Page 25 of Whispers at Seaside
“Hey, Mira?”
She pulled the door open and glanced over her shoulder at Dean. “Yeah?”
“I don’t want to make something out of nothing, but you know what gloxinias stand for, don’t you?”
She shook her head.
“Love at first sight.”
Her jaw gaped, but before she could even begin to process that information, Serena called to her. “Mira, thank goodness you’re here.”
Mira stepped inside. Drake glanced up from where he was peering over Serena’s shoulder at the computer monitor. She saw Hagen through the open door to Drake’s office, playing with the toy cars they kept for him.
“Mornin’,” Drake said.
“Sis,” Rick grumbled, staring at Drake. He stood in front of the desk, arms crossed, his jaw working overtime.
“Hi.”Love at first sight?How would Matt know that? It couldn’t have been why he chose them. Dismissing the idea that he knew what the flowers signified, she focused on the mounting tension in the room. “What’s going on?”
Serena gave Mira a deadpan stare. “We need a surf instructor, and Thing One and Thing Two are trying to decide who to hire. It seems to be a battle of wills.”
“Seriously?” Mira asked. “Just pick a good-looking guy. That’s all the girls care about anyway.”
“See?” Rick huffed. “Hot guy, hot girl. Winning situation on all accounts.”
“We have a reputation to build,” Drake reminded them. “We don’t want to be known as a sex resort. ‘Come to Bayside and Get Lucky’ won’t get us very far.”
“Works for Club Med,” Rick said with a laugh. “What are you going to do? Hire Tony Black, a world-renowned surfer, to teach a couple of kids on vacation? We’re not building competitors. We’re teaching the basics, offering a fun vacation, which should include lots of eye candy.”
“Tony? Now, there’s a thought,” Drake answered.
“I have to get Hagen to camp so I can get to work. Can I just ask Serena a quick question? I swear it’s so stressful getting caught between you two. I don’t know how she stands it.”
“You got me this job, remember?” Serena said with a smirk. She patted Drake’s six-pack abs and winked at Rick. “Besides, this is nothing. Child’s play. In the end, I’ll get to choose who we hire. They just don’t know it yet.”
Rick scoffed. Drake remained silent.
“Is your offer to babysit still open?” Mira asked.
“Absofrigginglutely. When?”
“This weekend.”
“Yes. Definitely,” Serena said. “Want me to keep him overnight?”
“No. Just a few hours. Maybe put him to bed? I’m not really sure.”
“Going out with Matt?” Rick asked a little less gruffly.
“Yes.” Rick had wanted to kill Larry when he’d found out he was married, and it had taken Drake stepping in to get him to realize it would do no good to hurt the guy. He’d always been extra protective of Mira and Hagen. To this day she still couldn’t be sure Rick wasn’t secretly behind the check that came in the mail shortly after Hagen was born.
Rick’s eyes shot to Hagen. “You know Matt’s only here temporarily, right?”
“Yes, but how doyouknow that?”
Serena raised her hand and winced. “Sorry. I might have said something.”
Mira rolled her eyes.
