Page 7 of The Offer

She smirked, shifting gears. They were hers, too.

Chapter Two

Jess never expected to work at Scoops By The Sea for this long.

When she first got the job there, she figured it would be a summer gig. Freshly sixteen, working at Scoops was going to be her way of making a little extra cash. Never did she think she’d still be working here seven years later, or that it would’ve graduated from being “a little extra cash” to one of her main sources of income.

All of the people she worked with that first and second summer were gone. Some graduated college, some had bought houses, some had already birthed humans and now walked around town with strollers and diaper bags. But she was still here, scooping ice cream and making cakes and pulling apart horny teenagers who loved to make out in the bathroom or closet.

At least Calvin wasn’t planning on leaving. He was in line to be the new manager; Ron announced at their employee meeting last week that Calvin Ball would officially be taking over next summer. He’d always been close with Ron, the only father figure in his life.

Thinking about her own father made Jess sick to her stomach, so she pushed the feeling down like she always did and focused all of her attention on the pile of dishes in front of her, scrubbing the metal cups and utensils aggressively until they gleamed.

Calvin walked through the open doorway that led to The War Room, the tiny room in the back where the real action happened. The front of the shop was for scooping ice cream and serving customers, but The War Room was her domain. The place where she pressed ice cream and chocolate crispies and cold fudge into steel molds, piped colorful frosting, swirled curly letters. Despite spending hours leaning over cake after cake, the work grueling as the busy summer months flew by, she loved it. Whenever she took her deep breaths and counted down from three, her mind drifted to the methodical action of dolloping frosting on cake edges, the soothing motion making her feel a little more at peace.

She dried off the dishes with a rag, placing them on the counter as Calvin unlocked a desk drawer and pulled out a safety box. Jess feigned disinterest as Calvin counted the bills before tying them off and stacking them in neat piles on the desk. He marked something on a notepad from the safety box then nodded, stepping away from the desk and walking toward the front.

Jess froze, staring at the piles as she listened to the sounds of Calvin opening up the registers, emptying out the bills. She should keep working, keep going through the motions of closing up the shop so they could get out of there. But she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the piles of money.

He wouldn’t notice if one went missing, she thought to herself. He’s young, he could have miscounted.

And she needed the money—desperately. Charlie may have offered to pay rent this month, but what about next month? Would she have enough to afford her portion of rent and pay for groceries and gas and all the other tedious expenses that came with being an adult? It would be nice to have a little extra, just once. It would be nice to replace some of the clothes she had in her closet, the same ones she’s worn since high school, now a little tight and uncomfortable. She made it work, but god, it would be nice to buy a few new pairs of jeans that fit her curves rather than her boyish figure from high school. Or even a jacket that actually kept her warm.

“Everything okay?”

Jess looked up, noticing Calvin had stepped back into The War Room. He was standing there stiff as a board, his hands clutching the money from the registers. The way he was looking at her felt like half warning, half worry. That maybe Jess was capable of swiping a few stacks of bills and bolting.

Embarrassment built up in her throat. She shook her head and waved him off. “Yep, all good.”

She could tell Calvin was still watching her warily as she returned to putting the dishes away. She did a final check that everything was locked and sealed, making sure all ice cream freezers were properly closed so there weren’t any literal meltdowns in the morning.

Jess stepped up to the desk as Calvin locked the safety box back in the desk drawer. He handed over her tip money for the night and she mumbled a thank-you, stuffing it in the back pocket of her khaki pants as she turned to leave.

“Jess, wait.”

She turned, looking over at Calvin who was still sitting at the desk, his elbows propped up casually as opposed to his usual posture of arms crossed tightly around his chest. The way he was looking at her also wasn’t his usual tight-ass, militant personality, but one of sorrow. She wanted to throttle him for it.

“Calvin, I’ve had a long day.”

“I heard, working here and Post Road this morning.”

She rolled her eyes. Besides Charlie—who never had any need to talk to Calvin—there was only one other person who knew about her pulling a double today. “Let me guess, a certain hippie bike boy texted you.”

“He’s worried about you.”

Jess felt like steam was coming out of her ears. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep, centering breath before continuing. It was the only way she was able to control her anger from spewing everywhere these days. “I don’t need his worry, or your worry,” she replied, eyes still tightly shut. She didn’t want to look at his pitying face. “Everything is fine.”

“Jess, I’ve known you a long time. I know everything isn’t fine. You look like shit.”

She huffed, daring to open her eyes so she could glare at him. “That’s what every girl wants to hear.”

“How bad is it?”

She shook her head, looking down at her sneakers. They were the same ones she’d worn on her first day at Scoops, and she realized the frayed canvas near her right big toe had finally ripped into a small, mortifying hole.

The sight of it drained all of her anger, all of her energy, all of her will to try to fight her way out of this conversation. Like soapy water disappearing down the sink. “It’s not great,” she grumbled. “We’re scraping by each month. I’m going to have to work both jobs this summer, and Cory just said he’s closing the bakery.”

Calvin’s eyebrows bent. “Why would he do that? He makes a killing from it, that’s the dumbest move.”