“Aiden.” Nolan looked anxious. “That is—I can’t tell you how much that means to me. Really. But you need that money too. And it’s not fair of me to—”
“I don’t, though, actually. I don’t need it. I can get a job as a barista anywhere. In DC, or even, um, here.”
“Here?”
I swallowed. “That’s something else that happened this afternoon. I was talking with Nora. Just saying how much I was going to miss her and Em. And she told me they had a proposal for me.”
Nolan didn’t say anything. I thought he might still be in shock from everything else I’d said, so I rushed on.
“They had this idea of doing a web series. With me, I mean. Where I’d go around and try all these different jobs and be, well, terrible at them, but highlight the craft and skill of the people we were showcasing that week. So it would let all these small businesses and artisans show off. We could call it something likeAiden Attempts, and obviously, we could shoot it anywhere, but they’d have more contacts with artists and people if we started locally. And Summersea is a lot closer to DC than LA is, and—wait, why are you laughing?”
“Because I was trying to figure out how to bring up the same idea with you,” Nolan said, his shoulders shaking.
“Seriously? They talked to you about it too?”
“No, not that.” He shook his head, grinning. “But I was talking to Mal tonight, when you and my mom were still at the table. Apparently, the Wisteria has gotten an insane amount of press from all of this, and he and Deacon are thinking about expanding. Having a fully-fledged restaurant with dinner service and everything. Maybe adding an addition out back. But to do that, they’d need a full-time manager, and—”
“They asked you to do it?” I said.
“They asked if I would be hypothetically interested. And I’d need to check with my mom, for one thing. But she couldn’t stop raving this afternoon about how pretty it was down here. So if she were up for relocating…” He trailed off, smiling. “God, I was so worried about how I was going to broach the subject with you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ve said on multiple occasions that you didn’t want to live somewhere as small as Summersea.”
“Oh.” My mouth fell open.
“What changed your mind?” Nolan asked.
“I just…” I paused, thinking for a moment. “I said I didn’t want to live somewhere like Summersea because I didn’t want to end up in a place like my hometown. Close-minded and claustrophobic. But if I’m being honest, that’s not what Summersea feels like. It feels like family, you know? The good kind of family.”
I arched an eyebrow. “But I probably shouldn’t be honest. I should probably lie to you and be like,damn, you’re right. I totally don’t want to move here, and it would be a huge favor if I agreed to, and you’d owe me something pretty big in return.”
“Oh, yeah? Like what?”
“Well, for example, and this is just off the top of my head…you could let me help out with some of those bills?”
Nolan gave me a helpless smile. “This is probably one of those things I’m not really going to be able to stop, isn’t it?”
“Probably.”
“So I should maybe just go ahead and agree, to save us a lot of arguments over something that is, ultimately, the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me?”
“Something like that.”
“Even though it means that if Idoagree, then I thinkyou’llactually oweme? For being so selfless and for making such a big sacrifice and demonstrating how I’m learning to let people in?”
“Let me get this straight. You’re saying that I’d owe you for giving you a stupidly large sum of money, just because you’d have the grace to not throw a fit about it?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying.” Nolan gave me a serious look. “And I should warn you in advance, it won’t be easy to work off your debt to me.”
“Oh?”
“It’ll be a long process. Long, hard, and hot.” He grinned wickedly. “Sweaty, too. Are you sure you’re up for that?”
“Why, Mr. McAllister.” I batted my eyelashes at him outrageously. “I thought you’d never ask.”
* * *
