Chase Wilson wants nothing more than to get out of Port Haven. After getting into too much trouble back home, what would be a vacation for most people is nothing more than a punishment for Chase - a summer spent in the godforsaken little beach town...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I SPENT THE next whole week treading on eggshells around James. There was always that sinking feeling in the back of my mind telling me he'll fire you. If you mess up one more time, he'll fire you for sure.
Of course, it didn't occur to me just how irrational I was being. Even then, the truth was that Catalyst was more than a job to me. The restaurant and James himself had become family throughout my life. The last thing I ever wanted to do was disappoint him.
And this was all despite the fact that James had been, in fact, wonderfully forgiving.
As soon as I had stepped back into Catalyst that day, I'd opened my mouth to pour out apology after apology, only to be interrupted with a gentle:
"Don't worry about it, Harper. Could you take care of that table in the corner?"
And that was that. No repercussions, no reprimanding, not even a smack upside the head. Everything just continued the way it had been. And for that, I was deeply grateful.
My mom, however, was a wildly different story. I'd gotten home a bit later than usual that night, staying longer to help make up for my mishap earlier that day. Normally, she'd be in bed, hair tied back in a cap and a bright blue face mask.
That night, however, she was not. Instead, she was waiting on the couch as I walked through the front door, a half empty glass of wine in her hand.
"Harper?"
I looked at her. "Hey, mom."
"James called me."
A bout of silence. I dragged in a quiet breath, placing my bag on the table beside the door and treading into the living room. "I'm really sorry mom, I didn't — "
"You...skipped work to spend time with a boy?"
I wasn't sure if she was wine drunk already or just plain sleep deprived, because I could've sworn I caught a hint of amusement in her tone.
"Well, I guess that's one way of putting it, yeah...but I didn't mean to. You know I'd never do that to James, I mean — I love James. But I just lost track of time, and I..."
My voice trailed off as I watched my mom place her glass on the coffee table, adjust her body to face me, and pat the spot on the couch beside her. I approached, half expecting to receive a rightfully earned half hour lecture as soon as I sat down.
That's not what happened, though.
Instead, my mom tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, giving me a sober smile as she did. "I'm not mad at you, H."
I blinked. "But I skipped work to spend time with a boy."
With this, she laughed. It was brief, and quiet, but I always loved seeing my mom laugh. And it was much, much rarer these days, especially now that my dad was gone.
