The Summer Girlfriend (Heart Beach, #1)(88)

“Avid Foods is promising to keep our team and avoid layoffs,” Percy said to Celeste as they passed the kitchen. “We won’t have to worry about anyone being let go. It’s a best-case scenario.”

“I hear you,” Celeste said. “And I know the past year has been a lot for you, especially with me planning to retire next year. Just let me think about it some more. And we need to talk to your brother and sister. Everyone needs to be behind this decision.”

Percy sighed. “Okay.”

“Good night, sweetheart,” Celeste said.

“Night, Mom.”

Noelle listened closely as she heard footsteps ascend the staircase. She waited until she heard their bedroom doors close as well. Once she felt confident that the coast was clear, she finally cut on the kitchen light. Since she was here, she might as well grab those cookies and get the heck back upstairs. But she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard someone behind her mumble, “Oh.”

She gasped and spun around, coming face-to-face with Percy. His brows drew together as he looked at her.

“How long have you been down here?” he asked.

Noelle chewed her bottom lip. Of all the Smiths, she’d spent the least amount of time talking to Percy this summer. He was always busy, and even when he was around, his mind was elsewhere, preoccupied. Other than polite greetings, this was the first time that she and Percy had spoken directly since her first dinner with the Smiths almost a month ago. He was looking at her so intensely now. She felt like a specimen under a microscope. There was no point in lying. If she’d come downstairs after his conversation with Celeste, he would have run into her in the hallway, and she wouldn’t have already been in the kitchen.

“Around ten minutes,” she answered.

Percy glanced in the direction of the back porch. “Did you overhear my conversation with my mom just now?”

Again, no point in lying. There was no way that she wouldn’t have overheard what they’d said in the hallway as they’d passed the kitchen. And Percy was well aware of this.

“Some of it,” she admitted.

He dragged a hand down his face and released a deep sigh. He looked exhausted. Most of the summer, when everyone else had been relaxing at the beach or on the boardwalk or swimming in the pool, Percy had been locked away, working. If this was how he spent his weekends, she could only imagine how his weekdays looked. She knew how it felt when work exhausted you, body and soul. In that way, she empathized with Percy.

“Our plans aren’t set in stone yet,” he said. “But the chances of us selling the company are strong. I want to continue our growth, but with my mom retiring, I don’t know if I can do it on my own. It makes more sense to let a bigger team take over.”

Noelle leaned her lower back against the counter, curious as to why Percy was sharing this additional information with her. She wasn’t sure what to say, but she also realized that he most likely wasn’t expecting her to say anything at all. Maybe he just needed someone to listen while he vented, and Noelle happened to be in the right place at the right time.

“Can you do me a favor, please?” he asked. “Don’t tell Jeremiah about what you overheard.”

Noelle blinked. “I can’t make that kind of promise.”

This wasn’t as simple as her not telling Jeremiah that his sister used to have a crush on his best friend. Percy’s secret was way more serious. She was shocked he’d even ask her not to say anything.

“You don’t understand,” Percy said. “Jeremiah and my grandfather were so close and…” He broke off and glanced away. With a deep breath, he turned to Noelle again. “Once Jeremiah finds out that we’re considering selling, he’ll be upset. My grandfather wanted to keep Smith’s Sweets family owned. Even though Jeremiah left the company for whatever reasons he had, there’s been an unspoken rule that I would take care of everything…” He sighed again. “It’s just really complicated, and my mom and I need to tell him in our own way when we’re ready.”

Noelle understood that there were complicated family dynamics at play. And she knew that Jeremiah and Percy didn’t have an easy relationship right now. She wanted to give them a chance to talk things through on their own. But at the same time, she didn’t feel comfortable keeping a secret from Jeremiah.

“You have to tell him soon,” she said. “That’s the only way I’ll promise not to say anything to him.”

“I will,” Percy said, nodding. “We’ll tell him soon.”

“Okay.”

They stood in silence, assessing each other. Percy leaned his hands on the kitchen island as he looked at her.

“I was in Brickton last week,” he said quietly. Noelle’s stomach muscles clenched. “I had to stop by Robin’s cousin’s house, and the library was right there. I was feeling bad about how I haven’t really had a chance to talk to you much this summer. You’re my brother’s girlfriend. I should get to know you. So I stopped by the library to say hi, and maybe ask to take you to lunch or something.”

Noelle’s throat was dry as she swallowed. But she couldn’t look away from Percy’s focused expression.

“Imagine my surprise when one of the librarians told me that no one named Noelle Lewis worked at their branch,” he said. “And that she never had.”