Page 37 of A New Chapter in Rosewood Beach

Come on, Rawlins,he told himself firmly.No time like the present. All you can do is try.

He gathered his courage and stepped out of his car. He had to admit, as he walked over to the tennis courts, that the morning breeze felt wonderful through the light fabric of his t-shirt. He was certainly going to be much more comfortable playing tennis in this outfit than he would have been if he’d worn his regular outfit of a dress shirt and black slacks.

He reached the tennis court and looked around for Vivian. For a few moments, he didn’t see her, and then he recognized her as the woman wearing pink, approaching him from the other side of the tennis court with a smile.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw her. He thought that she looked absolutely beautiful, and he loved the color pink on her. It seemed to bring out the sparkle in her eyes and the charming shade of her brown hair.

“Hi, Terrence,” she said, smiling sweetly at him as she neared him.

“Good morning, Vivian.” He forgot all about how self-conscious he’d been, focusing entirely on the way she looked.“Something—something is different about you. You look wonderful.”

She blushed, looking extremely pleased by the compliment, and it was then that he noticed that she’d done her hair differently. He thought it was a very flattering style on her, and he dared to hope that the extra effort she’d put into her appearance had something to do with the fact that she was meeting with him. The thought made him ecstatic, but he reminded himself not to get his hopes up too much.

“Thank you, Terrence. You look very nice yourself.”

“Ah.” He looked down at his outfit with a grimace. “I feel terribly out of place, but I

suppose once I really get moving, I’ll realize that this truly is the outfit for me—under the circumstances, at least.”

Vivian chuckled, and though he wasn’t sure why she found him so amusing, he smiled, pleased that he’d delighted her.

“Shall we get started?” she said eagerly. “It’s such a perfect morning for tennis.”

“I quite agree,” he said, and to himself he added that it was an even better morning because of the perfect company.

Although he felt a little nervous about playing with Vivian because he didn’t want to make a fool of himself, Terrence also felt eager to play the sport. He’d never really been one for playing sports, but he was beginning to see the appeal of the whole idea. Although he’d felt like a fool practicing in his living room that morning, he had also begun to have some fun.

They took their places on either side of the tennis court and began to swat the ball back and forth at each other. Terrence grimaced and laughed whenever he missed the ball, which was often, but found that he was having a wonderful time despite his mistakes. He thought that Vivian was doing exceptionally well for someone who had only picked up the sport a short time ago.

“You’re doing great, Terrence!” Vivian called as she sent the ball sailing in his direction.

He flailed to the side, trying to hit it, and missed it by several feet. “Please, dear Vivian,” he panted, “don’t lie to me.”

She let out a peal of laughter that he thought sounded like bells ringing. “I’m not lying. No one can expect you to be perfect at this, you just started.”

He huffed as he chased the stray ball across the tennis court. “Well, thank you for your good faith in me. I hope I’m better at this the next time we play.”

She smiled, and he wondered if she loved the idea of the two of them playing together again nearly as much as he did.

“I’m sure you will be,” she told him, grinning, “although I’m still going to beat you. You’re no match for my skills.”

He grinned back. “Is that so? We’ll have to see now, won’t we?”

“You’ve already seen how well I can aim for your car. Do you really think you’re up for the challenge of beating me in a game?”

He laughed. “My car might be afraid of you, but I’m not. Maybe I can charm you so completely with my witty banter that you won’t be able to pay attention to the game, and I’ll be able to win that way.”

As if proving his point, at that moment he hit a particularly good serve in Vivian’s direction, and she missed it.

“Ah!” she squeaked, chasing after the ball.

Terrence chuckled and then let out a yelp as she swatted it violently back in his direction. He just managed to thwack the ball with his tennis racket, but he sent it sideways across the court.

“See?” Vivian panted. “Even when you distract me with your witty banter, I’m beating you.”

Terrence was just about to offer a sassy retort when he heard someone call his name. He turned around in surprise andsaw his friend Cedric Turner waving at him. Cedric owned the general store in town, and ordinarily Terrence was happy to bump into him, since the two men had gone to college together and had been friends for many years. In this moment, however, he wished that Cedric was miles away. He could tell from the grin on his friend’s face that Cedric was about to say something about the fact that Terrence had never played a sport before in his life.

“Terrence Rawlins,” Cedric said, laughing. “I almost didn’t recognize you. I can’t believe it’s really you playing tennis, of all things. I never thought I’d live to see the day when you would voluntarily play any kind of sport.”

---