Page 44 of California Dreaming

The two women chatted like old friends. Tessa was so warm and down-to-earth when she was off duty. He’d noticed that she could make friends with anyone and put them at ease. It was a quality he admired.

Avery talked about the role of the aquarium in combating climate change and plastic pollution and encouraging sustainable seafood. She was passionate about her work, and Tessa asked intelligent questions as they walked.

Then he piped up, “We’re off to feed the puffins!” His excitement was a little uncool for a grown man, but he couldn’t contain himself. Having seen Tessa with the otters, he knew she was going to flip over the puffins.

“This is a special treat,” Avery said with a warm smile. “We don’t let many people this close to the puffins, but I’ve known Arch long enough to make an exception. I know you’ll be quiet and respectful too, Tessa.”

Arch grinned and inwardly thanked Avery for the extra boost to his status. He was a man who could be trusted around puffins.

He hoped that would help Tessa accept that she could trust him too.

Avery explained, “Adult puffins mostly eat small fish, such as sand eels, herring, hake, and capelin. Puffin diets vary from colony to colony because of the variety of fish around the breeding islands. But they all seriously love feeding time.”

They arrived at the puffin sanctuary, and Arch watched as Tessa carefully followed the staff member’s instructions to help feed the brightly colored birds. He got more pleasure from watching her than the puffins—she was so careful with the birds and so delighted when they took the food from her hands.

When feeding time was over, she turned to him and said, “Honestly, Arch, I don’t think anyone has done something this nice for me before. Ever.”

The way her eyes were shining, he thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest. He felt a huge grin spread across his face. Her words were music to his ears.

From what she’d told him about her husband, he’d had a hunch that the man hadn’t treated her the way she deserved, and now he was absolutely certain he was right.

Tessa deserved everything in the world. And he planned to give her just that. But since he still didn’t want to make the mistake of coming on too strong, too soon, he kept that sentiment to himself. Instead, he said, “That was just for starters, Tessa Taylor.”

She looked incredulous that there could be more. “What do you mean?”

“We’re off to our next stop.”

She looked confused. “Wait, there’s more?”

He thanked Avery for her time and asked her to come to the next Davenport family brunch. The redhead groaned. “I know, I keep missing them, but I’m so busy with work, and now that Josh has baseball practice, I barely have time to scarf a piece of toast for breakfast on the weekend, never mind come for brunch.”

“You should both come,” he urged her. “We miss you.”

“I’ll try,” she said, giving him a hug good-bye and then pulling Tessa in for a hug too. “I hope to see you again soon.”

“Me too,” Tessa replied.

He was glad that the two women seemed to have formed a bond so quickly. Because if he could ever convince Tessa to be with him, it would be nice to know that, in addition to his sisters, she would have another friend in Avery.

As she settled behind the wheel of his car, she said, “Are you sure your leg is up to more fun and merriment?”

He grinned. “I’m feeling great so far.”

“Okay, then.” She grinned back. “Where to now?”

“We’re off to an escape room.”

* * *

Tessa wasn’t at all sure about an escape room, but Arch seemed so excited about the idea that she pretended to be more enthusiastic than she was. She’d read about escape rooms and always thought they sounded more like a terrifying ordeal than a fun activity. They were an interactive, immersive, live-action game played in a variety of strange locations—like a real-life game of Clue. Yet she’d never been able to imagine what an escape room looked like, let alone what it would feel like to spend an afternoon locked inside.

However, when they got there, her nerves soon evaporated. He’d booked the Alice in Wonderland experience for them. How had he guessed that it had been one of her favorite stories as a kid? She loved the upside-down world of Wonderland, its curious and chatty creatures, the topsy-turvy tea party. The decorations and puzzles in the escape room didn’t disappoint. Their escape was from a hotel located in the former house of Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice’s many adventures, and they had to make sure to catch the tail of the white rabbit and work together to get out of the rabbit hole.

She was still a little worried that Arch was going to hurt himself. It was the longest he’d spent on his feet since the accident, and he was only just getting used to the boot. But he really did seem fine. More than fine. Both fit and playful and, to her delight, incredibly good at teamwork and communicating with her to escape the room.

Maybe it was all that time spent on film sets with different personalities, juggling different visions.

Or… maybe they actually were a good team.

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