Page 40 of Adrift

Silence stretches for a few seconds before I reach down to slowly scoop the cleaning cloth off the floor and shove it into my back pocket. “Can I do you for—do for—do anything?”

Oh my god. And Felix is overhearing all of this. He’s grinning from behind Gage, looking like the cat that caught the pigeon.

“You can do anything if you believe in yourself,” Gage says, his face perfectly straight. We both know that I speak fluent sarcasm, and he knows exactly what he’s doing.

Felix turns and coughs into his fist—long and loud enough that I shoot a glare at his back.

“Oh, fuck off,” I tell them both.

Felix laugh bursts out of him. Even Gage huffs with amusement, his eyes crinkling with a little smile. And all of a sudden, all of this embarrassment is worth it.

We’re still laughing when the rest of the committee arrives, but weirdly—and mercifully—they don’t even ask. They just give the three of us looks like they know exactly what’s going on with me.

God, how embarrassing.

Felix winks and pats my shoulder on the way to the table to meet the ladies of the social committee, leaving me with Gage.

“Sooo…” I trail off, trying my hardest not to be awkward.

But Gage just raises the trusty notepad in his hand and wiggles it midair. “If you don’t mind, I thought I’d sit at the bar and keep you company. I know your afternoons are slow.” He glances at the social committee table. “Usually.”

“Usually,” I agree, following his look and glaring at them until they hastily start talking amongst themselves. “Sorry you got this lot instead.”

Gage winks at me and heads to the bar to seat himself. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take a Fanta when you can?—”

I’m almost tripping over my own feet to get him that Fanta as he continues.

“—but there’s no rush.”

“Mmhmm.”

Gage glances down at his notepad while I quickly slow my pace to a casual speed and try not to think about how many people are watching.

If I get to the end of the day without walking off the dock so the ocean can swallow me whole… I’ll count that as a win.

“After last year’s strawberry tea, whatever we do this summer has to be big. And it has to be something we can repeat every year. We need more annual events to attract tourism if we’re going to renovate the community centre.”

I’m barely even paying attention to snooping on the committee meeting. Ninety percent of my attention is on Gage, even though he’s just quietly sitting at the bar. He’s working on his to-do list, like a real professional.

Meanwhile, I’m just doing my best not to fall off the chair I’m standing on to dust bottles behind the bar. The rest of my brainpower is devoted to thinking up ways to get his attention like a lovesick teenager.

I keep thinking that I should offer to help him in the orchard, but that’s where my ideas run out.

It’s not like he’s styling the place for a photoshoot. He’s doing serious work. I’d just be in the way. I’d probably cut off a finger. Mine, his, or some random passerby’s.

I might befromthe countryside, but I’m not a country boy. I deliberately avoided learning everything possible about power tools, gardening, farming, or anything of the sorts.

Boy, do I regret that now.

But just as I set down the precious, hand-painted Sunrise Cider bottle, Gage looks up at me and gives me a secret little smile. I hop carefully to the floor and smile back at him, turning to rinse the cleaning cloth in the sink… and then the penny drops.

I know how to solve everyone’s problems at once.

“I have an idea.” Everyone turns to look at me, and before I can second-guess it, I lick my lips. “We should restart the Sunrise Cider festival.”

Silence falls for a few seconds. Gage stares at me, and then his bar stool creaks as he slowly turns to look at the social committee.

The excitement is already sparking in the air, suddenly bringing the whole bar to life.

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