Page 4 of Kiss Me Ever After
I shouldn’t be here.
I should be in New York getting coffee from Starbucks for Marketing and PR consultants.
I shouldn’t be making coffee for the customers at the Blue Goose Cafe in Ealynn Sands.
Summer was officially ruined.
Realistically, I should be grateful I had the chance to serve coffee to the customers of the Blue Goose.
Less than three weeks ago, I’d been preparing for the summer of a lifetime in New York, not expecting to come back, ever. I’d even gone so far as to say I’d never set foot in this town again—which, now I was back, seemed somewhat hasty—until the rug was pulled from under me.
Now I was here alone, fending for myself for probably the first time in my life.
But if I wanted to go back to university in the autumn, not to mention have a place to live, I had little choice but to get a job.
Mum had found the advert for a waitress in one of the Ealynn Sands social media groups and encouraged me to apply. Despite having absolutely zero work experience in the hospitality and catering industry, I got an interview. Even more surprising when I got the call this lunchtime offering me the job, and Bryony’s follow-up this evening to check I could start tomorrow. Surely there were plenty of locals with more experience who could actuallydothe job. Maybe I’d ask her, assuming I didn’t get fired on my first day for being shit.
Restless, I prowled around the kitchen.
Under normal circumstances, I loved being in this house for the summer holidays. Usually I spent anywhere between a week and a month here. This time, three whole months stretched ahead of me.
I opened the fridge door and peered in at the contents. Normally stacked with bottles of wine and champagne, cured meats and cheeses, pickles, desserts and many other treats, it now held half a tin of baked beans, a loaf of bread, some milk and a bottle of the cheapest Chardonnay I could find. I already regretted buying the wine because it was hideous.
Depressed, I slammed the door shut and leaned my back against it.
I scrolled through my contacts, found the number I wanted and called it.
After a beat, Amber Kane picked up.
“Lennon! Are you all packed and ready to go?”
Amber and I had been best friends practically forever. We’d spent many summers together and what started as playing with dolls when we were eight, graduated to experimenting with make-up, alcohol and boys as we got older. At least if I was spending the summer here, again, I’d have Amber on my side.
“Um, not exactly.”
“Typical, it’s so you to leave everything to the last minute.” Amber shouted at someone on her end of the line. “I bet you’ll buy loads of stuff while you’re out there though.”
“I’m not going.” There was no easy way to say it.
“WHAT?!” I could almost hear Amber’s shriek from next door rather than over the phone. “Why have you given up the opportunity of a lifetime?”
I desperately wanted to tell her the truth. To tell her my family had imploded, and I didn’t know what normal was any longer. I took a breath, but she cut in.
“If you’re not going, where are you?”
“Next door.”
The second squeal I could definitely hear. “Then why are we talking on the phone? Get your arse over here.”
The line went dead.
Going over to Amber’s house was a staple of my summers. We practically lived in each other’s houses when we were teenagers. Hers was always full of life, very different to the sober and staid environment of my grandparents’ place. I hoped it still would be.
With a smile, I grabbed a cardigan from the back of the kitchen chair and headed out.
I didn’t even get a chance to knock before Amber threw open the door and pounced on me. We hadn’t seen each other since Easter, when she came to see me in London for a few days.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” She pulled me in for a huge hug. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” Grabbing my wrist, she dragged me into the living room where her mum and brother were watching a cooking programme on TV. “Look who’s back!”
