Page 109 of The Offer

He nodded, his expression and his thumb stroking her neck soothing her soul. How she ever thought she could do this without him baffled her.

Jess turned back to her father and answered his question. “Someone offered to buy the shop.”

Dad furrowed his brow. “Who?”

“Grampy.”

The shocked expressions around the table were identical to the ones she’d received from the Scoopers on the beach. With a smile, Jess told her story again, then explained the beginning plans of their transition and renovations to the shop.

“This gives us the opportunity to have more tables for people who want to hang out with a coffee or a bite, and lingering bodies also mean lingering eyes—”

“And then everyone buys my bikes,” Kevin butted in.

Jess chuckled and squeezed his thigh.

“But you’ll be working at Grampy’s?” her mother asked.

“I’ll be running Grampy’s.”

“That’s so cool,” Jasper commented.

“Do you really know how to bake that blueberry coffee cake?” Dakota blurted.

Jess grinned. “Yes.”

“How wild.”

“So some of the inventory at Grampy’s, or whatever you decide to call your bakery, will go to the new café at Port Wheels? Nothing will be baked there?” Dad inquired.

She nodded. “Precisely.”

“Who’s going to run the café then?”

Jess and Kevin looked at one another. He nodded, encouraging her to keep going, to follow through with the plan they’d discussed in meticulous detail.

She squared her shoulders and looked at the man she’d believed was lost to her, and did the one thing she never thought she would do.

She asked him for help.

“We were hoping you would step in as the manager for the café,” she said. “If you still want to work with us, of course.”

Dad arched a brow and leaned back into his chair. “Me?”

She and Kevin nodded. Everyone remained silent, eyes on her father, watching as he tapped his fingers on his knee, thinking it through.

Kevin coughed. “We don’t need an answer now. We wanted to invite you to the shop first and hear our plans. We’ll have dinner at our place and discuss.”

“Our place?” Dakota chirped.

Jess felt her face get hot as four pairs of wide eyes settled on her.

“Y-yes,” she replied softly. “I moved in with Kev.”

To her shock, everyone around the table seemed relieved. Her mother beamed, curling a hand around her father’s knee. Dakota held a hand to her mouth and tried to contain her excitement, Jasper kissing his fiancée on the forehead with a smile. Silver lined her father’s eyes, his face full of joy. Like the storm was finally over.

Her chest tightened as she beheld her family, realizing how much hurt she’d caused them. How much hurt they’d caused her. How much history and feelings they had to sift through together. She knew this dinner and inviting her father to work with them wasn’t nearly enough. But it was certainly a start. A new beginning.

And lately, as she sat next to her golden boy, she realized she really, really liked new beginnings.