Page 16 of Surprised By Her

“I did. Got burned the first day and got lectured by Lark about the dangers of skin cancer. I told her it was her fault for distracting me so much with her beauty that I’d forgotten to use sunscreen.”

“How did she take that?” I asked as I followed her around the shop, checking everything and making sure we were ready to open for the day. Eileen was already in the back, glazing away to churn out more pottery for the shop and our online orders and to replace the pieces we sold at a few places on consignment.

Sydney grinned. “She was both mad and flattered, so it worked out.”

She told me more about the resort and the food and drinks and showed me pictures and video she’d taken. Sydney and Lark were smiling and so in love that it jumped out at you.

“Is Lark back to work today?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Sydney said, flipping the Closed sign to Open. “She loved ordering coffee she didn’t have to make for a change, but now it’s back to the grind.”

A few people walked in and we didn’t really get to chat again for a while. Summer in Arrowbridge might not be as busy as in other towns closer to the coast, but we did get a rush, and the energy in the shop was noticeably different than it had been when I’d started earlier this year.

I watched the shop while Sydney went upstairs for her lunch break, and then it was my turn. I usually brought leftovers and would eat with Eileen, or head outside if the weather was nice. Sometimes I would cram a sandwich in a few minutes and take a walk outside up and down the street. On days when I had therapy via a video chat, I’d go upstairs and use Sydney’s apartment for privacy.

The afternoon lull was my next chance to talk with Sydney.

“No drama while I was gone?” she asked.

“Nope,” I said, not meeting her eyes. Since things were good with Ryan, I thought it was best not to mention the coffee spilling incident. It would cause her to ask more questions that I didn’t want to answer.She obviously hadn’t said anything to Layne or anyone else, so it seemed best to let it go.

“Damn, that’s no fun,” she said.

“I’m just glad I didn’t screw anything up,” I said. I’d checked the receipts and balanced everything multiple times to make sure I hadn’t messed up the money.

“No, you’re annoyingly competent,” Sydney said. “I’m so glad that you walked in here and asked for a job. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Sydney said things like that to me all the time and I was still working on trying to get myself to believe she was sincere.

“Oh, how was that party this weekend? I heard you went,” she said.

“I did. It was fun. Lowkey, which was good for me.”

“You did book club and a party in the same week? Go you,” she said. Over the time I’d worked for her, Sydney had gotten me to open up about my anxiety and my struggles. It hadn’t been easy, but she’d been completely amazing about everything, and now I felt comfortable sharing a little bit more about my goals to socialize.

“Yeah, it was a lot last week,” I said. “But I lived.”

“You absolutely did. I hope you had some cake or something to celebrate.”

I thought about the cake I’d had at book club, and how I’d talked with Ryan about it. Afterwards, I’d looked up a recipe for hummingbird cake and now I wanted to make it.

“My parents brought out champagne,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“That is so cute, I love it,” she said. My parents had met Sydney and loved her.

“They’re too much sometimes,” I said.

After work, I stopped to get a few things from the grocery store. I grabbed some body wash and was just looking through the little selection of bath bombs when I felt someone behind me. I moved my cart so they could get around me, but they didn’t. I looked up into a pair of stunning blue eyes.

“Ryan,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

Ugh, I couldn’t believe I’d said that. Obviously she was buying groceries at the grocery store.

To her credit, Ryan didn’t make a sarcastic comment or anything, she just pointed to the basket she carried. I took a quick peek to see what she was buying.

“It’s a small town, isn’t it?” she said.

“Pretty much,” I said, trying not to be too nosy. Looked like she had some steak and veggies and fruit and a few boxes of granola bars and one mini cake from the bakery.

“How’s your week been so far?” I asked.

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