Page 14 of Harvest Heat

Rhys smiled. “That would help.” Jonah truly appreciated good coffee. He regularly sent customers to Rhys’s shop.

“I can also recommend a book if you’d like something to read tonight to distract you.”

He would absolutely need a distraction. “Sure, that would be great.”

Jonah wandered off into the shelves and returned with a paperback. “Try this.”

Rhys took the book from him, immediately suspicious of the pink cover with artwork of two men on it. “Trapped with the Cowboy? Is this romance?”

Jonah shrugged. “Maybe.”

Rhys flipped the book over and read the summary. “Why would you pick this out for me? You know what I like to read.”

“I know you need something fresh and new to keep your mind off the festival. You need a challenge.”

Rhys shook his head. “The festival is enough of a challenge.”

“I think it’s more of a stressful event you feel compelled to participate in because you love Frostwick Harbor, even if the festival doesn’t matter to you so much.”

There he went again, knowing Rhys too well. “It’s always too crowded. And they’re predicting even more people this year.”

“You could just show up for the beverage contest.”

“I know, but I do enjoy hanging out with you and our other friends, and the food is always amazing.”

Jonah smiled. “We like having you there.”

Rhys read the blurb on the back of the book. The story was described as an opposites attract, forced proximity gay romance. The two main characters apparently got stuck in a cabin together. “Thanks, but this doesn’t sound right for me at all.”

He tried to hand it back to Jonah, but his friend refused to take it. “Try it. Challenge yourself.”

Jonah was playing dirty. He knew the one thing Rhys hated more than a crowd was not succeeding when challenged. It was almost as bad as gas station coffee.

“Fine, but I’m stopping after fifty pages if I don’t like it.” That was Rhys’s trial rule for any book.

“If you don’t like it after that, I’ll accept defeat.”

“Have you really never recommended a book I didn’t like?” Talk about being good at your job.

“Not yet.”

No way had he gotten it right this time. “We’ll see about this time. I need to go finish cleanup at the shop.”

“All right. Give me a report tomorrow.”

Something about the book made him nervous. “What if I want to spend the evening planning my festival entry?”

Jonah shook his head. “That’s the last thing you need to do tonight.”

Rhys sighed, knowing Jonah was right. Thinking about the festival meant thinking about Caleb, and he did not want to do that. As he walked to Frost + Foam, he hurried past Agnes and a few other people who clearly wanted more than a quick wave from him. He’d done all the talking he could that day.

CHAPTER 6

After Rhys left, Caleb hurried through the rest of his closing duties and reset for the next day. He was too full of restless energy to head up to his apartment over the shop. He needed to move, so he started walking toward the harbor and let his mind wander. Why was he feeling so down? He hadn’t expected Rhys to agree to work with him, but when he’d said no, Caleb’s chest had tightened, and it felt like his stomach dropped down to his toes.

He was doing great here. The shop was almost as busy as it had been on opening day, and he was getting repeat customers and lots of compliments. He’d met lots of great people. Tessa and Finn had invited him to go apple picking with them and some other friends next week.

He wasn’t sure he could leave the store for a whole afternoon, but he loved that they’d asked him. The town was welcoming, and no one besides Rhys had seemed to question that he belonged there. Why did Rhys’s opinion matter so much?