Page 68 of Harvest Heat

Jonah’s party was as loud as Rhys had expected it to be. If Jonah weren’t such a good friend, he would have turned around and left, but he’d find a way to survive all the music, people talking, and even kids blowing horrible party whistles.

He noticed Caleb as soon as he entered. He was seated with Tessa, Finn, and Marianne. Once he scanned the room, he saw Jonah, Abby, and several more of Jonah’s family members. Before the night was over, half the town would likely have stopped by. Jonah had lived in Frostwick Harbor all his life, and when he’d taken over the bookshop from Ms. Fran, everyone had been eager to see what he would do to revive it. So far, he’d been wildly successful, and there were a lot more readers in town, thanks to him.

There weren’t many people at the buffet, but he wanted to speak to Jonah before he got food. He made his way over to his friend and gave him a hug. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you. I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it.”

“That means a lot.” Jonah understood that parties weren’t easy for Rhys. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

“I’m fine. Just busy.” Jonah glanced toward Caleb, then back, and Rhys shook his head. “Don’t start.”

“All right, but you could grab some pizza and go sit with him.”

Rhys smiled. “I could do that.”

He left Jonah to talk to other guests and grabbed a few pieces of pepperoni pizza. Before he could make it to Caleb’s table, he had to stop and speak to Mayor Gilman, Agnes, and Jonah’s parents. Finally, he made his way through the crowd and took a seat across from Caleb.

“I was wondering when you were going to get here,” Tessa said.

“I had to finish some things up at the shop.”

“And I bet you didn’t want to be early,” Marianne said.

Caleb frowned. “I thought you liked to be early.”

Tessa looked over at him, and Rhys avoided her eyes. He was certain she was wondering how Caleb knew that.

“I do like to get to work early,” Rhys said. “But I don’t do well in crowds.” Or when I have to say something that terrifies me.

Caleb nodded. He knew that too. Rhys met Caleb’s gaze. This was the moment he’d dreaded. He needed to tell them all, or he might lose Caleb, and that was worse than being teased or talked about. He also didn’t want Caleb thinking he was embarrassed that they were working together. He’d learned a lot since working with Caleb. He no longer thought Caleb’s drinks were just thrown together. Caleb was truly talented.

“I wanted to let you all know that Caleb and I are actually working together on our festival entry.” Once the words were out, he felt more relieved than he expected, and the huge smile on Caleb’s face made the risk seem worth it.

Tessa frowned at Caleb. “Why didn’t you tell me when I asked about your drink earlier?”

“Rhys wanted to be the one to spill our big secret.” He didn’t sound upset, but Rhys knew he must have hated being questioned.

Tessa looked back and forth between the two of them. “Well, now that we know you’re working together. Tell us what you’re doing.”

“We still haven’t decided between a few different ideas,” Rhys said. “We keep tweaking things.”

Finn turned to Caleb. “If you let him, he’ll keep playing with it forever. It’ll be the night before the festival, and he’ll still be insisting it could be more perfect.”

“Why not keep improving if you can?” Rhys asked.

“Because eventually, it’s good enough. Eventually, you might be going in the other direction,” Marianne said.

Rhys huffed. “I just want to get it right.”

“So do I,” Caleb agreed. Rhys smiled at him. It felt good to have Caleb support him instead of teasing him like the others. He wanted to reach out and take Caleb’s hand, but he wasn’t ready for that, not in front of everyone. He’d revealed they were working together; he couldn’t go any further yet.

When they’d all finished their pizza and had a few beers, Tessa insisted they should all get up and mingle with the other guests, many of whom were standing in groups, either having finished eating or not started yet.

Rhys hated this part. He’d rather stay seated at the table, but he stood up, knowing he at least needed to speak to a few other people. Also, it looked like Jonah’s mother was getting the cake set up, so they would all be singing soon. He might as well be standing for that. Maybe he could manage to get to the back of the crowd.

His group of friends split up for a bit, but once everyone was called to order for the lighting of the candles, Caleb came to stand beside him.