"I thought the market is on Saturdays?"
"It is," Jessica looks up from where she's sat across from Stella at the kitchen table, doodling along the margins of the town gazette. "But we're outside the pier Wednesdays."
Lips pursed in concentration, Stella carefully strokes red nail polish over her nails. "And you need my help with that?"
Jessica leans her chin in her hand, tapping the pen absentmindedly against the wooden tabletop. "Well, I mean—it could be anyone, really, but Paige is one hundred months pregnant, I need the help and you need to get of this house. Win-win."
Stella's lips quirk up as she moves on to her next hand, carefully pinching the nail polish brush between her fingers. "I need to get out of this house?"
"Obviously," Jessica reaches for her cup of coffee. "We can't have you sat around moping over Jake forever."
"I'm not moping over Jake."
Jessica raises her brows, looking at Stella over the rim of her coffee cup.
"I'm not," Stella says, carefully—as not to smudge her nail polish—curling a lock of her damp hair around her finger. "See this? I've showered. I've brushed my teeth. I'm perfectly fine. A fully functioning human being over here."
"You're wearing pajamas."
Stella's gaze casts to the striped, slightly tea-stained, cotton pajama pants she slipped into post-shower despite knowing Jessica was on her way over for breakfast. "I happen to like these."
"It'll do you good," Jessica tilts her head to her left as she considers Stella. "Socialize, smile at some kids, have as many berries you can stomach. The sun's shining, and it's only for a few hours."
Stella corks the nail polish bottle, passing it between her hands. "We can eat the berries?"
A satisfied smile—as if knowing she's about to win her over—dances over Jessica's lips. "We can,"
Stella opens her mouth to respond, but her words fade off her tongue as she's distracted by her phone, vibrating against the tabletop with a text message. Reaching for it, she's careful not to smudge her nail polish, lips already slipping into a small smile.
She flickers her eyes between Jessica's expectant gaze and the phone as she quickly types in a response. "Just Jake."
"Just Jake?"
"We're friends," Stella sets the phone down, reaching for her coffee cup to have something to do. She's not sure who she's trying to convince more, Jessica or herself, as she continues, "Friends is good. It makes it easer—considering I'll probably keep running into him for the rest of my life. If Faye ever gets married I'm sure he'll be right there next to me, co-maid of honoring. So, we're friends. It's for the best."
"Okay, you're coming with me today," Jessica sets her cup down, something resolute about the way she tucks her hair behind her ears. "You don't even have to help out if you don't want to—you can just sit there and eat berries, the blackberries are amazing. Or I don't know, entertain yourself around the pier, but I'm not leaving this house before you do. We need to detoxify you of all things Jake, or you'll never get over him."
Stella stumbles over a laugh, though maybe it's more of a throaty cough, as she chokes on a sip of her coffee. "Who says I even want to be more than friends?"
The phone buzzes again and Jessica lets out an audible exhale as Stella's gaze darts to the screen—the sun's rays slipping through the window reflecting in its glass, having her squint as she reads his next message. "That does,"
"Look," Jessica continues. "Just speaking my mind here, but... Unless he plans on swooping in on a white horse any time soon, then the two of you—this," She gestures vaguely in the air. "Is only messing with your head."
"We're friends," Stella says and sets her cup down. As Jessica looks unconvinced, she shakes her head—voice smaller as she speaks again, skin growing clammy with the hurt seizing her chest. "That's really all it is. I know I haven't let you in on all the details, but I trusted Jake and I thought he knew better than to string me along, considering. But he didn't. I won't just forget that. White horse or not."
Jessica's gaze flickers to the phone clutched tight against Stella's chest. "You sure about that?"
Easing her grip on the phone, Stella swallows—throat tightening. Eyes swiveling up to the ceiling, she exhales through a sigh. "You don't happen to have some more of that ice cream lying around, do you?"
"It'll get better."
Stella straightens up, catching sight of Jessica's sympathetic smile. "Yeah, I know."
"For now though," Jessica gets to her feet and reaches across the table, swiftly plucking the phone out of Stella's grip just as it sounds with another notification. "I'm turning this thing off."
"But–"
"You won't need it at the pier anyways."
"You're stealing my phone?"
"I'm doing you a favor," Dancing out of Stella's reach, Jessica shoots her a bright smile. "There: off."
━ ♡♡♡ ━
Stella dusts her palms together as they've finished loading everything into Paige's pickup truck, tilting her head back to let the last rays of afternoon sun warm her skin.
"There we go. You two are officially off the clock."
Jessica pulls a red crewneck sweater over her head, brushing her hair away from her face. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," Paige rests her hand on her—very pregnant—belly. "We're heading back home, and I'll just have one of the kids help me unload this sometime later tonight. You two have fun now."
Jessica turns to Stella as Paige—after having thanked them both—drives off, mouth in an upward tilt.
"See?" She says. "Getting out of those PJ's wasn't too bad, was it?"
The ghost of a smile touches upon Stella's lips as she picks at an imaginary fleck of dust on the sleeve of her white blouse. "I guess it was kind of fun. Thank you—you were right, I needed to get dragged out of that house."
"That's what friends are for," Jessica steers their way toward the boardwalk, shooting Stella a sideways glance. "We are friends now, right?"
Stella smiles, an amused curve to her lips. After their chat on the dock, the two nights they've spent at Jessica's watching re-runs of How I Met Your Mother and now this day, there's no question about it. "Of course we are."
"Good," Jessica clasps her hands, whirling around on her sneaker-clad feet, walking backwards. "Then, as your friend, may I prolong this day by proposing we grab something to eat before I let you go back into hiding? Or if you're already full on all those berries, drinks?"
"I don't really drink."
"Dinner it is then!"
Nodding, Stella holds back a chortle as her stomach gives a faint growl. "I could do food, apparently."
"I know just the place,"
A faint breeze travels through the air as Jessica falls back into step with her, having Stella's hair flutter lightly against her shoulders.
"Just wait until you try these fries," Jessica says. "They're the–"
Stella gazes out over the lake as she walks, the soles of her sandals clicking against the wooden planks. "'the best in the state. Maybe in the country—or world.'"
"Dammit. Jake took you there, didn't he?"
It's the first time they've mentioned him in hours and Stella holds back a sigh as a melancholic warmth fills her chest, a faint flutter tugging at her heartstrings as she recalls their night on the pier.
Her lips twitch into a faint smile. "He did."
"Okay, so we'll go somewhere else then."
Stella shakes her head. "It's okay. We'll go for the fries."
Jessica nods in acknowledgement at someone passing them before turning to look at Stella. "Okay, yeah if that's what you want."
"On one condition though."
"I'm listening."
"You'll try the Stella-special."
A chortled breath leaves Jessica's lips. "The what?"
"See," Stella clears her throat, feigning solemnity. "You order a shake—or two, if you're feeling fancy—and then you dip the–"
Jessica's lips crack into a grin. "Fries in it? I do that too!"
"Yes!" Stella exclaims, causing a flock of birds to flee the boardwalk in a panic. "Most people I come across think it's disgusting but it's so good."
"Yes!" Stella says, equally as excited—growing hungrier with every step they take toward the diner. "Most people think it's disgusting but it's so good."
Jessica links their arms together, and for once, Stella doesn't really care for the intrusion of her space. "I hereby declare you a fellow genius; I knew we'd be great friends."
━ ♡♡♡ ━
Skipping down the sloping road toward the lake house, Jessica suddenly bursts out in a short laugh. "You know what? Jake's an idiot!"
Stella brings her finger to her lips in a hushing motion, lips in a slight upward tilt. It's not exactly late, but the hours are beginning to fade into nighttime and there's a lot of families living in this neighborhood. "No, he's not."
"He so is!" Jessica continues, voice just as loud as it was mere seconds ago—she speaks at a rapid speed, high on sugar and the hours they've spent together. "You're funny! And kind! And funny! Did I say funny already?"
Flickering her eyes skyward, Stella gazes at the starry dark blue canvas above. "You did."
"Well, you are. And intelligent. And you have excellent taste in clothes, and milkshakes and–"
Laughter lodged in her throat, Stella stumbles in her step as the house comes into view, instinctively pulling her friend back with a tug of her hand. "Jessica."
"I know he's our friend or whatever but he is in fact an–"
"Jessica," Stella urges, squeezing Jessica's hand tighter to get her attention.
Time slows to a still as her eyes linger on the driveway leading up to the lit-up front porch of the lake house. Stella swallows, suddenly much more aware of the drawn out beat of her heart. "Am I hallucinating or is that Jake's car?"
"Holy cronut!" Taking in the sight before them, Jessica raises her brows in disbelief. She presses her lips together in consideration, shooting Stella a sideways glance. "I mean... it's not a white horse but–"
Slipping her hand out of Jessica's hold, Stella shakes her head in an attempt to clear her mind. On slightly less steady legs, she resumes her walk toward the house. "Let's just see why he's here."
She unlocks the front door with a tight knot in her stomach, taking a tentative step into the dimply house as she lets her eyes flicker over the empty space, Jessica at her heels.
And then, as she lets her small crossbody bag drop to the floor, there he is.
Coming through the sliding doors of the patio, he pauses as his gaze catches on them—finding hers. His lips twitch into the faintest of smiles and Stella presses her own together as something seizes her throat.
Seeing Jake again is nothing like she thought it'd be. Part of her wants to smile, wrap her arms around him—wants to share her day with him, hear him laugh. The other wants to reach out, let her fingers close around the nearest item she can find and hurl it at him—demand he gets back in the car and leaves her to get over this whirlwind of confused emotions on her own. Not that she would, in actuality, resort to any amount of violence. Of course.
A beat of silence stretches between them, taut—much like a rubber band about to snap—before Jessica takes the lead, pushing her hands into the back pockets of her denims as she weighs back on her heels. "Hi Jake."
Jake's gaze flickers to her briefly. "Hey."
Jessica looks to Stella, lips pressed together. "Should I stay or... you know what? I think I should go: let you two chat," Her hand briefly touches Stella's forearm, calling upon her attention. "Text me?"
Stella nods, and then Jessica leaves, the door closing with a soft thud behind her.
A terrible pain fills Stella's chest as she lets her gaze return to Jake, the kind of ache that fills one's lungs on a cold winter's day. The beat of her heart grows faster and heavier simultaneously as she fights against the urge to let her lips slip into a small smile, fights against the faint flutter of relief beating against her ribcage. She opens her mouth only to close it, then tries again.
"What are you doing here?"
"I thought we should talk."
Walls coming up around her, Stella's words seem to echo against her eardrums as she says, "I thought that's what we've been doing these past days."
Jake absentmindedly reaches out for the pen balanced upon a flipped open magazine where it lies on the kitchen island, clicking it. "I didn't mean like that."
"So you just drove all the way up here?"
"It's important," Jake says, dropping the pen back onto the counter as he wrenches his hands together. "I know you said you want the house for yourself right now but I–"
Tearing her eyes away from Jake, Stella lets her gaze rest on the dark shapes of trees in the garden behind him. She crosses her arms over her chest only to let them fall back to her side again. "You should've told me you were coming."
"I did."
"I'm fairly certain you didn't."
Out of the corner of her eye she notices the deepening notch between Jake's brows. "I did. I called but you didn't answer, so then I texted you."
"I haven't gotten any–" Stella's clipped tone falters as her eyes flicker shut. "Jessica."
"It's Jake."
Hating the way the corners of her lips twitch up, Stella shoots Jake a glare—she shakes her head with a growing smile at the sight of the amused curve of his mouth.
She walks over to her purse, sliding her phone out of the mess that is balled up receipts, debit cards and half-full tubes of lip balm. "She–We turned it off. For the day."
"Why?"
"Because..." Of you. "I don't know, we felt like it."
Jake takes a few steps towards her. "Stells–,"
She lifts a finger to stop him and he sighs.
"I would really like it if we could talk."
"Okay," Stella punches the PIN in, finding herself with a few unattended-to notifications. She keeps her gaze on the screen, the hurt pushing to the surface, itching at her skin, now that he's right here in front of her. "Talk."
"I– Would you look at me?"
Stella taps her way to their conversation of texts, and there it is, in two simple messages.
'Jake'
I'm on my way to see you.
Don't get mad.
A humorless, short, chortled sound leaves Stella's lips as she lets her gaze find Jake's again. "'Don't get mad'?"
. . .
hi friends!
I can't believe we're 20 chapters in already?? or well, actually, I can considering it lines up with my planning but it does feel a little surreal.
you all know the gist by now, but I hope you're all good and have a great day <3 and if things aren't feeling too peachy today, I hope you'll find some peace and better days soon <3
much love, always,
linn