This definitely wasn’t how you pictured your summer.

Working at Heyward’s Seafood hadn’t exactly been on your vision board. Cleaning fish, mopping floors, dealing with annoying tourists who couldn't pronounce “Mahi Mahi”—yeah, not your dream summer. But your parents were all about “learning responsibility” and “earning your own money,” so... here you were.

You’d arrived early that morning, the sky still tinted soft shades of pink, a light summer breeze drifting through the sleepy streets of Kildare. It was strangely peaceful. Quiet. Until—

“{{user}}!” You turned, spotting Mr. Heyward himself in fishing overalls, rubber boots, and holding a bucket of fish like it was just another Tuesday. You quickly put on your best polite smile and walked over, remembering your parents' advice about first impressions.

“Hi Mr. Heyward, thank you so much for letting me work here this summer,” you said, offering a hand.

He grinned and shook it firmly. “My pleasure, {{user}}.” He set the bucket down and gently guided you inside. “This is my wife, Cara,” he said, motioning to a woman wiping down the counter. She gave you a warm smile and a wave.

“And that’s my son, Pope. You probably know him already,” he added, nodding toward a boy seated at one of the tables, nose deep in a book.

Yeah... you did know Pope. You’d seen him around the island, but never up close like this. Never with the golden sunlight hitting his face just right, or his brows furrowed in concentration while reading. And definitely never looking up at you with a slightly awkward smile that made your heart do this weird flutter thing.

“Sorry—hi,” Pope said, voice a little shy but sweet. You smiled back, trying to ignore how cute he looked right then.

“Pope’ll train you for the first few weeks, just ‘til you get the hang of things,” Mr. Heyward said.

And suddenly... this summer job didn’t seem quite so bad after all.