Page 38 of A New Chapter in Rosewood Beach

“Really?” Vivian sounded surprised as she turned to Terrence. “You hate sports that much?”

Terrence could feel his ears turning pink as Cedric answered for him.

“Terrence and I went to the same college, Vivian,” Cedric said with a grin. “He was known as the least sports-inclined student on campus. The guys used to joke that even if you paid him to go to one of the football games, he would say no.”

“Oh, he’s exaggerating,” Terrence said, forcing his tone to be cheerful and waving his hand through the air dismissively. “The guys used to joke, yes, but I wasn’t really all that against sports. I mean, just because I wasn’t on one of the teams.” Inwardly, he was screaming for Cedric to stop talking about it, as his friend’s storytelling was completely ruining the illusion of athletic competence he was trying so hard to maintain.

“I’m not exaggerating at all.” Cedric laughed, shaking his head. “You loathe sports. You told me so many times—you said that you would rather fast for a week than be on a sports team.”

Terrence grimaced, and Cedric guffawed, blissfully unaware of the discomfort he was causing his friend.

Vivian, however, did seem to be aware of Terrence’s discomfort. “Well, no one would think that now, considering how well he’s doing at tennis.”

Terrence gave her a grateful smile. “Anyway,” he said, turning to Cedric. “How have you been? Business at the general store still good?”

He knew that Cedric always loved to talk about his store, and they spent the next three minutes listening to him talk about how much the people of Rosewood Beach loved to buy a new kind of healthy soda that Cedric had decided to sell at the general store. Cedric then asked after The Lighthouse Grill and Vivian’s children, and they continued to chat about their lives for a while.

Finally, Cedric glanced at his watch. “I guess I’d better run,” he told them. “Great to catch up. Terrence, I’ll never forget this sight of you in workout clothes. It’s one of the biggest surprises of my lifetime.”

Chuckling and waving, Cedric continued on his way. Vivian waved to him, also chuckling a little, and then she turned to Terrence with a grin.

“Well. You had a reputation, huh?”

Terrence shook his head. “Sports and I have never been on the best of terms. Maybe if I could play any of them decently, I’d feel differently about them.”

She blinked at him in surprise. “What do you mean? Do you really believe that you are that terrible at sports?”

“Oh, I am.” He laughed. “I’ve never been even halfway decent at any sports. I’ve always hated playing them.”

“But—” She hooked her head. “You’re not terrible at all. You’ve already been showing improvement in the little bit of time we’ve spent together.”

“Well, thank you.” He felt thrilled by her compliment, and he wondered if it was at all true. “But I’ve just never enjoyed sports.”

“Why on earth did you agree to play with me then?” she asked curiously. “I didn’t mean to rope you into something you hated doing.”

“Oh, but I don’t hate this,” he assured her hastily. “When you asked me—well, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend more time with you.”

Vivian blinked at him and nodded, becoming quiet all of a sudden. “I see,” she said softly. She smiled at him, but there was a look in her eyes that made him feel sure that she was thinking about something. “Would you like to get back to the sport that you don’t hate all that much?”

He laughed, but he was worried that he’d said too much. He wasn’t sure what her reaction meant, but maybe he had been too forward, telling her that he had been eager to do something he’d always hated doing if it meant that he could spend time with her.

I hope all those things Cedric said didn’t make a terrible impression on her,he thought with a sigh.I never thought that my college reputation for being anti-sports would come back to haunt me like this.

They continued to play, and soon they were laughing and chatting again. Terrence didn’t forget the way that Vivian had become oddly quiet, however, and he told himself that he needed to be more careful about how much he confessed to her during these delicate beginning stages. After all, they had agreed to take things slowly.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Dean sat at the desk in his office, scribbling some finance notes into a notebook as he looked at an assortment of documents. He was taking a break from working on cars so that he could rest his body, but his mind felt more than energetic enough for the task of doing some of the business work his shop required. He had some bluegrass music playing on his phone while he worked, and it wasn’t true that he was completely resting his body, because he tapped his foot along to the music as he wrote.

It had been a good but a long day at the shop, and this was his final break of several. He reflected to himself with a smile that things were much easier now that there was an extra employee at the shop. Having Jeff around made everything easier for everyone, and all of the other mechanics liked Jeff as much as Dean did.

Things are looking up,he thought to himself with a smile.That girlfriend of mine sure is smart.

A moment later there was a knock on his door.

“Come in!” Dean called, looking up from his paperwork and turning down the music.

Jeff poked his head inside. “Hey, boss! Is there anything else you want me to do before I head out?”

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