Page 85 of A Novel Summer
She was confused. “We’ve already slept together.”
“Right. But then you said you just wanted to be friends.”
“No, I said I don’t want arelationship. Sex—just sex—is fine.”
“Not for me it’s not,” he said. “I mean, don’t get me wrong: in college, sure. But I’ve kind of moved on. Don’t you find that gets...boring?”
“No.” She shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
“Well, if you ever change your mind, let me know.”
Was he serious? His eyes, focused on her, left little doubt that he meant what he said. She felt put on the spot. But then his friends returned from their smoke break.
She didn’t know what to do. Her black-and-white stance on relationships had never been a problem. Most men were fine with uncomplicated hookups—no questions asked. She should probably just write off Ezra as incompatible with her. But something stopped her.
For some reason, she found herself thinking about her conversation with Shelby the day of the baby shower. It had been the first time she’d articulated exactly what Shelby had done to upset her. It wasn’t just the novel, but also the fact that she coldly and selfishly dumped Justin because he got in the way of her career plans. Wasn’t that what Hunter was doing with Ezra? Not that he was getting in the way of her work; on the contrary, he fit perfectly into that part of her life. But she liked him, and that scared her. That would get in the way of her freedom.
Maybe it was time for her to reconsider what she really wanted.
Sixty
Shelby sat next to Duke in his living room while Justin set up a laptop for their video call with the Millers. The house was less cluttered than she’d ever seen it now that Seaport Press was half-boxed-up.
“How’s the new novel coming along?” Duke asked her.
That was the last thing she wanted to talk about. “Well, my agent and I are parting ways. So things are in limbo.”
“Sorry to hear that. Anything I can do?”
She shook her head and thanked him. Justin adjusted the brightness of the screen just as the Millers logged on. The hospital room came into view, with Colleen sitting in bed and her parents sitting side by side in chairs pulled up close.
As agreed, Duke presented their idea for using the town trust to buy the store for Colleen to run and operate. On the other end of the call, Pam and Annie were unreadable, while Colleen nodded and smiled vigorously to everything he said.
“Of course, this only works if you haven’t signed anything yet with the Hendriks,” Duke said.
Pam and Annie shared a glance, then Annie said, “No, we haven’t gone to contract yet.” Even through the screen, the skepticism in her face was clear. “But we can’t put them off indefinitely. How long would it take for the trust to decide?”
Justin leaned into the frame. “We have to present a case: why this is crucial for the town and why it’s sustainable. Colleen, that’s where you come in. A big part of our argument will be continuity—that you’ll be running it. And it’s actually a requirement that a local manages any trust-owned businesses. So we need to be sure this is what you want.”
Pam passed the screen to Colleen, and Shelby noticed how tired she looked.
“Of course it’s what I want,” she said. “It’s what I’vealwayswanted.”
“Great,” Duke said. “That’s all we needed to hear.”
Shelby and Justin walked out together. She noticed the sun was setting earlier, a stark reminder that the summer was coming to an end. She felt a twinge. As much as she prided herself on being comfortable with change, it suddenly felt painful again, like when she’d been a child. She didn’t know why. Maybe it was the realization that she might never truly belong anywhere. In New York City, she’d become the author she always dreamed of being. But the last week she’d spent there, she’d felt like a tourist in her own life. And sure, Provincetown was a lovely place to visit. But when would she ever feel at home?
They walked to the end of Duke’s street towards Commercial, where they’d turn in opposite directions. A cyclist rode by, alerting them with the ring of a bell. The dusk light gave everything a soft glow.
“So that went well,” he said.
“It did. But it was the easy part, right? I mean, I knew Colleen was in. And I had faith in Pam and Annie. But the town trust...what are the odds?”
Justin stopped to move a big branch that had fallen into the middle of the street. When he finished, he dusted off his hands and said, “I’ll do my best.”
She nodded. “I know you will.”
They shared a smile and she felt a tension, a pull towards him. It shouldn’t be surprising; of course they had a bond. Maybe they always would.
