Page 110 of Fish Out of Water

“No, you won’t.” Jake smiled back, shaking his head. “You’ve got a lot to look forward to in the new year. You won, Robbie. You got the house, you got your parents’ cafe plans axed, and you’ve almost gotten rid of me.”

“Ah, so you heard about the cafe.”

“Oh, yeah, I heard about it. Safiya told me first, as a matter of fact. I’ve been dying to know: what happened?”

Robbie looked back at the parking lot in the distance, then his eyes swept over the beach-turned-dance floor. For a moment, Jake wondered what he was looking for.

“I threatened them,” Robbie said. “Well, not so much threatened as explained to them what would happen if they went through with it.”

“You mean with Mier and the town? That’s never stopped them before, has it?”

“No, with me.” Robbie’s smirk, the one that used to make Jake’s blood boil, returned with a vengeance. “As it turns out, I was a key part of this plan working. That’s why they’ve been so hell-bent on keeping me around—if I’m not here to run the store, they’ll have to allocate a lot more upfront and in the next few years to hire a manager and more employees. It wouldn’t turn a profit for, according to their estimate, five years, versus the year or so it would take with me at the helm. The bookstore wasjust their excuse to keep me around, and that was less and less necessary the older I got and the more obvious it was to them that I would follow along like an obedient little dog. You were right, Jake: I let them walk all over me. I really was—am—no better than they are.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“It’s true, and you can gloat if you want. I don’t care anymore. Of course, they saw the writing on the wall with Mier, too. If the sea kept acting up, whether they believed it was Mier’s doing or not, tourism wouldn’t bolster that damn coffee business. They were always banking on that.”

“A few extra years of being in the red is hardly a problem for them, though, is it?” Jake asked.

“It is when they’re planning on retiring within the next decade. They want to retire with a secure set of businesses, not be forced to keep going until that happens. I finally figured that out when I had a lot of time to think thanks to you, and I confronted them.”

Jake pressed the back of his hand to his cheek. It was hot, and no doubt red if only there were any light left from the sun to see. “You sneaky little bastard,” he said quietly. “That was a risky plan. Good work, Robbie. You saved Eventide.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Robbie said, offering a small, sad smile. “No one else will see it that way.”

“But you know what you did, and I know, so itdoesmatter. Everyone else will get it in good time.” Jake paused. “Most importantly, though, you finally stood up for yourself.”

“I still lost you.”

Those words hung in the air between them for what felt like hours. Jake didn’t look at Robbie. He couldn’t. He couldn’t think or speak or hear above the ringing in his ears. But Robbie didn’t look at Jake either, perhaps fearing Jake had taken what he’d said wrong.

Finally, Jake opened his mouth and prayed something—the right thing, whatever that was—would come out. “I?—”

“Here’s your beer, Jake.” Safiya sighed and plopped herself down between them. “Sorry it took so long. The party’s really getting going. Hey, anyone wanna get out there and dance?” She looked back and forth between the two men, her expression switching in the blink of an eye. “You know, I think I’ll just head over there right now, and you can join when you’re ready. I’ll talk to you guys later.” She patted Robbie’s leg and jumped up again, heading off across the beach to the action.

“Dear Safiya,” Robbie said. “She’s a gem.”

“Yeah, she is.” Jake gripped his beer bottle tightly, the cold, sweaty glass making his hand feel clammy.

“What were you saying?”

“Oh, nothing.” Jake shook his head. “I had nothing, Robbie. I’m sorry.”

A sleek, charcoal-colored electric car slid into the parking lot, catching the light from the fairy lights strung across wooden poles staked into the sand. Both Jake and Robbie looked back, Robbie heaving a sigh.

“They’re here. I need to go greet them.”

Jake reached his hand out, crawling his fingers across the rocks until they brushed against Robbie’s knuckles. “I’ll go with you if you want,” he said.

“Yeah, thanks. I’d… I would really appreciate that, Jake. You have no idea how much that would help.”

“I think I do.”

They got up and walked side-by-side over to the main part of the beach. Isabel and her friends had sat down at one of the long fold-up tables with plates of food. Safiya and Connor were dancing, with Connor twirling Safiya around awkwardly every few steps. Nick tossed a shaker into the air and caught it upright again in one hand. Everyone was still having a great time—everyone except Robbie, who looked like he was walking into his own funeral. He may as well have been.

“So, how bad is it going to be?” Jake whispered to Robbie.

“I don’t know,” Robbie said. “We didn’t exactly part on bad terms, but they’re not happy with me, I can tell you that much. They may do their best to keep up appearances here at the dance.”