Page 44 of Happy Harbor
Scotty walked beside her. “What was lame?”
“Your pickup line.”
“Um, that wasn’t a pickup line. The pen was beside your desk. I figured it was yours.”
“So you chased after me?”
“I have a favorite pen, and I’d hate to lose it. I thought maybe this was your favorite.”
“And you’re still following me now because...?”
“Why are you so defensive, new girl?”
She stopped again. “I told you my name. Why are you calling me new girl?”
“I don’t know.”
“Look, Scotty, I appreciate the effort, but I’m not interested.” She started walking again, hoping he’d give up. He didn’t.
“Not interested in what?”
“Dating you.”
Scotty burst out laughing.
Kendra stopped and put her hands on her hips. “What’s so funny?”
“You, apparently. I’m not trying to date you. I was trying to be nice. Besides, I have a girlfriend.”
“Boys are never trying to be nice to girls. They always want something, and I think we both know what that is.”
“Maybe where you’re from, but not here. I was just being friendly and trying to do a good deed.”
“Like a Boy Scout?”
“I have the patches to prove it.”
She smiled. “I’m sure you do.”
“Listen, back where you lived, I’m sure people are different. But here, we look out for each other. We help when we can. That’s all this was.”
He was cute. She’d give him that. Tall, muscular, sandy-brown hair, green eyes. He was more of the boy-next-door look, which she didn’t usually go for, but he was attractive.
“Fine. I’ll take you at your word. Enjoy the pen,” she said, walking toward her house.
Scotty said nothing else, but she could feel him standing there, watching her as she walked away. He could say he didn’t want to go out with her, but she knew boys. They were all the same. Boys wanted one thing, and she was determined to make a new start here. She would not get distracted by a boy, no matter how cute he was.
CHAPTERELEVEN
If there was one perk of running the restaurant, it was that they were closed for dinner. Weird, but true. Nana had always kept the place open only for breakfast and lunch. It made sense, as most of the regulars were people who came in on the boats or who needed a place to eat during their lunch breaks. By dinnertime, most everything in Happy Harbor was shut down.
As Josie approached the house, ready to take a long hot bath, she saw a woman standing in front of her gate. She looked slightly familiar, but most everyone in town did. For a moment, she considered sneaking down the side road and going in through the back door, but the woman’s eyes met hers and she was stuck.
“Hey there! You must be Josie,” the woman said, basically blocking her entrance to her own home. Her voice reeked of old Southern money, almost like sawmill gravy would spew from her pores at any moment.
“Who are you?”
She smiled, fake though it was, and raised her nose slightly higher. “I’m Primrose Abernathy, of the Charleston Abernathys. Most people call me Primmy.”
