Page 27 of Britta & the Beach Boy
Chapter ten
Britta
My lunch of organic roasted chicken and fresh vegetables may be the best meal of my life—sorry, Mom—and Archie pays before I even see the bill. I offer to pay him back, but he refuses, and I don’t fight him about it. I saw the prices on the menu and chose one of the least expensive dishes, but I was still stressing about the cost throughout the entire meal.
Money will always be a little tight when you own a coffee shop that has three months to make enough money to cover costs for the rest of the year when business slows to a crawl without the vacationers. But things always work out somehow. As long as there are no major expenses. I agreed to this trip because the apartment was already paid for, and the summer had beengood, money-wise, thanks to my grief-avoidant work ethic and excellent staff.
But Adam called this morning with some bad news that reignited a bit of the panic I’ve only just been keeping in check these last couple of days.
Britta’sis attached to a bank of buildings that includes an old community center that’s being torn down to build an indoor hockey rink.Britta’sis the only business that’s still occupied, but—likeAnnie’s—it’s an institution that locals go out of their way to frequent.
The building is old—at least a hundred years. Between our harsh winters and hot summers, it takes a beating year after year. I thought most of its issues were cosmetic, but one wall was apparently damaged during the demo of the community center.
“It wasn’t anything on our end,” Adam told me. He knows since he’s the one who did the demolition of the other part of the building. “There were problems with the foundation that weren’t apparent during the engineering inspections. We’ve got someone coming out to figure out our options. I just wanted to give you the heads up.”
He explained more details, but construction is his thing, not mine. Mine is business, and the only thing I could hear while he talked was how much it’s going to cost me to fixBritta’s.There’s insurance, of course, and we have time to figure things out, but the weight of it is still heavy in my chest.
The entire conversation should have made me sad. Maybe angry. But the only thing I feel is exhaustion.
The past five years of my life have been a losing battle to keep both Mom andBritta’salive. Of course, logically, I knew that would be impossible with Mom. But I fought hard to keep her healthy, happy, and as much herself for as long as possible.
And she ended up suffering, anyway.
I may not have the energy to rebuildBritta’sif the damage is extensive.Adam warned me that there’s a chance the entire building will have to be torn down.
If that’s the case, what’s the point of rebuildingBritta’s? It won’t be the same place it was when it was Mom’s. Even though I made changes when I took over, the building still held the history of Mom and her grandma—the first Britta—before her. Without the building, that history is just memories.
I don’t have to be in Paradise to get lost in memories.
Case in point, right now. Stella snaps her fingers in front of my face, and I realize I’ve been lost right here. I’m not sure for how long, but Stella has her purse slung over her shoulder, and she and Archie are both standing, ready to go.
Dex, though, has a look of concern written in flashing lights on his face.
“You okay?” He asks for the second time today.
Or maybe he’s asked more times than that, and I haven’t noticed. “Yeah! I’m great! I think I just slipped into a food coma. That lunch was amazing.” I tuck my phone into the pocket of Dex’s hoodie I’m still wearing.
“Okay…” Dex says, like he doesn’t believe me.
Which means I need to try harder to be happy. For the rest of the day, I’ve got to forget about everything that’s happening in Paradise and focus on what’s happening right here. Dex needs a stress-free day and support. I can talk to Adam later, when Dex isn’t around, and find out what the engineers discovered. Then I’ll figure out my next steps withBritta’s.
“What’s next, Liam?” I ask even more brightly, which wipes the concern from his face.
“You’re really sticking to that?” The corner of his mouth pulls up, and for the first time, I notice a dimple in his cheek.
“Calling you by your first name?”How have I never noticed that dimple?
Dex nods.
“Yeeeeeep.”
His entire face scrunches as he tries to suppress his grin. It doesn’t work. His dimple grows deeper, and I think I can forget everything else if I focus on that adorable attribute of his face.
Stella sidles up next to me, swings her arm over my shoulders, and leans close to Dex. “We’re still going to raid the samples at Rip Tide, right?”
“Stella!”
“Like Vikings on their way to an English village,” Dex says over my reprimand.
