Love Bait

5| Island hit list

The next morning, when Lexi is making omelets and Dad is reading the paper, I sit at the table and think of all of the ways I can make Jordan suffer. There isn't a lot on my list so far, because it's hard to destroy someone you know nothing about. To really hurt a person, you first have to love them.

Dad looks up from his paper at one point and notices my expression. "Uh oh. Who are we mad at?" 

"The universe," I say, putting down my list. "Well, the universe and Jordan."

Lexi raises an eyebrow and says, "Who?"

I shake my head because I'm still so angry. Jordan's arrival means I could lose my job–my dream–at any moment. What I thought was a miracle is nothing more than a nightmare. "He's the coconut who's just rolled onto the island to sell The Big Fish Cafe."

Lexi gasps at the same time as Dad. They both know the significance of this.

"The Big Fish Cafe is being sold?" Lexi asks.

"And you're sure?" Dad follows.

I shoot them a grave look. "I guess the owner left the cafe to his grandson, and now he's here to sell it." I shoot Dad a desperate look. "He can't really do that, can he?"

Dad's eyes soften. "Actually, he can. He owns it now." He sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose, his telltale sign of stress. Dad used to be handsome, once upon a time. He's got this flowing hair and big green eyes, the kind of face those old-school movie stars have. But when Mom died, it's as if those green eyes dulled, and patches of gray hair began to sprout on his head. Now he just looks perpetually tired.

"It's a damn shame about Old Johnny," he says. "I'd had no idea he'd even passed away." 

"I doubt anyone knows," Lexi says, resting an arm on his shoulder. It's clear Dad feels guilty about not making an effort, and he's not the only one. "He's been a recluse all year. You can't blame yourself for not realizing." 

He nods and looks out the window, suddenly lost in his thoughts. In what I'm certain is a bid to bring him back, Lexi says, "There's got to be something we can do about the cafe." Lexi, for the most part, has never shown as much interest in this island as me, but the Big Fish Cafe is just as much her childhood as it is mine.

Dad takes our hands now and looks at us tenderly. "Look, I know your mom loved that place, and we have a lot of great memories there, but I think you need to start preparing yourselves for the possibility that it might end up being sold."

I close my eyes. This doesn't feel like a solution: this feels like giving up. "No," I say, letting go of his hand. "No, we can't just do nothing. You know as well as I do who will end up buying that cafe."

Dad sighs because he does. Landon Rivers, one of the fancy property developers from the mainland, has had his eye on the shops outside of the harbor for months. His big boss–whoever that is–has high hopes of turning this beachfront into a money-making machine, but despite the vast amount of money he's offered, the locals so far have refused to sell. Thanks to Jordan, their perseverance was for nothing.

"Look," Dad says. "You're going to college in a few months, Evvy. Maybe it's best if you focus your attention on that."

Focusing on college is the last thing I want. "If the wrong person buys that cafe, this whole island will fall apart," I say. "It's going to be turned into something completely different. It's already starting to change."

With each day that passes, the island gets busier and busier. It's not that I mind, but with the crowd comes everything I hate: litter and violence and drunken tourists–everything my mother hated, too.