Page 2 of Sweet Summertide

Single? She was single after finding that snake, Rinaldi, in a compromising position with another woman last year. Since then, she hadn’t been searching for a man to keep her companyat all. But Theodor’s brown eyes and confident grin told a story she was dying to know more about. Getting up from her chair, she swung a leg over his and flopped into the vacant seat beside him.

“What are you doing?” he said with smile lines crinkling above his cheeks that told her he was entertaining her bold move instead of being irritated by her switching seats.

“You don’t mind, do you?” His answer came in the form of stunned silence. “I’ll take that as a no. Now, tell me, Teddy. Can I call you that? What do you do in New York?”

“Nothing, now.” His brows pinched together, and his eyes shifted towards the ceiling as though the words he wanted might be plastered there. “I’m in between jobs right now. That’s why I’m heading to Christmas Cove. My friend, Alfonso, works as a chef at a local resort and he asked me to come help with a culinary night for some of the guests.”

“So, you’re a chef? Is that what you did back home?”

“Not as much as I would have liked. If my father had it his way, I’d be paying my dues at an Upper Eastside law firm or sitting sidecar at a high-profile trial,” he said and unknowingly confirmed her earlier suspicions.

“You’re a lawyer then?”

“If by lawyer, you mean I’ve passed the bar? Then yes.”

“So why aren’t you practicing law, seems like an okay job if you ask me,” Holly said.

“Well, I didn’t think so,” he said with an edge that she was sure wasn’t directed toward her. “Sorry. It’s just a sore subject.”

Disappointing parents was something she was well versed in too. Although, in her father’s eyes, Holly could do no wrong, she knew it bothered him that her ambitions in life had taken her down a more unconventional path. Her mother on the other hand would only be satisfied at the sight of Holly walking downthe church aisle towards a man with a hefty trust fund and an even more prominent pedigree.

“Navigating parental expectations can be hard, especially when every single choice is debated over like you’re a pawn in their game,” Holly said and crossed her legs towards him, closing the distance between their knees.

“You speak like you know me,” Theodor said.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I like it. Most of the people I spend time with are more than happy to play their part, but you sound like you have experience with that too.”

She nodded and bit her lips between her teeth. “My father is a banker, and my mother is basically a spoiled Southern belle who wants me to be like her. I’m just not. No matter how I try to be what she wants me to be …” Holly paused and considered what blow-back she would get next time she saw her mother. She could only avoid her for so long, now that she was moving back home. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Do you like puffins?” he said without skipping a beat.

His question had her brain scrambling to change gears. Despite her request for a new topic, puffins was quite an unexpected one. “I guess so.”

“No. Nope. You cannot sit on both sides of the fence on this question.” He chuckled at himself, which sort of annoyed her that he was enjoying this round so much. “In my experience, I can tell a lot about a person based on how they answer this question. So, think carefully.”

“I suppose I’ve never given it much thought. They’re those little black and white penguins, with the parrot beak, right?”

“Wrong.” His hands flew to his face, and he pulled the skin down his cheeks under the weight of his finger and exposed his wide eyes. “They’re not related to penguins at all. Not even close. They’re not even cousins.”

Holly could tell he was teasing her, and she supposed she could just as easily trip him up with questions about horses if she really wanted to turn things around. The straightforward thing would be to give him an answer, and he clearly wanted her to be as enthusiastic about the bird as he was. But Blake Holly Hollis doesn’t play nicely like that. Blake Holly Hollis is a winner.

“Alright. I’ve made up my mind.” He was on the edge of his seat, and at some point, had cupped her hands in his. “I do not like puffins. They look ridiculous and, did you know, they’re not even related to penguins like they should be?”

“Hey! I just told you that.” He removed his hands from hers and threw them in the air in disbelief.

“Someone had to call it like it is.” Retrieving her phone from her dress pocket, she pulled up a photo of a puffin on her browser and turned the screen towards his eyes. “They’re kind of silly looking, like clowns. Don’t you think?”

He chuckled in his throat. “They’re disgusting little things, and I hate clowns.”

“Then I passed your test?” Holly said and stashed her phone.

Still jovial, Theodor nodded his head. “I can’t trust someone who likes puffins, is all.”

“Are you one of those birders who travel around cataloging every bird you meet? How do you know so much about puffins anyway?”

“NGK.”

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