Speechless, my mouth suddenly dry, all I could do was point at the sign in the window with huge red lettering that read help wanted.
This had to be—like, literally—a sign.
All that worrying about how I’d pay for the bucket list or wanting to put a little money aside for college? This was meant to be. Right?
We’d be at the beach house all summer. And, sure, we were helping fix it up for sale, but how much time would that take, really? And I’d be able to work shifts around any commitments with Brad….
And I’d totally still have time to spend with Noah and do the bucket-list stuff with Lee.
Totally.
“Be with you in just a sec,” a lady in a green apron said, walking past us in the entryway. She placed some empty glasses on the bar and then turned to greet us. A smile lit up her face. “Elle! Lee! Well, hey! I didn’t expect to see you guys up here so soon.”
“Hi, May.”
May was maybe a little younger than my dad. Her hair was dyed an orange shade of red, same as it had been every summer we’d been here. She hardly ever seemed to age.
“Where’s the rest of the clan?”
Lee told her, “My parents are planning to sell the beach house, so us kids are up here to, you know, fix it up and stuff.”
“They are?” she exclaimed in dismay, her face falling. She clicked her tongue, crossing her arms. “That’s such a shame. Seems everyone’s starting to sell now they’re redeveloping. It’s just not gonna be the same around here. But, hey, I guess we’ll be seeing more of you kids this summer, huh? I’ll have to make sure we’ve got an endless supply of fries.”
Lee and I exchanged a glance, grinning. May had always given us extra portions of fries.
It was definitely part of what made them taste so good.
“So, what can I do you for? You guys want a table for dinner?”
“Hoping to get something to take out, if that’s okay, May,” Lee said, already wandering over to the serving station to pick up a menu, someone’s notebook, and a pen. “I’ll just pass the order straight over to Gary.”
“Oh, honey, Gary retired last Christmas. It’s Kenny on shift today anyway.”
May looked ready to admonish Lee then, tell him that he couldn’t just swan around like he owned the place, but she only rolled her eyes and let him carry on.
Before she could walk off, I blurted, “May?”
“Yeah, sweetie?”
“Can I, um…” I frowned, letting out a wobbly breath. My palms were sweating. Come on, Elle, you can do this. “I wanted to ask you about the job. The help wanted sign.”
May let out a startled noise and blinked, mouth forming a small circle. “You want to apply?”
Immediately, I launched into a sales pitch of Why She Should Hire Elle Evans, despite my absolute lack of experience in any kind of job but least of all the service industry, despite me not having a résumé with me, despite knowing nothing about what the job actually was.
“…and I’m really responsible, and I’ll work so hard, May, I promise, and I could start as soon as you need, and—”
“Okay, okay.” She laughed, raising her hands. “Slow down, kiddo. Look, honestly, the help wanted sign—it was for someone in the kitchen, and we filled that position yesterday.”
My heart sank. So much for it being a (literal) sign.
I felt like a total idiot.
May drew a breath. “But…”
But! There was a but!
“I guess I could use an extra pair of hands around here. We always seem to get so rushed off our feet this time of year. And I know you,” she added with a wink. “I can trust you. So, all right, little Elle Evans. You’ve got yourself a job.”
She stuck out her hand as I jumped, squealing, to punch the air before quickly composing myself to shake her hand solemnly. She kept her face straight for about a second longer before breaking into an affectionate smile.
May pulled a notepad from her apron and a pen from behind her ear and handed them over. “Here. Jot down your name and your email. I’ll send you over a contract and get in touch about a start date. Chances are it’ll be in just a couple days.”
“That’d be amazing,” I gushed. “Thank you so much, May, thank you. You won’t regret this.”
“Hmm, I’d better not.”
“Yes! Yes, absolutely. Thanks again, May!”
After giving May my details, I joined Lee to double-check we’d included everything on our order for the kitchen, and we counted out our cash and tip. I felt on top of the world.
I practically floated back to the car. I slammed the door behind me and wrapped my fingers around the steering wheel, beaming.
All the stress, all the hassle trying to get a job last year, all that worrying about money earlier, and just like that. It was that easy.
Maybe I’d been wrong earlier. It wasn’t that I’d rushed into the choice between colleges or didn’t think it through, and it wasn’t that I’d been too eager to suggest the bucket list. Maybe this was all exactly how it should be. Maybe everything was working out perfectly.
I felt weightless. Exhilarated. Exactly like I’d felt when I launched myself into the air from the cliffs a few hours ago. Everything was working out perfectly. And I would make sure it stayed that way.
Chapter Thirteen
Noah caught me doing Wonder Woman poses in the bathroom later that evening.
“What are you doing?” he asked, a smirk creeping onto his face to find me standing there in my pajamas, legs planted shoulder width apart, hands firmly on my hips, shoulders back, chin up, and, to top it off, a confident “you got this” stare at my reflection.
I kept the pose but broke into a smile and caught his eye in the mirror. “I’m power-posing.”
“Riiiiiiight…”
“Amanda told me about it,” I said, twisting now to face him. “She sent me all these videos on Instagram about it. She said she was going through, like, a phase or something, so I thought I’d try it. See, you do this”—I demonstrated for him, re-creating the pose with deliberate actions—“and it makes you feel like your best self, like you could take on anything.”
Noah raised an eyebrow at me. His lips pressed into a thin line and a muscle jumped in his jaw—but not because he was annoyed; he was trying not to laugh.
“I’m serious!” I said. I grabbed each of his hands in turn and placed them on his hips, then used my feet to nudge his legs apart. I pressed on his shoulders and tilted his chin up. “Noah Flynn, tell me you do not feel more confident.”