Forever Summer - Melody Grace Page 0,90
but that was all they were, fictions designed to make sense of the true chaos of the world. But Jules didn’t want a secret roadmap: she embraced the chaos. She bought the chaos a double round and wound up on a midnight adventure, having a great time. Usually. But today, she couldn’t help wishing there was some grand cosmic plan to comfort her, a method to the madness. Because she was officially having the worst day of her life. Somehow she’d managed to lose her apartment, her job, and her boyfriend …
And the day wasn’t even over yet.
“Come on!” she cried in frustration, leaning on the horn. The rain beat down on her car windshield as she sat there, stuck in the middle of the highway on her way up to Cape Cod with all her worldly possessions crammed in the backseat. Her best friend Evie was hosting a party to celebrate the grand opening of her B&B, but Jules had been caught in traffic for an hour now, inching along at a snail’s pace. She was in desperate need of a stiff drink and a bathroom break.
Not necessarily in that order.
She peered up ahead, scanning the narrow highway for a gas station or cafe, but there was no sign of relief, just woods and open fields all the way down to the shore. She was seriously considering pulling off the side of the road and ducking behind a hedge for privacy when, finally, traffic started to move. “Thank you!” she cheered, yanking her old Ford into gear and hitting the gas. “Running water, here I come!”
But she’d spoken too soon. Jules had barely made it around the bend when the car lurched like she’d driven over a rock, and then a few seconds later, her tire pressure light went on. “No, no …,” she wailed as she felt the air go out of her front tire.
She managed to pull over onto a sandy patch of grass and stepped out into the rain to check the damage. Sure enough, her front tire was deflating fast, a twisted piece of metal lodged in the rubber. Jules took in the sight of a literal bump in the road and felt her resolve wobble.
Just how much more bad luck could she take?
It’s OK, she told herself, trying to keep it together. You can handle this. You can handle anything. She just had to make it to Sweetbriar Cove, and then she could collapse in a pathetic mess of ice cream and self-pity. But since there was no Prince Charming about to come to her rescue, she would just have to rescue herself.
Jules wiped the rain from her face and went to get the spare tire. She’d done it a dozen times over the years, but when she hauled up the flooring and checked the wheel well, there was one thing missing: Her toolkit. Which, she realized with a sinking heart, she’d last seen a month ago, when her now-ex-boyfriend had begged to borrow it and sworn he’d put it right back when he was done.
Jules sank back against the car and despaired. This was what she got for sleeping with the boss.
Not that Rory had been her boss in the beginning. They’d met through friends at a dinner party last year, and Jules had found him endearingly dorky. He was a mapmaker, of all things, and he had talked passionately about the dying art of cartography and how impossible it was to make a living when everyone just looked up directions on their phone. Once they started dating, Jules’s mind had ticked over, and she’d suggested a dozen ways his work could get more attention. She’d set up social media accounts for him and sent out press releases until he’d finally suggested she come onto the payroll, since she was doing more for his business than his other official employees. Six months later, his business was booming, he was featured in every cool magazine around, and he had clients lining up for his bespoke maps. Thanks to Jules’s hard work and talent, he’d become a massive success.
And in exchange, he’d gone ahead and made her single and unemployed.
Clearly, she needed to work on her negotiation skills.
Jules looked around. She had no reception on her cellphone, but there was a driveway just up ahead leading to some kind of a farm set back up the hill, so she pulled her jacket over her head and began jogging through the rain, cursing Rory’s name with