to the drawing board and start again.
Frozen with surprise, she gazed at him, letting the door swing closed behind her. He stood, then let his hands fall into his pockets. Tension pulsed between them.
“The other day did not go how I planned,” she said finally, surprising herself by speaking first.
Theo let out a strangled laugh, one that made him look so much more handsome than he had when she’d come in. “I didn’t expect you. Honestly, I wasn’t sure you’d come today.”
Juliet shifted her bag on her shoulder. She found herself falling into his eyes, eyes that threatened to consume her, dark ones that spoke of infinity, of knowing too much.
There was too much to speak about. Too much left unsaid between them. But Juliet decided it was best to begin with specifics, with business plans and social media strategies and everything she’d learned in her two decades of selling herself, selling her mind, selling her body.
Oh, it felt so dark, thinking of it like that. But wasn’t it true?
Juliet watched Theo’s expression as she highlighted her strategy for his restaurant. He narrowed his eyes, as though he were really trying to follow her train of thought.
“My sister said you need to send this business plan off as soon as possible,” Juliet offered reluctantly.
Theo closed his eyes and mussed his hair. A full minute passed before he said anything, a full minute during which Juliet found herself alternating between panic and surprise at where she sat and what she was doing.
Finally, Theo found the strength to speak. And what he said floored her. It felt like the most delicious, most emotional speech.
“You know, time has always been a difficult thing for me to fathom. In so many ways, I still feel, like, sixteen years old. I still feel like I’m going to wake up in the morning, and my mom is going to make me pancakes, and my dad is going to ask me about school. I still feel like I’m going to see you and…” Here, Juliet knew, he wanted to say Callie’s name. But he didn’t. “I still feel like I’m going to see you and ask to copy your math homework and ask to come over to watch DVDs. I still feel like we’re going to argue about horror movies and action movies. I still feel like you’re going to come pounding on my door to tell me how famous you’re going to be one day. ‘I’m not meant for this place. I’m not meant for a small, stupid life.’ And I still feel like I’m going to have to listen and agree with you, and, yeah, slowly feel like I’m dying inside, because I’m afraid you’re going to leave me behind.”
Theo let his hands drop to the table between them. Juliet found that she couldn’t breathe. In one gorgeous, erratic monologue, he’d explained what she’d been feeling since she’d returned to Bluebell Cove. Time did not feel linear. It felt like, soon, she would wake up and be able to fix the past.
But the past was unfixable. The past was the past, and it affected everything. It was their shared poison.
When Theo sat back down again, Juliet felt a shiver up and down her spine. He seemed too exhausted to speak, so she typed in the city council’s email address and sent the business plan off without another word. Theo rubbed his forehead, then checked his watch. “I think I need a glass of wine,” he said. “You?”
Juliet laughed. It was only noon, but what the heck? They needed to celebrate this small step forward. That, and she needed liquid courage to get through the next part of her presentation: her dreams about rebuilding the interior, her dreams of revamping The Dockside’s mission, if only to keep it alive for the rest of the year and into the next.
With a glass of rosé in hand, Juliet showed off her vision for the interior: paint ideas, different tables, and alternate ways to organize the dining area and outdoor patio for a more seamless experience. Theo listened, sipping his red wine, his head tilted forward. Juliet had the sense that he hung on her every word.
Two hours into their conversation about paints, about windows being cleaned, about menus and branding, there was a ding on the computer. Their faces still bright from smiling about these ideas, they turned to find a notification. Calvin Parish had written back with confirmation.
Theo,
I am surprised and pleased to receive this business plan. I’ve already spoken with other board members, and we’re thrilled to send the funds we’ve promised you. Included in the email is information about the loan and what we require from you in the months and years after this. We know this is the beginning of a beautiful business relationship, and we’re very happy you want to take tourism in Bluebell Cove seriously.
Yours,
Calvin Parish
Theo pulled out his phone to show off the loan, which had been sent directly to his bank account: fifty thousand dollars. Theo gasped and got up, dropping his phone on the table in the process. Overwhelmed with the sight of all those zeros, as well as the sight of Theo, so adorable and overcome, Juliet wrapped her arms around him. With their bodies together, Juliet felt a strange and exhilarating heat between them, as though her heart was suddenly overreacting, as though memories flowed through and between them.
I can’t take it, she thought, but still, she felt herself linger for another few seconds, then another few more. It was impossible to know what he was thinking, but he didn’t flinch or pull away. Finally, she stepped back, unable to breathe.
They gazed at one another, both knowing they’d stepped over the line. Maybe Juliet being at The Dockside in the first place was too far. Maybe it was tempting fate.
Softly, Theo asked, “Why are you helping me?”
Juliet offered him a half smile. “Do you really want to know?”
“I don’t know.”
