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CHAPTER ONE
Luke Ward breathed a sigh of relief as he tucked his laptop into his backpack and toed into his sneakers. The TSA line at the airport hadn’t been as long as he’d seen it before, but traveling with all of his gadgets made getting through security a bit of a hassle. He had to take everything out and sort it into baskets. And inevitably, he’d forget to take something out and his bag had to be searched, just as it had been today.
He expected it, though, and didn’t mind at the end of the day. He would have felt naked without all of his gear. His hands always itched to work with something, to take things apart and put them back together once he figured out how they worked.
He fully intended to soak in the beauty of Blueberry Bay that summer, but keeping up with his repair skills in his down time away from his aunt Sandy and uncle Daniel’s grocery store wasn’t going to hurt. The process that was so frustrating to most people was relaxing to him, and always had been. It had driven his parents crazy when he was a kid. He’d take apart anything he could get his hands on, just to see how it worked.
Eventually they started to swing by second-hand shops just to get him something that he could fix without costing them hundreds of dollars. Soon he learned he had a knack for fixing things that people thought were broken for good. Selling refurbished electronics he’d picked up from various stores gave him a steady income of spending money in high school and college. He saved half of it for his eventual business and used the other half as spending money.
The thought of running his own business gave him a small rush every time. He didn’t mind working for others, but the idea of building something himself, something he could call his own, was incredibly appealing and had been since he was young. Sandy had inspired him—she had built up her store alongside her husband and now it was the go-to place for groceries or anything else someone might need in Blueberry Bay. It was hard work getting there, but it was satisfying.
He glanced up at the signs for the various gates and found the one he was looking for: a flight from Indianapolis to Boston. It was at the far end of the terminal and he had plenty of time before boarding, so he took his time. He wove through the crowds of people, stepping into a gift shop and balking at the price of a bottle of water. It wasn’t even sparkling water, just plain old water.
He decided against buying any water, but he was a graduate student and coffee got him through the hardest days. He’d gotten up early to finish packing and make the hour long drive from Bloomington to the Indianapolis airport, so he desperately needed a cup. The line to the coffee shop was easy to spot. It wound around the food court, so he stood at the end. It went by faster than he anticipated. Forking over six dollars for a large coffee with cream and sugar hurt, but he forgot all about the blow to his graduate student budget once he took his first sip.
Eventually he got to his gate and sat down, excitement buzzing through his veins as planes pulled up and away from the various gates. Finishing all of is final projects lifted a huge weight off of his shoulders and he was glad to get a chance to unwind.
He pulled out his worn paperback and thumbed through it. How long had it been since he read for pleasure? Way too long. The flight from Indianapolis to Boston was a little over two hours, then he had to take a ferry to get to Blueberry Bay. He had more time than he’d had in ages, so he opened the book and started reading. Before he knew it, it was time to board.
He polished off his coffee and tossed the cup away before he boarded. The airplane was big, not that that meant a lot. His long legs didn’t have enough room to fit comfortably, but he’d gotten a window seat. The view as the plane took off almost made up for the lack of leg space. The world got smaller and smaller until everything was made up of green dots and empty fields.
He smiled to himself. Summers in Blueberry Bay were always filled with the unexpected, and he was excited to see what this year would bring.
* * *
“Two BLTs, one without the T,” Hannah Jenkins called back to her father, Willis, who was hard at work on the lunch rush at their restaurant, The Crab.
Willis peeked through the service window, raising an eyebrow at the order as if to ask, what’s the point of a BLT without one of the primary ingredients?
Hannah bit the inside of her cheek to hide her smile. There was always one customer who had an order like that. She had been working at The Crab with her dad since she was a teenager, so she had seen it all. Today wasn’t an unusual Tuesday by any means.
She went back to the register with a smile, steadily taking the lunch rush orders. The Crab specialized in sandwiches, so it was the go-to spot for most of Blueberry Bay’s lunch hour. She’d been working there for so long that she hardly blinked as she went between the register, answering questions about the menu, and cleaning up tables in between customers. Eventually it slowed down enough for her to take a breath and tidy up behind the counter.
“Hi, welcome to The Crab!” Hannah said to a couple who had just walked in. She could clearly tell they were tourists. She knew most of the people who came regularly, and she didn’t recognize these people. They were in their early twenties, just like Hannah, and were dressed up more than the locals too. If she had to guess, they were from Boston or New York City, where the vast majority of tourists to their town came from. “What can I get for you guys?”
“What’s good? We’ve never been here before,” the woman said, absently playing with the row of earrings lining her ear.
“Depends on what you’re looking for. Do you want something light, or something a little heavier?” Hannah looked up at the menu board even though she knew everything on the menu plus the specials by heart. “Our crab roll is one of our customer favorites, just light enough but not so light that you don’t feel like you’ve eaten. The crab is super fresh, just arrived this morning. But if you want something that’ll stick to your ribs more, our chicken cutlet sandwich and fries will keep you full for a while. It’s not greasy at all, but it’s enormous. Definitely for a big appetite or if you want to split something.”
The man in the couple laughed. He also had a few earrings, plus a septum piercing under his nose.
“I feel like having a big sandwich and passing out on the beach is exactly what I’m after,” he said. “I’ll try the chicken sandwich and fries.”
“And I’ll have the crab roll since I want to read instead of falling into a food coma,” the woman said. “With the homemade chips on the side.”
“Gotcha.” Hannah plugged in their orders. “Anything to drink? We have some local beers and ciders right now. We serve harder drinks in the evening. And we have iced tea, water, sodas…”
“Iced tea sounds nice,” the woman said.
Hannah nodded and plugged in their orders before calling them back to Willis, more out of habit than anything. She’d upgraded their system so it printed out a ticket in the kitchen a few years back.
“This place is so cute,” the woman said, wandering along the shop. “Even cuter than the reviews said. How long have you been working here?”
“Since I was a teenager. My dad—he’s back there—owns the place.” Hannah stacked some napkins and put them on the utensils stand. “Are you guys visiting from out of town?”
“Yep! From Boston,” the man said, following the woman. “We needed an escape from the city. It looks like we’re not alone.”
“Definitely not,” Hannah said. July was always packed with tourists. “We love for people to visit.”
