Summer Time Sweets by Alexa Riley

Chapter 2

Nicole

Istare at the computer screen, wishing things could be different. I love this place. It’s all I’ve known my whole life and I’m going to lose it. No matter how hard I work I just can't dig myself out of this hole. I’m going to lose the only link I have to my family, the place my grandma and grandpa poured their everything into. My heart breaks thinking about them. I try to remind myself that even if I lose this place I will always carry them with me.

I hit the close button on our accounting program knowing no matter how long I stare at the screen nothing is going to change. I have months. If I’m lucky. Taxes are due and there’s no way I’m going to be able to pay them. I have no reason to think that something is going to change that might help with the matter. Besides selling this place, and that is the last thing I want to do. Even if I’m being offered way more than this place is worth. But to me it’s priceless.

I force a smile when the Walkers come in.

“How was the beach?” I ask, already knowing they loved it.

They come here every year for their anniversary. They even got married here twenty years ago. I was only a little girl at the time, but the wedding was a last-minute decision and I ended up being their flower girl. Even after all these years it’s clear to see they love each other just as much as the day they married. Maybe even more. I’d being lying if I said I wasn't a touch jealous of what they have. To always have someone to lean on like that. To love. It’s a love like my grandparents had. Heck, most people on this island are like that. I swear this island holds a special power—when you fall in love it’s forever. I can’t recall anyone on this island ever getting divorced.

“Perfect as always,” Mr. Walker says.

“That picnic was wonderful, too. Thank you so much.” Mrs. Walker places the basket on the front desk. I take it and place it on the table behind me. I’ll take it back to the kitchen in a little bit. “What was that jam stuff you had in there for the bread?”

“Goat cheese and raspberry jalapeño preserves. I made it myself.” I point over to the side table where I have a display of all the different dips and jams I make. I only started doing it a few months back. Everyone was always talking about how much they loved them and wished they could take some home. It’s actually my favorite thing to do here. When I get lost in the kitchen all my worries melt away.

“I’ll be grabbing some of those on our way out tomorrow,” she tells me as Mr. Walker pulls his wife closer to him. He whispers something in her ear that makes her blush. I can’t stop my fake smile turning into a real one at the sight of them.

“See you later, Nicole,” Mr. Walker says to me as he pulls his wife towards their room.

That is something I’m going to miss, too—all the regulars that have been coming here for years. I drop back down into my chair and sigh. There isn't much left to do for the day. I’ve already cleaned the rooms that requested it. Maybe I should go out for a swim. The ocean always calms me.

The phone rings right then and I grab it. “The Mermaid Bed and Breakfast. This is Nicole. How may I help you?”

“We’re going out!” Sammy, my best friend, shouts into the phone. “I saw some fresh meat roaming the land and we all know they’ll end up at the Red Din.”

“There is always fresh meat this time of year,” I laugh. The tourists are thick around town right now and will be until September. Then they start to dwindle down some and the town goes back to just us locals. Not that we complain. The big resort keeps the town busy during peak season. But we do like it when off-season comes and it’s mainly all of us again for a while.

“Yeah, but this fresh meat looked extra tasty.” I snort. “Don’t laugh at me. I’m still on Mission Pop Nicole’s Cherry—and you’re not going to stop me.”

I roll my eyes. She’s been at it for a while. I want to do it just as bad as she wants me to, but my options are limited. I can either sleep with a local who’s slept with everyone else or have a weekend fling with a tourist. I’ve tried the tourist thing, but it never ends up working for me. I either clam up because I get shy or no one ever sparks my interest. Not that Sammy has room to talk. She’s in the same boat as me, but she’s better at flirting than I am. Although it hasn’t gotten her any further. It never goes anywhere for her because no one can hold her attention for long.

“Come on. You need a night out,” she pushes, her voice softening. “You haven’t been out since—” She sighs, trailing off, and I know she means since my grandma passed. “All you do is work. You need to have a little fun and let loose.”

I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. A night out does sound fun. I could forget about everything for a while. Sammy always makes me laugh and we have fun together. We’ve been that way since we were kids.

“Fine, but no getting us in trouble,” I relent.

“I make no promises.” She laughs evilly, then hangs up before I can tell her to forget it.

I glance at the clock and know she’ll be here soon to make sure that I’m coming. I love Sammy, but that girl can get us into some messes. We’re lucky the sheriff is in love with her or we’d have spent a few nights in jail for the things she’s got us tangled into. It doesn't help that once I have a few drinks I think all of her ideas are brilliant. Like wrapping the sheriff's car in plastic wrap.

The more I think about it, a lot of what we’ve done is directed at the sheriff. Maybe I should start poking into Sammy’s love life like she pokes into mine. She’s had it out for that man since he moved here a few years back. She even lodged a formal complaint against him when he ran for sheriff, saying a non-local couldn't have the job. But there was no one who could run against him. He might not be local, but he’s a decorated Marine, from my understanding. He’d only found out about our little town because of Sammy’s brother Derick, who talked him into moving here after they both got out of the service.

Peter strolls into the front desk area. I can tell he’s been studying from the way his short hair is sticking up in every direction. He always runs his hands through his hair when he’s reading something and trying to understand it.

“Nic, can I make myself a sandwich?”

“You never have to ask that,” I tell him for the millionth time since he’s become a regular resident here at the Mermaid. He doesn't pay me for his room, so instead he helps me out around here when I need it. He’s good at fixing things for me, even though he’s only seventeen.

He gives me a half-smile that I wish I could turn into a full one. “You want one?” he offers.

“I’m good. I’m going out tonight.”

“I’ll keep any eye out,” he says before I can even ask him.

“Thanks.” He gives me a chin nod before heading for the kitchen.

I stand and watch him go, and my heart hurts even more. Where would Peter go if I closed this place down? He’s been staying here since his dad up and disappeared, leaving him behind. Peter still has a year of high school left. He’s been studying like crazy for his SATs in hopes of getting some kind of scholarship.

He’s a good kid, and I know if something does happen to this place I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he has a place to go. It’s one of the main things that keeps me pulling up the email offers I’ve gotten to sell this place. If I gave in, I could find myself somewhere else to live here on the island. Help Peter get through school. I’d give anything to be able to ask my grandma what I should do.