Safe Harbor (Scoops Series Book 1), page 21
Nausea continued to churn in her stomach as she sat there, hoping her deep breaths would make it cease. But the thought of Duncan needing money and coming to her in such desperation seemed to be the breaking point as she turned her body away from the shop—and vomited.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Melanie had ignored him throughout their entire shift. She let herself get lost in the work, not daring to look up and face the weird reality she was in—that she just denied helping her brother, that she shoved off her boyfriend, and that she puked her guts out behind Scoops. What she really wanted was to go home and sleep for an entire day. But instead, she was standing outside of Scoops, the night eerily quiet for a summer night in Haverport, with her arms crossed as she avoided looking Calvin directly in the eyes.
“Not really,” she mumbled. “I’m tired of talking about this. I’m tired of this being my life.”
Calvin nodded, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked away, hurt etched on his face. He took a moment to control himself before looking back at Melanie, stuffing away whatever he felt and putting all of his attention on her. “I know. It’s not fair. None of it is.”
Melanie nodded, not sure what else to say.
“Do you want me to just take you home?” he asked quietly.
To her surprise, she found herself shaking her head. She was tired, but she wasn’t exactly sure what she would meet when she got to the cottage. And she wasn’t in the right mind to face it quite yet.
Calvin popped open the tailgate and hopped up, taking a seat. He patted the spot next to him, motioning for Melanie to join. She did reluctantly, leaving some space between the two of them as she stared out at the lights that led down Main Street.
“Gram wasn’t kidding when she said she used to take me here every day,” Calvin started, his gaze down the street as well. “We used to come just once a week, but after Pop died, Gram got in this habit of spoiling me. So we came often.”
Melanie crisscrossed her legs, pulling them close as she listened, feeling thankful that he’d changed the subject.
“That spring after he died, my class was having this career day where all the students were asked to bring their fathers to school so they could all share about their jobs,” he continued. “It felt especially brutal because Pop was now gone, and I didn’t want to be that pathetic kid with the only grandmother in the room.
“That day after my teacher announced it, Gram brought me here, like she always did. Ron was working at the counter, and at that point, he knew me by name. He always scooped my Oreo cone without me even having to ask, always with a big smile on his face.”
Calvin smiled at the memory fondly as he spoke, playing with his hands. “When he handed my cone to me that day, I asked him if he would be my dad.”
Melanie finally glanced over at him, her heart twisting in her chest. It didn’t make any sense to her, why he kept choosing to open up. He was so set in his ways with everyone else around him, all about following the rules and doing everything by the book. And yet, when he was with her, all of his hard edges softened. He trusted her with all of the difficult things, and in that moment, as Calvin continued to share his story, Melanie wished she had the courage to do the same.
“He didn’t even hesitate. He came to my career day and I was suddenly the coolest kid in the class because my dad ran the ice cream shop,” Calvin said. “And he just kept showing up after that. He came to everything—school concerts, graduations, sports games.”
“Sports?”
“It was…a very, very brief time in my life,” he explained with a shy smile.
Melanie smiled back at him, his features relaxing as she did so, his eyes examining her face like he wanted to memorize it. “My classmates soon figured out that Ron wasn’t my real dad, but I didn’t care. Ron doesn’t have any kids of his own, never really met someone he wanted to settle down with, so he was just as excited about stepping into the role as I was.”
Calvin sighed, gazing back down at his hands. “Working at Scoops was kind of an unspoken agreement, and over the past year, it sort of dawned on me that he has no one to pass this place down to. So…I’m going to do it.”
“To…take over the shop?”
He nodded. “That’s what I’m going to community college for. Getting my associate in business so I can run this place someday.”
Melanie glanced back at Scoops, marveling at the finality of his decision. “Wow, that’s—”
“Not as cool as Yale, I know.”
She frowned. “That seems harsh.”
“Sorry, I just meant—”
“No, Calvin, I mean harsh to yourself. What you’re doing is such a beautiful and honorable thing. I think it’s amazing that Ron and this place mean so much to you.”
Calvin nodded at her. “I don’t think a lot of other people see it that way. Ron himself thinks I’m crazy, that I should be doing something more for myself.” He sighed, looking up at the stars. “But…I honestly can’t imagine myself doing anything else. The only family legacy I have is this town and Gram’s cottage and this ice cream shop. I already don’t have much, so what I do have…I can’t imagine letting it slip away.”
She shifted over to him, running a hand along his cheek, cupping the back of his neck before leaning in to kiss him softly. “I don’t think it’s crazy,” she whispered.
He exhaled with ease, wrapping his arms around her waist, like the distance between them before caused him great pain. She relaxed in his arms, resting her head against his shoulder as they sat there in comfortable silence. She thought about how Calvin had his whole life figured out, that he knew exactly what he wanted to do and was just going for it.
Melanie knew she always wanted Yale; she had been working toward it fervently for the last decade of her life, ever since that day her father placed his hat on her head. Yet why, after spending so much of her time focused on it, was Melanie only just realizing that she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life if she got in?
Chapter Nineteen
Melanie was in the middle of sealing up a bucket full of orange Jello with plastic wrap when Mom let Calvin and Gram into the cottage. Duncan begrudgingly watched as he shuffled down the stairs, his gaze toward Calvin stiff and uninviting as he sat down at the bottom step to lace up his sneakers. Duncan had yet to speak to her since asking for the money. The distance between them felt even more excruciating than it did before. She felt like she failed him all over again.
Calvin sauntered over, taking a seat on a stool next to the counter. The way he was looking at her had her thinking back to the night before, his hands running through her hair as he kissed her eagerly. He smiled at her now, almost like he too was thinking about it, causing Melanie to blush as she poured another batch of blue Jello into a separate bucket.
“I know you said not to bring anything, Alice, but your daughter likes these,” Gram said, placing a large plate of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies down on their counter.
Melanie smiled at Gram as a thank you, slyly trying to reach for a cookie before Calvin playfully slapped her hand.
Dad turned toward Duncan as he stood up. “Hey, before you go, do you think you could help me—”
But Duncan didn’t stay to hear the rest of Dad’s request as he exited the cottage, taking off for his jog.
“Never mind,” Dad puffed. “Calvin, maybe you could help me? I need to get the kiddie pools out of the shed and down the front yard.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Son, I am not a sir! You don’t have to keep saying that.”
“Whatever you say, sir,” he responded as the side of his mouth curled into a half-smile.
He shook his head, pointing to Calvin with eyes dead set on Melanie. “Where’d you find this guy?”
Melanie smiled to herself. “At an ice cream shop, with a paperback novel in his hand.”
His eyebrows raised as the two of them pushed through the kitchen back door. “Novel, huh? What are you reading right now?”
Calvin launched into talking about a Stephen King novel he was currently working through, their voices becoming distant as they maneuvered toward the shed.
“Coffee, Mrs. Ball?” Mom asked.
“Well sure,” Gram replied. “But only if you promise to stop calling me that. I prefer to go by ‘sir’ moving forward.”
Mom laughed brightly. Melanie mixed together more orange Jello in a bowl as she listened to Mom pour a hot cup of coffee into a mug for Gram, handing it to her.
“Why, this is just like my mug!”
She looked up, realizing Mom handed Gram her sunshine mug, the same one Melanie drank out of every morning.
“Oh, yes, that one is mine,” Melanie said. “Although the painting was made in a factory, not with love.”
Mom’s face furrowed with confusion as Gram giggled. “Well isn’t that just special that both of you have a little yellow mug with a sun,” Gram said. “It’s almost like it was meant to be.”
She blushed as she looked out the front window, watching Calvin and Dad still chatting as they carried the kiddie pools out front. The entire moment felt pleasant, the small group of them hanging out in the cottage, getting ready for a rowdy block party in a few hours.
Yet it wasn’t easy avoiding the obvious. To Melanie, it felt like a very large piece of the puzzle was missing.
“So, Gram,” Mom started. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but are you raising Calvin?”
“Calvin didn’t need raising,” Gram said. “That boy is just as stubborn and determined as his grandfather. But yes, he’s been with me since he was five.”
Melanie remained silent as she stirred, listening intently. Even during dinner with Gram and Calvin that night, they’d evaded talking about his parents. She wondered if she was about to bring it up, now that he wasn’t in the room.
Curiosity also seemed to get the best of her mother as she continued to pry. “And his parents?”
“Father is a deadbeat, who knows where he is,” Gram said clinically. “His mother lives in Boston, stops by anytime her need to come home and see her son overpowers her need for pills.”
Melanie froze. Gram just outright said it. She glanced over, watching the way her mother calculated this response in her head, waiting to see how she would react.
“That’s…horrible, I’m so sorry,” Mom said softly. “Your daughter?”
Gram nodded, taking a sip of her coffee.
“Does that—” She hesitated like she wasn’t sure how to ask what she was about to ask. “Does that bother you? How do you deal with it?”
Melanie white-knuckled the wooden spoon in her hand as she listened very, very carefully.
“I remind myself that God has given me a good life,” Gram said, a genuine smile on her face. She turned to look at Melanie before she went on. “And a grandson that is truly my saving grace.”
Melanie smiled at Gram, her heart fluttering as she heard Calvin laughing outside at something Dad just said to him.
He really was a saving grace. For all of them, it seemed.
The Jello atrocity was an absolute hit. Everyone signed up for a chance to stick their feet in the gooey pool and find the little action figure hidden below. Melanie and Calvin were in charge of manning the station, filling up the pools with fresh Jello if too much spilled over the edges as they helped neighbors step in and out of the sticky mess. Gram had set up shop in the shade nearby, sipping on an iced tea and waiting for people she knew to come to her and gossip about the latest town news.
Jan and Dan finally showed up, half-soaked from the water balloon toss, both with their serious game faces on. “Get the Jello ready, Mel, it’s time.”
A group of neighbors crowded around the kiddie pools as they peeled off their sandals, calling out their predictions of who they thought would win. Tim Mackey was confident Dan would be able to find it first, but Melanie and Mom knew better.
“They don’t know that Dan basically doesn’t have any nerve endings in his feet,” Jan whispered to them as she slowly stepped into her pool. “He doesn’t even flinch when I touch them.”
Melanie chuckled, taking a step back, deciding to make the most of the information she just learned. “Want to make a bet?” she asked Calvin.
Calvin smirked. “What do you have in mind?”
“Winner has to obtain two slices of Grampy’s blueberry coffee cake in the morning,” she replied.
“Good luck with that,” Dan mumbled. “Impossible.”
Which, of course, made Calvin grin. “Not if you know how.”
Melanie scowled. She thought her tip from Rory was a secret, but apparently not. He really did know everything about this town.
“What if we up the stakes?” he replied, lifting an eyebrow at her.
She smiled back at him wickedly, remembering the last bet they made like this. “Oh yeah? Go on.”
Calvin crossed his arms. “Winner gets to throw three water balloons at the loser.”
Everyone around them oohed at that one like it was practically a death threat. She turned to Jan, who just nodded confidently.
“Fine,” Melanie said, turning back to shake Calvin’s hand. He tugged on it, drawing her just a few inches closer, making her heart skip a beat. “You’re on.”
Everyone was rumbling with nervous energy and excitement as Mom counted down three, two, one…and then they were digging.
Jan’s face was full of concentration as she felt around for her toy figure, sweeping her feet around the bottom first like she had a planned strategy. Dan stomped around the entire surface area, hoping to just step on it, turning to Dad and asking if the action figure really was in there.
In just twenty seconds, Jan grinned, curling her toes around the action figure and lifting it with her foot. Half the group cheered, including Melanie, who turned to Calvin with a grin, pointing at the water balloons as he rolled his eyes.
“I’m sorry, man,” Dan said, sounding defeated. “I really don’t think it’s in there.”
Calvin frowned, pointing down at a little action figure that was floating toward the top of a mound of Jello. Dan frowned back.
Jan grinned menacingly at them as she handed three water balloons to Melanie. “Pay up, Ball.”
Calvin groaned. “Fine.”
He stepped away from everyone and peeled off his shirt. Melanie felt her face flush at the way Calvin tightened his muscles as he pulled his body into a straight line, holding his fists firmly in front of him. “All right, headband, do your worst.”
She grinned, throwing a water balloon right at his chest, the neighbors cheering as the balloon splashed all over his face and down his arms. She walked around him and threw one at his back, his shoulder muscles tensing from the cold water.
“You know, we really should have specified the rules,” Melanie said, rolling the third water balloon in her hand.
“Less fun that way,” Calvin mumbled.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” she said, untying the balloon carefully and pouring the contents of it over his head.
Calvin grinned. “Oh, you are so dead.”
Before she could defend herself, Dan tossed Calvin a water balloon and he chucked it at her, right at her shoulder. It was like the first shot in a war as all hell broke loose; everyone was grabbing for water balloons and throwing them at each other, causing complete anarchy across the block party. Gram was cheering from her corner, the cubes inside her iced tea glass clinking in her hand. Jan attempted to throw one at Mrs. Pearson but was abruptly stopped with one warning finger, so she turned instead to Tim Mackey and chucked it at his butt.
Calvin and Melanie were viciously throwing water balloons at one another, laughing hysterically as they got soaked. She couldn’t help but grin the entire time, even though the water was freezing with every balloon Calvin pelted at her.
When they’d completely run out of their supply, Calvin seized her in a fierce hug, kissing her half-wet, half-frizzy hair as they walked over to the coolers. He twisted open a cap for a cream soda, handing her the bottle.
“Hey, guys, stay right there.”
They froze as Duncan peeled open the cooler behind them, rifling through the bottles of beer.
“Just grabbing a few of these,” Duncan explained, bottles clinking as he handed them over to Leila while she discreetly stuffed them in her bag.
Melanie’s breathing quickened, practically feeling like Jello herself as she involuntarily stood guard, allowing Duncan to just take the beer freely. Calvin reached his free hand over to Melanie, wrapping it around her wrist and squeezing it tightly.
“Okay, awesome, thanks broskis,” he said, slamming the cooler lid down.
She turned her head toward Duncan, but Calvin didn’t bother—just kept his gaze on the party. “Where are you guys going?” Melanie asked, her voice scratchy.
“A few of us are gathering at Rocky Point beach,” Leila said sweetly, her expression light and devoid of any concern. “You guys should come.”
“Yeahhhh, you guys should come!” he parroted. “Gonna be fun, everyone is bringing drinks and we’ll have some good tunes.”
“Um, I don’t…I don’t know—”
“Seriously, it’s going to be great.” To Melanie’s surprise, he reached over, slapping his hand on Calvin’s back like they were buddies. “And we can finally get to know one another, ya?”
She glanced over at Calvin. She couldn’t read his expression. He was just calm; like this wasn’t his decision, but one that she would need to make.
Wasn’t this what she’d just been wishing for? A chance for Calvin and Duncan to connect and get to know one another, for Duncan to be a part of her life in this way?
But Melanie sobered. If it meant drinking, she didn’t want it. Especially when that kind of environment was something her new boyfriend avoided at all costs. She couldn’t do that to him. She didn’t want to do that to him.
“We promised Mom we would help her today. Sorry, Dee.”
“Eh, I tried,” Duncan said, releasing his hand from Calvin’s back and shrugging in Leila’s direction as they left. Melanie watched the two of them walk away, her breathing becoming steadier.
