Page 28 of The Deal Maker

I chuckle and say, "I don't know. It seems like you know just about everyone here."

"One of the few upsides to growing up here," Duke says, and there's something in his voice that causes me to stop and analyze it.

"You didn't like growing up here?" I ask, knowing I should probably just hurry us along to get the picture but feeling a bit like I’ve misjudged him.

"It wasn't bad. My parents aren't big fans of traveling. They worked hard and a lot, which usually meant we were there with them. I think we had one big trip planned once, but it got canceled because a hurricane hit the coast."

I blink several times. "You've never traveled anywhere?"

He smiles, making that adorable dimple appear. "Oh, I've traveled, just not as far as I would like, ya know?" He waits for me to get to the stairs that lead off the boardwalk and down into the sand. "I went to college in Charleston and did every trip possible. If there was a service trip somewhere, I found the money to go. Study abroad? It took me an entire summer of working two jobs, but it was worth it."

And just like that, I can see the sparkle in his eye as he talks about this. "Where did you study abroad?"

"Ireland. Such a beautiful country. I always wanted to backpack through Europe, but my dad had a health scare around the time I was there and I came home mid-semester."

"That's really cool. Did you do all of it by yourself?"

He nods, looking a bit sad. "Yeah. My Willow Cove friends had different obligations and my college friends headed out to start working right after graduation."

"Do you regret not having someone to go with you?" I ask. I don't think I've ever been brave enough to plan a trip on my own.

Duke shakes his head, pausing to take off his shoes once we make it to the sand. "No. I think it gave me a chance to become more independent. My mother is an amazing woman, but she tends to smother me and my siblings."

"I can understand that. I have a younger brother, so that tends to happen often for me. My parents would send me down here in the summers for a couple of weeks every year and it was nice to stay at Hope's house. The focus wasn't constantly on what I was doing or comparing me to my brother, which was a welcome relief."

“I remember. Hope would always be talking about you coming down for at least a week before. Then the two of you would run off and play dolls or something.”

Surprise that he remembers all of that doesn’t even cover it for me. “Excuse me, we did not play with dolls. We were entrepreneurs from a young age. Where do you think the idea of owning a candy store started?”

Duke grins and darn that dimple. It’s like a blow torch melting my resolve to not like him. “At least one of us had dreams that early on.”

“You’ve never had anything that you were dying to do?” I ask. Something in my chest squeezes at the thought of not having the opportunity to try things out. Sure, it was a struggle to get my parents to understand that I needed a life change after my break up, but there wasn’t a whole lot they could do with me being an adult. I had to forge my own path.

“I don’t have one thing that I’m really good at. Mediocrity is my middle name, except for my singing abilities. Those are less than zero.”

I try not to laugh at his self-deprecation, but the way he says it just hits differently. Maybe it’s an after effect from our karaoke session.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to laugh. I’m right there with you on the singing level.” We walk for a few moments in silence and I say, “What about something to do with travel? You could be a travel agent and help people plan their trips. There’s got to be a dopamine rush from doing that.”

He raises an eyebrow and says, “Are you trying to get me to change careers?”

I shrug, smiling at him. “I don’t think it would hurt.”

“Would you still despise me if timeshares weren’t my career?” Duke asks, his face surprisingly serious.

Frowning, I say, “I don’t despise you.”

He stops, folding his arms across his chest as he stares at me. “Really? I saw your face when you found out I was your partner. And every time I wave to you while you’re at work you look like you’d rather eat dirt.”

My stomach twists. Is that what he thinks? I know I’ve been curt with him, annoyed at his antics, especially the rubbing in that he knows my ice cream theory. But I never want anyone to feel invisible or unwanted, especially because of something I did.

“I’m sorry about that. I’ll do better.”

Duke shakes his head. “I didn’t mean to call you out for anything. I just want to know what I did to get off on the wrong foot.”

I use my hands to smooth back a few wisps of hair that keep blowing into my eyes from the soft ocean breeze.

“To be honest, I’ve just had a rough year. You always manage to ask the hard questions, the ones I don’t want to ask myself. Maybe that’s why I’ve been distant.” The fear that Hope will abandon ship the moment she gets married is real. I don’t think Duke planted that in me, just uncovered it so I knew it was there.

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