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Melanie shifted so Calvin could stand up.
“No.”
Everyone turned toward Blake. His face was red, his arms crossed. “If this involves Port Wheels then this involves my boyfriend, and I think it’s unfair that you keep leaving him in the dark.”
“Yeah, you tell ’em, Blakey boy,” Rory cheered.
Zach smirked and kissed the back of Blake’s head, his hands twisted in his red curls. “You did promise open communication, Jess.”
Jess looked between Calvin and Kevin. “It’s…kind of big, and I’m still figuring out all of the details—”
“Then figure it out with us,” Rory said. “We’re a family, remember?”
She sighed and took a seat, eyes roaming over the group before her. Being with her sister and her parents today had felt awkward and foreign, but she knew deep down with time those feelings would change. Yet the group in front of her was familiar and, after years of working by their sides, she knew they were also safe. For as long as she could remember, she’d felt she had to hide what was going on in her life with the rest of them, because it was way too messy to bring to anyone else. Yet this summer, when she finally let her walls down and watched everything in her life change, she found Kevin was actually right after all: there’s strength in being soft, even when the rest of the world says you need to be hard.
“Grampy plans on retiring,” Jess confessed. “And he told me he wants to pass down his bakery to me.”
“Holy shit.”
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”
“But the blueberry coffee cake!”
“Retiring as in…like, retiring retiring? Done for good?”
So many responses from them all at once, Jess wasn’t even sure where to start. She glanced at Calvin who looked shocked for the first time ever, his mouth hung open. Melanie tipped his chin with her fingers to close it, giggling when it fell back open.
Zach shook his head, looking exasperated. “I’m so confused. So are you closing Port Wheels?”
Jess finally turned to look at Kevin, his face slowly crumbling with the emotion he clearly couldn’t hold in.
She gave him a reassuring smile. “No. We are not closing.”
Kevin choked out a sob and ran a hand through his hair, making the waves even more wild.
Jess faced the group and explained everything that happened that night, from the three knocks on the bakery door to practically falling out of her stool when he presented her with his offer. A new offer for her to consider, one that would irrevocably change her life. Again.
“He actually let you see the blueberry coffee cake recipe?” Calvin asked, still in shock.
Melanie covered her mouth with a hand.
“Yes,” Jess exhaled. “Then we proceeded to bake dozens of cakes.”
Calvin whistled. “Damn.”
“Your bakery will close then?” Rory asked.
She shrugged. “Kind of. I’ll still be baking, but things will shift at Port Wheels. We’ll make it more of a café situation.”
“And you’ll change the name?”
Jess looked back at the golden boy. He rubbed his neck, not returning her gaze.
“I don’t know,” Jess replied timidly. “That’s something we’ll have to discuss as a team.”
“A team?” Zach pried.
She dipped her chin. “Yes. A team. I refuse to let you leave us.”
