Page 8 of Turn

CHAPTER FOUR

“Think about it,” he said with an encouraging smile and then walked away to grab something to eat before the rest of the Gentry tribe devoured the entire spread.

Cami appeared at my elbow. “Think about what?” she wanted to know.

“A job offer.”

“From Dad?”

I nodded. “Working at Scratch for the summer. I’d be taking Aspen’s place at the front desk.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad offer.”

“It’s not.”

Cami raised an eyebrow. “And yet you seem less than enthusiastic.”

My next words were cut off when one of my rambunctious cousins knocked into me from behind.

“Sorry Cass,” said Thomas. His mouth was full but he gave me a sheepish smile that managed to be charming.

“No worries,” I assured him because Thomas tended to be more sensitive than his older brothers. “Go enjoy your food.”

“Damn,” said Cami as we watched our young cousin head for the couch while polishing off the rest of his hamburger in one bite. “Kid’s growing like a weed.”

“Time flies,” I agreed. “Seems like yesterday he was a chunky toddler chewing on his plastic sandbox shovel.”

“And now he’s six feet tall and looking down at us.”

“He’s a Gentry all right,” I said, casting a fond glance at the collection of aunts, uncles and cousins who were clustered around the food.

“Let’s go outside,” Cami suggested. “The crowd’s a little thick in here.”

Dalton looked over from the far side of the room where he was laughing about something with our Uncle Chase. Cami blew him a kiss.

“So what happened?” Cami asked as we sank down together on the patio swing.

I looked at my bare legs, recalling a long ago time when I could sit here and swing them freely with no danger of touching the ground. “I told you. The bookstore is closing temporarily, partnering with a bakery. They’re reorganizing the place as a cupcake bar.”

Cami snorted. “A what?”

“The owner’s new girlfriend wants to open a bakery and somehow they brainstormed this idea of a cupcake bar. Customers can pay for the latest New York Times bestsellers and then hang out at the food counter, reading and smearing buttercream icing all over their brand new purchases.”

“It sounds gimmicky.”

“It sounds idiotic.”

“That too.”

I sighed. “Well, the upshot is they are closing down for the next two months for the remodel so I’m out of an income source.”

“Which our gracious father has offered to help you with.”

I pushed off the ground with the ball of my left foot to make the swing move. “Remember when we were little and we assumed we’d grow up to work at Scratch?”

Cami tossed her long brown hair over one shoulder and shrugged. “Sure. It was the only plan we could think of at the time.”

I was thoughtful as I gazed out at the darkening yard. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful.”

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