This Can't Be Love (Whispering Bay Romance 5)

“A Farewell to Arms,” Sarah said.

“Was that Will’s suggestion?”

Sarah nodded. “I told him I was on a mission to finish the classics.”

Lucy sighed. “Hemingway is Will’s favorite, although personally, I find him depressing.” She finished filling the industrial coffee maker with grounds and fresh water while Sarah set up the refreshment table outside the gym kitchen area.

Sarah was tempted to ask what that sigh was all about. She and Lucy were becoming fast friends, but she didn’t want to pry into her love life, especially not when her own love life was such a mess. Not that Sarah had a love life, unless you counted that kiss, but that had been almost two weeks ago (ten days to be exact, not that she was counting or anything) and it didn’t appear that there was going to be a repeat. Which was good, right?

Her gaze swept through the nearly empty gymnasium. The event would begin in an hour, but Brad Connors, the school principal, was already here, along with most of the speakers. They were in the process of checking out the mic and going through the program’s order.

Luke stood next to his brother-in-law, Zeke, and a few of the other featured alumni and he seemed engrossed in conversation. Every once in a while, he’d laugh or say something to make someone else laugh, most notably, Jenna Pantini, who seemed to be hanging on his every word. Jenna looked professional and spiffy in a black pencil skirt with heels and pearls. Sarah, on the other hand, wore khaki shorts and Converse sneakers and felt like a frumpy midget in comparison.

She hated to admit it, but a part of her was jealous of the pretty redhead. Okay, if she were really being honest, a big part of her was jealous. Would Jenna and Luke hit it off on their date? From what she could see, there was every reason to think the answer to that would be a big fat yes.

Dancing with Luke the other night at the silent auction had been a mistake. The thing was she couldn’t very well have refused him without seeming like a shrew. It was an innocent dance (a polka band was playing, for Pete’s sake!), but it hadn’t seemed innocent. Not when all she could think of while he held her was how much she wanted him to kiss her again.

Gad! She was a hot mess, all right.

She’d thought everything would be fine if she could just avoid him. But she was beginning to discover that in a town this small, avoiding someone, especially if that someone was your roommate, was next to impossible.

“By the way, Frida called this morning while you were at the bank,” Lucy said, jolting her back to the task at hand. Muffins and scones, yes, that was her job. She had to finish arranging the refreshment table.

“Oh, yeah? How are she and Ed doing? What country are they in now?”

“Italy. And from what Frida said, it sounds like they never want to come back.”

Sarah smiled. “I’ve never been to Italy, but I imagine I’d probably feel the same way.”

“Seriously,” Lucy said, then she lowered her voice. “She asked me if I wanted to buy The Bistro from her.”

“What?” Lucy must have heard wrong. Frida Hampton and The Bistro by the Beach were a Whispering Bay institution.

“Yeah. I was kind of like, holy wow, are you serious? And she said she was. But I have to wonder if it’s vacation high that’s making her talk funny.”

Sarah thought about it a minute. The everyday work of running a café could be brutal and Frida and Ed had been doing it for almost fifteen years now. Maybe Frida was perfectly serious when she talked about selling the place. “Would you be interested in buying The Bistro from her?”

“Do these muffins have carbs? Of course, I’d love to own my own place. It’s every chef’s dream. And The Bistro is in a prime location and already has a huge clientele, but I don’t have the money for it. I’m still paying off credit cards from when I was in culinary school. My parents might help me, but I really hate to ask them, you know.”

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.”

Lucy studied her. “How’s it going with the food truck? Do you have enough money to buy it yet?”

“Almost,” she admitted.

“Lucky you.”

The wistfulness in Lucy’s voice gave Sarah an idea. “You wouldn’t want to go in on the food truck, would you? It’s a lot less cash than what you’d need to buy The Bistro and together we make a pretty awesome team.”

Lucy looked surprised by the impromptu offer. It had surprised Sarah, too, but the more she thought about it the more it made sense.

“That’s so great of you to think of me! And I agree, we make a great team, but, to tell you the truth, I kind of want to stick around here. I mean, I have my parents and now my brother is stationed here at St. Perpetua’s, and…”

“And here you have your own library card,” Sarah teased.

Lucy’s cheeks went pink. “Yes, I guess there’s that, too.”

Sarah took pity on her and decided to lay off teasing her about Will. The two of them finished setting up the refreshments and soon the gym was filled with students and their parents.