Page 36 of Whisking It All

“I am,” she said.

The farmer broke into a wide grin. “So you’re the one taking over the pop-up. Oh! And the festival.”

“This is Cheryl’s husband,” Jamie explained.

Ricky’s grin somehow grew wider. “That I am. She’ll be glad to know I’ve met you, though Kyla’s already been by to tell us how much she likes you. My wife would want me to thank you for hiring Kyla on.”

“No thanks needed. She earned that spot on my staff,” Tessa said. Her cheeks darkened under Ricky’s continued thanks, and Jamie forced his thoughts away from the last time he’d seen her skin turn that particular shade of pink.

“You see anything you want for Sugar Grapes, you just let me know and I’ll have it delivered,” Ricky offered.

“Thank you,” she said, wandering to the end of the table to examine the raspberries. She moved beyond Jamie’s reach and his hand fell away from her back. He shook it at his side, as though he could shake off the memory of her skin.

Keep your distance.

Jamie and Ricky chatted while Tessa browsed, occasionally jotting something down in her notebook. Ricky thanked Jamie for the chicken dinner he’d delivered a few nights prior, and Jamie recounted the story of Brodie’s alarmed discovery that beets could change the color of your urine. Eventually, Tessa placed an order for corn, raspberries, and blueberries, and they said their goodbyes to Ricky, moving back out of his tent.

“Inspired?” Jamie asked, gesturing to her notebook.

She smiled, taunting him with the closed book. “Starting to be.”

At the tent displaying jars of colorful jams and preserves, Tessa bought a variety of unusual flavors, adding a jar of caramelized onion and fig chutney to her selection at Jamie’s urging. “It’s the best chutney on this side of the bay,” he’d said. When they arrived at the tent for the goat farm, Jamie introduced her to Michelle, a woman who made all kinds of goat cheese on her goat farm, commenting that Tessa might enjoy trying some of the lesser-known varieties in her next batch of ice cream.

“You really love it here, don’t you?” Tessa asked when they’d said goodbye to Michelle, Tessa promising to stop by the farm soon to bring her a sample of the ice cream she made with it.

“I do,” Jamie confirmed.

“But you’re not from here?”

He focused on making sure the heavy bag of preserves didn’t swing against the bag of produce hard enough to bruise anything. Maybe then she wouldn’t notice the tension creeping into his shoulders. “No. I’m from Massachusetts, but I moved here for college and never left. Now Aster Bay is home.”

Tessa was quiet for a moment, and he was aware of her eyes on him as he waved in greeting to a passing couple who frequented Lemon and Thyme. The woman always ordered the seafood special, regardless of what it was, and he made a mental note to get their names the next time they came in.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way about a place before,” she said softly.

He stopped walking and turned to look at her, waiting until she raised her downcast eyes. “It’s not about the place. It’s about the people. If these people didn’t live here, Aster Bay wouldn’t be the same. Gavin and Baz and your dad—they’re my family.”

“What about your real family?”

“My brother and sister-in-law are theater actors in New York. We don’t get to see each other much. And my parents died shortly after I moved here. Car accident.”

Her eyes creased in empathy. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

He nodded in acknowledgment but kept talking so the ball of tension behind his sternum couldn’t take root. “Your dad and I had a few classes together in college and… I don’t know. I don’t know why he took me in, but once Ethan Hart decides you’re a part of his family, you can’t shake him.”

He began walking away, needing to move so he didn’t do something foolish like think about how it would feel for Tessa to be part of his family. Across the common, a cluster of women who had gone to school with Ethan and his friends eyed Tessa warily, one even going so far as to point at her while she said something that made the rest of her friends laugh. Jamie positioned himself between Tessa and the women, steering her towards the other side of the farmer’s market and hoped she hadn’t noticed.

“Your dad introduced me to Gavin and Baz and his parents,” he continued, forcing himself to focus on answering her question so he wouldn’t have time to think about the choice words he wanted to say to those women. Who the fuck pointed at people in public?

“Ethan said, ‘we’re your family now.’ And he meant it.” He glanced at her, hoping she understood. Needing her to understand. “Family isn’t necessarily about blood, Tessa. It’s about the people you let in, the people you would do anything for, who would do anything for you.”

She looked away from him. “I don’t have people. Not like that.”

“Maybe you’ll find them in Aster Bay.”

“Maybe.” She smiled a sad sort of smile, like she didn’t really believe him, her eyes darting to the group of women who were still laughing. He swallowed down the impulse to say that he could be one of her people, if she wanted him to be.

They made their way through tents selling farm fresh eggs and rounds of crusty artisan breads, an entire tent just for various kinds of mushrooms, and a stall selling freshly made dog biscuits that looked more like giant peanut butter cookies than something you’d give your pet. With each stall they visited, each bag of new things added to her stash, Tessa seemed more at ease, the tension of their conversation slowly leaving her stance. She even stopped looking abashed when someone would give a startled laugh after noticing her shirt, instead leaning into the joke.

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