Page 42 of Saved By Noel
“Clara! It’s great to see you again!” she says. “What can I get for you?”
I peruse her handwritten menu. “Ooo, a blackberry hazelnut latte? That sounds intriguing!”
Becky smiles. “I enjoy making unexpected drink combinations. When I was a teenager in Austin, I loved going to trendy coffee shops with interesting drinks. Most people around here don’t appreciate them, so I only buy enough supplies to make small batches for a week or two. But this is one of my favorite experiments yet! You should try it iced.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Give me a large, and then whatever drink Syd typically likes to order,” I tell her. We make small talk as she crafts our drinks, and a line starts to form at the register. I’m glad to see the customers, all dressed like they’re heading out for a day on the river.
I take a quick sip of my latte. “Oh, Becky, this isamazing!” Holding up my cup in the air, I announce to the waiting customers, “You won’t regret the blackberry hazelnut latte!” Becky calls goodbye as I exit, making way for more people to enter.
Sydney greets me with a zealous embrace when I get to her house. “Girl, it’s been too long! I’ve gotten used to my biweekly Clara fix!”
Laughing, I hand her a coffee cup. “Here, this is whatever Becky picked for you.”
“Oh, she makes the best caramel macchiato,” Syd says, taking the cup with eager hands. “Ahhhh, I love tourist season,” she says airily.
An hour later, we’re changed into swimsuits, lathered with sunscreen, and fully caffeinated. “Davis’ employees are handling the rentals today, and my parents are watching the kids, so you get the full tourist experience,” Syd tells me with a grin. The corners of her smile fall slightly before she adds, “I hope it’s okay with you, but we invited Clark to come with us?” Her inflection turns the statement into more of a question.
“I, yeah, of course, that’s okay. Why wouldn’t that be okay?” I mumble.
Syd pins me with a pointed look. “Uh-huh. We’ll keep pretending there’s nothing awkward going on and that you and Clark have zero attraction to each other.”
My mouth drops open, and I stare at her, unable to respond. She rolls her eyes.
“Look, I haven’t known you long enough to be thoroughly acquainted with what goes on in your head, and I’ve never understood what goes on in Clark’s. But I think we can agree it wouldn’t kill you two to just admit you like each other,” Syd says casually.
“You ladies about ready?” Davis loudly questions, entering the front door before I can respond to Syd’s observation. “Clark is meeting us down by the river. Let’s get a move on!”
We drive in Davis’ truck to the end of the route we’ll float today. He has supplies for dinner stashed in a cooler with dry ice to leave there. Clark is already waiting in the parking area whenwe arrive, so we pile into his truck. I’m trying not to be awkward as I greet Clark, but Syd’s observations aren’t helping me on that front.
After parking in the lot at the start of the route, we unload the tubes from the back. Davis’ company rents out all kinds of kayaks and canoes. But Syd insisted we should take a relaxing float trip in the inner tubes today, since the lack of rain has made the river current slow. These deluxe commercial tubes are nothing like the kids’ pool rings I was picturing. They’re enormous and look comfortable, even for an extended time.
“This is a whole new world that I never knew existed,” I say, awed by the cooler float Davis is attaching to his tube. Apparently, we’ll have snacks and drinks close at hand for the duration of our five-mile float.
“You need to get out of the city more often,” Clark teases, catching me off guard. Aside from the first night we met, this might be the most cheerful I’ve ever seen him. I assume the influx of people to the town must have a lot to do with that.
“Hey, sunscreen first, gentlemen!” Sydney scolds. Davis and Clark stop pushing the tubes toward the water and accept her sunscreen bottle.
I don’t have time to fortify myself mentally before Clark is pulling his shirt over his head. My imagination no longer has any work to do to picture the rest of his tattoo. Or any of the hard muscles that hide under his clothing. I should avert my gaze, but I can’t. I’m mesmerized as Davis and Clark take turns spraying each other with sunscreen, cracking jokes and oblivious to my perusal.
My eyes don’t know what to focus on. The details of the tattoo running the full length of Clark’s left arm up to his shoulder? Or the lines of hard muscle running beneath the ink, across his chest, and down his abs?
An elbow digs into my ribs as Syd’s voice singsongs, “I know my husband isn’t the one you’re over here ogling, so I won’t have to slap you.”
Her comment is enough to jolt me out of my embarrassingly obvious drooling over Clark. I turn away from the guys and face her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, but the breathy tone to my voice gives me away. Syd smirks. “Whatever,” I say, rolling my eyes and walking toward the river.
Syd and I sit down in our tubes, and the guys push us out into deeper water before getting into theirs. I try to play it cool when Clark’s muscular arms and chest are mere inches away from me. But I’m pretty sure he could have heard the pounding of my heart even if he was a mile away. I splash some river water across my face.
I wasn’t sure exactly how much I’d enjoy sitting in an inner tube for hours, but it turns into one of the most fun experiences I’ve had in a long time. Davis keeps the snacks and drinks flowing from the cooler, and the guys splash enough to keep us cooled off. I’m constantly laughing at the memories and stories that Davis and Sydney take turns sharing, with occasional additions from Clark. I’ve seen him smile more today than I ever thought he was capable of.
After a couple of hours, Sydney and I decide to take a quick dip in the river to cool off. I leave my jean shorts on, doubting that I could gracefully remove them while sitting in the tube. But I do take off the tank top I’ve been wearing. I have a fairly modest two-piece swimming suit on underneath, and I stay in shape with barre classes at home. So I shouldn’t be reluctant to forgo the tank top. But after seeing Clark’s extremely fit upper body, I’ve been too self-conscious. With the sun now scorching overhead, I decide to reapply sunscreen and leave it off.
I glance up and catch Clark staring at me. He has a baseball cap and sunglasses on, so I can’t see his eyes. But I can’tnotseethe firm set in his jaw, or the clench of his fist hanging over the side of his tube. I hope he can’t see the blush spreading across my cheeks and neck.
By the time we reach the end of our float, I’m exhausted from the sun and starving for a real meal. I perch my sunglasses on top of my head and awkwardly paddle my hands on the sides to try to guide my tube to the riverbank. I’m not overly eager to jump into the murky water—it’s much browner here close to the river bank than where we jumped in earlier. Syd and Davis are already on the shore, pulling their tubes out of the water. My paddling is failing miserably when my tube lurches forward.
“Afraid of the river snakes?” Clark asks in front of me, submerged in the water up to his thighs.
“What?!” I jump, pulling my feet into the tube. “There are snakes?! Why didn’t you tell me that before I jumped in earlier?!”
