“Hi,” Kennedy said and smiled widely.
“How did you get here so fast?” she asked and looked around, seeing no one but her employee in the shop. “Also, we just opened. It’s usually busier.”
“I’m sure it is.” Kennedy put her hands in front of her, locking them in place with her purse hanging off an elbow. “And I was in Anaheim. I… got a hotel here.”
“Last night?”
“Um…” Kennedy glanced over at Michaela and said nothing else.
“Let’s go in the back. Michaela, call me if you need me, okay?”
“Okay. Sure.”
River pushed open the door, let Kennedy walk through before her, and closed it behind them.
“I’ve been staying there since the breakup,” Kennedy revealed.
“A hotel in Anaheim? And you can set your purse on the desk, if you want.”
Kennedy put the purse down and said, “I didn’t know where else to go. I didn’t want to be in LA. It felt like the world’s smallest city, so I had my assistant book me something down here. I’ve been living in that room ever since. I would’ve been here yesterday, and I’m sorry for telling you that I could be and then canceling, but I needed to go back to LA to get some of my stuff and meet with my agent. He had a role for me that he wanted me to audition for, but I didn’t want to do it. Not now,anyway. And don’t even get me started on the whole double date YouTube thing. We told Jessie about the breakup, but there’s a contract in place with the charity. So, we still have to put the video on, or we’re in breach. It’s a whole thing. I don’t think they’d sue us or anything, but we’re going to talk to the head of the charity to see if there’s any way they can let us donate more money instead of airing the video, which wouldn’t get them as much as a donation from Cam and me would. I drove back down here last night, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get here today, but I was. So, I texted, and here I am.”
“Wow. That’s a lot,” River stated.
“I know. Sorry,” Kennedy said with a little laugh. “You look good.”
“What? No, I don’t.” She laughed. “I look like I wasn’t expecting you to come here.”
“I know. You look good.”
River blushed a little and said, “So do you.”
“I look like I haven’t slept in days,” Kennedy replied. “I like you in a hat.” She walked over and tipped it up a bit. “But I can’t see your face if you wear it down like that.”
“I only wear it because I’m dealing with food.”
“It looks good on you,” Kennedy told her.
“Thanks. I promise, not all of my shirts have stains on them. This is one of my candy-making shirts. I have a uniform shirt that I toss on if I need to help in front.”
“Oh, I have got to see you in uniform,” Kennedy said and laughed. “The shirt the girl up front is wearing?”
“Yes,” she replied. “And I’ll only be wearing that if the shop gets busy.”
Kennedy returned to the desk, reached into her purse, and pulled out her phone.
“One social post from me, and half of Anaheim will be here.”
“Oh, no, you wouldn’t,” River told her, laughing as she walked over and yanked Kennedy’s phone from her hand.
“Why not? Don’t you want business?”
Kennedy laughed as she tried to steal her phone back from her.
“Not right now. You just got here.”
“I think you might be bad at business, River. You’re supposed to want to be busy all the time,” Kennedy said, still trying to reach around River’s back to get her phone.
“Not bad at business; I just haven’t seen you since that day, Kennedy. I’ve… missed you, okay? I mean as… friends, who are going to hang out in here and make candy.”
