“Sure thing, boss.” I took the bills from the cash box and headed into the cool, air-conditioned coffee shop to tuck them into the register.

When I came out, Levi and Lucy were helping Lorcan with his stall. My gaze traveled down the street for a minute, enjoying the hustle of activity. I froze when I saw Elodie in my line of sight. She was watching me. Her hand half rose, then fluttered down to her side. For a moment, I almost wanted to wave back, just to show there were no hard feelings. But then a flash of irritation went through me. Why? Why should I be the one to ease the way? It was always me. Same old Elodie. She couldn’t talk to me in public, now she couldn’t even wave? I was tired of being the understanding one. So I breezed past the crowd and headed to our stall instead.

“I’m almost out of food, so I asked my dad to send one of my brothers over to take over my table while I cook, but—” Lorcan’s lips flattened into a thin line. “Yeah, didn’t happen.”

“Are they seriously still pissed you didn’t want to work at the pub anymore?” I asked.

“I told them I’d help out in the winter, but you know Dad. He saw me doing my own thing as disloyalty,” Lorcan scoffed, and wiped his sweaty brow with a napkin. “Well, that’s the last of the shrimp and catfish.”

“What if I helped you?” Lucy suggested. She seemed to have forgotten how tired she was.

“I can’t ask you to do that,” said Lorcan. He ducked his head. “Enjoy the fish fry.”

Lucy fell silent while Lorcan helped a middle-aged couple. She made change while he handed them their shopping bag.

“Thanks, have a great time,” said Lorcan.

“Lorc, you’re running low on a lot of things,” said Lucy, eyeing the table. “The corn and potatoes are over, and you only have a couple of crab legs left. They were really popular. If you have time to make more, you should. Plus they’ll be fresh and hot, so the smell should get you more customers. I can man your stall while you head back to cook.”

Lorcan bit his lip.

“We can help,” said Levi, glancing at me. “Right?”

“Definitely,” I said, heart happily constricting at his offer.

“No need for that, Levi. We’ll help Lucy look after Lorcan’s table while he skedaddles on back to his crab shack,” Tom said firmly. “Three of us between two tables will be no trouble.”

“There, it’s settled,” said Lucy, squeezing Lorcan’s arm.

Lorcan thanked everyone before dashing away to cook. “We can stay if you want,” I whispered to Lucy as we watched him weave through the crowd.