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“People are so friendly here.” The woman smiled and ran her fingers along copies of the local newspaper, The Outlet. After glancing at the headline, she picked up a copy.
“The Outlet is great,” Hannah said. “If you ever need to find out anything that’s going on, it’ll have it.”
“Cool.” The woman thumbed through it and looked up at her companion. “Maybe we can look through here to find things to do.”
They fell into their own conversation, talking about finding time to rest and recharge their creative spirits while they were away. Hannah was curious, but she didn’t want to pry. Based on the context, they were musicians.
Hannah poured the couple’s drinks, burning with curiosity. She had taught herself piano and loved to play. What was life like as a full-time musician? She imagined something glamorous, or at least glamorous in comparison to where she was today: meeting people from all over, traveling, performing for huge audiences. The tourists had an air of sophistication that suggested they’d be right at home doing all of that.
The couple’s food came up and they went outside, leaving Hannah with a loose knot in her stomach for reasons she couldn’t pinpoint.
The Crab was a second home to her and had been for years. It had been just her and her dad since her mother left when she was young, so she felt tied to the place. In the past, she had found comfort in that. She always had a place to go, a place that felt like home. But now it was starting to itch, just a little bit. Was there anything for her outside of Blueberry Bay? Maybe something with music?
She brushed those thoughts off, as she often did. She loved Blueberry Bay and always would, but she’d long accepted the fact that the things there and the people were just… ordinary. Sometimes a minor celebrity came through, but that was as exciting as it got. It was definitely not Boston or anything close to it.
Hannah finished tidying up, the end of the lunch crowd now settled with their food, and went to the back to help with prep for the dinner menu. They served similar dishes every single day, so she didn’t have to think twice about what to do. She fell into the easy rhythm of chopping and checking ingredients until the bell above the door jingled.
“Be with you in a second!” Hannah called. She washed her hands and went out front, her heart flipping in her chest when she saw who had come in. “Oh, hi, Michael.”
“Hi, Hannah.”
Michael O’Neil looked like he had just come in off the waves. His dark hair was windswept off his handsome, tanned face. He was the one thing around Blueberry Bay that didn’t feel ordinary to her. Something about the way he carried himself and talked to people made him feel like he had the answers without being arrogant. Like he’d seen enough of the world to know himself well and be secure in who he was.
He owned the most popular coffee shop in town, Tidal Wave Coffee. A lot of her friends from high school had worked there since he liked to employ local young people to give them a good first job for their resumes. On top of that, he was a pro surfer and was sponsored by major surf brands.
To Hannah, he was a movie star. Looks and all. Despite that, she wondered if he’d ever notice her. Sure, he was older than her, somewhere in his early thirties, but she always held onto a little hope. Couples had age differences all the time.
Then again, she was far from the only one in town with a little crush on him. Hannah was sure that some of the girls she knew who worked at Tidal Wave had gotten the job partially because Michael would be their boss. And wherever he went, eyes followed him.
“Um, what can I get you?” Hannah asked, stumbling over her words.
“I’ll take a crab roll and chips. Plus an iced tea to go,” Michael said.
“Gotcha.” Her heart fluttered and she played with her necklace in the hopes that it would calm her down.
“Has it been busy today?” he asked as he paid.
“Yeah. I mean, sort of.” Hannah felt her cheeks warm. Despite living in a seaside town, her skin was extremely fair, so every blush showed. “Just a regular Tuesday.”
“Yeah. I swung by Tidal Wave and it was about the same. The waves were perfect, though.”
“Yeah?” She had seen him surf before. He made it look so effortless. She knew how to surf and enjoyed it, but she wiped out a few times before managing to catch a wave. Luckily no one had recorded her flailing off her board and plunging into the water. She poured him some iced tea in a to-go cup.
“Yup. And the water is finally getting warmer.” He smiled, making his already attractive face even more so. She loved the faint lines that appeared around his brown eyes.
“That’s great.” Any more eloquent replies escaped Hannah as their fingers brushed when she handed him his tea.
Her ability to think clearly didn’t come back until Michael had his sandwich and was out the door. Hannah’s heart finally slowed down and her shoulders sagged. Maybe next time she’d think of the right thing to say.
CHAPTER TWO
Alissa pushed her glasses up on her nose, then went right back to typing. Her latest article for The Outlet, the first of a few pieces on the upcoming Blueberry Bay Luau, was flowing out of her almost faster than she could type.
The event was over a month away, but she couldn’t wait, even though she hadn’t been before. People were going to come from out of town to enjoy the games, vendors, surfing, and of course, hula dancing. Blueberry Bay was a tight-knit community, so any event that brought everyone to the same place was bound to be fun.
She suppressed a smile, trying to imagine herself doing the hula. Even though she wasn’t much of a dancer, she was more than willing to try it. These past few months had been a series of trying new things. If someone had told her that she would be living in a small town, working as the head reporter at a new and rapidly growing newspaper and magazine, she wouldn’t have believed it.
But she was, and she was happier than she had been in a long time. Her happiness had come from one of the worst periods in her life. She’d gotten fired from what she’d thought was her dream job at Epic News and on a whim, she’d come to Blueberry Bay to figure out what she wanted to do next. Through a series of lucky happenstances, she’d found The Outlet, which was desperate for writers, and started working there. The beautiful Rhode Island scenery had inspired her to write again, a hobby long put aside because of the stresses of work, and now her debut novel was on shelves across the country.
