“We’ll start things off,” Juliet said. “Savvy agreed to help watch Levi Carter’s foster kid, Wren.”
Grace set her cup back in the holder. “Why?”
“Because he asked me to,” Savannah said. “Also, I needed a summer job, and nothing else panned out.”
“Wren’s here temporarily, right?” Haley glanced at Savvy, seeking confirmation. “She’ll be reunited with her mom later this summer?”
“That’s a little tricky.” Savannah splayed her fingers in the water in front of her. “Wren’s mom is still in rehab in Anchorage.”
“The point is, since Tori and Levi broke up, Levi is basically a single dad who needs reliable childcare,” Juliet said. “Which is why he hired our sweet Savvy.”
“Wait.” Grace held up her hand. “Levi was engaged to Tori McCallister?”
“Uh-huh,” Juliet said.
“But not anymore,” Hayley added, waggling her eyebrows. “More on that in a minute.”
“Oh my.” Grace shook her head. “There are reality-TV shows with less drama than this.”
“Where were we?” Juliet gave Savannah a questioning look.
“I’ll take it from here,” Savannah said. “Jasper and Mr. Carter hadn’t made any plans to build a parade float, but they didn’t want to skip the festival. So I said I’d babysit Wren part-time and handle design and decorations.”
“I hope you charged double,” Hayley said. “Because you sacrificed a lot of sleep for that float.”
“If I don’t have to deal with papier-mâché or use a hot-glue gun again this year, I’ll be thrilled,” Juliet said.
Savannah bit her lip. It hadn’t occurred to her to ask for more money, not when Levi had mentioned their lack of funds.
“I’m guessing by your silence that they didn’t offer a bonus.” Sighing, Hayley reached for her can of soda. “Levi is fortunate to have you in his corner.”
“Trying to keep up here, ladies,” Grace said. “When do we get to the part about the not-fake kiss?”
“Back to the Tori and Levi subplot—” Juliet twisted the cap off her water bottle “—Tori broke up with Levi, and she’s allegedly moving to Iowa later this summer for dental school. But we’ve seen her getting cozy with a guy who went to college with Jason’s older brother and—”
“Easy, there, Nancy Drew.” Hayley gently flicked water at Juliet. “We don’t need to gossip about Tori.”
“Ha, that’s cute.” Juliet shot Hayley a playful glare. “As if we aren’t already gossiping plenty.”
“These are straight facts,” Savannah insisted. “Levi is not thrilled that she’s still in town and casually dating somebody new, and he told me he didn’t want to go to any reunion activities alone.”
“So you agreed to be his date?” Grace’s eyebrows sailed upward. “But I thought Jasper was the one you had a crush on.”
“Jasper just proposed to Miranda,” Juliet said.
“Argh.” Grace tipped her head back. “Who’s Miranda?”
Savannah and her sisters exchanged glances.
“She’s a few years younger than us, just dropped out of college to be an influencer... That’s really all we know.” Savannah shrugged. “Anyway, between Jasper getting engaged and Tori ending theirs, Levi’s been in a rough place emotionally.”
“Can’t blame him,” Grace said. “I’d be crushed too.”
“So, what’s going on with the teaching job?” Hayley adjusted the buttons on the control panel again. “You said you applied, right?”
“I did apply, but no callback for an interview yet.”
“You’re not going back to Colorado, then?” Grace asked.
Savannah shook her head. “That job didn’t work out.”
“What about the guy you were seeing? Tim?”
“Troy,” Savannah said. “We broke up.”
Grace scrunched her nose. “Sorry to hear that. I thought you guys were really into each other.”
“Yeah, I thought so too.” Savannah glanced toward the firepit, where Dad and Wyatt had just brought out all the ingredients to make s’mores. Maybe she should join them. Because she and Grace had been friends since fourth grade, there was very little they didn’t know about each other’s lives. Still, she wasn’t ready to talk about the real reason why Troy broke up with her. Or why she’d moved home.
“If I don’t hear something soon, I’m going to have to apply for something else.” Savannah cast a look at the patio table, where she’d left her phone. If it was out of reach, then she couldn’t refresh her email every few minutes. Waiting for an interview was driving her bananas.
Grace tapped at the ice in her cup with the straw. “Something else here?”
“No. Probably in Anchorage or Fairbanks. I thought about Orca Island. Hearts Bay High has a job open. I’ve always wanted to live there.” Savannah forced a smile. “I’m up for an adventure.”
“No, you can’t move hundreds of miles away,” Juliet said. “You just got here. Please don’t stress. I’m sure Mr. Schubert will set up an interview with you soon.”
“It’s July fourth, Juliet.” Savannah swiped at the moisture beading on her forehead. “School starts after Labor Day.”
