"Yeah, because she doesn't exist, which surely you know."
My response was automatic. "Don't call me Shirley."
Her eyes went wide. "Oh, my God. You're quotingAirplane!Seriously?"
Hell, yeah. I was.It was my favorite movie. I didn't care that it was older than me and defied all logic. The thing still made me laugh.
And I had to admit, I was just a little impressed that Tessa got the reference. I studied her face. "So you've seen it?"
"Yeah, only a dozen times." She gave me a sheepish smile. "I love that stupid movie."
This surprised me. Tessa didn't seem theAirplane!type. If I'd been placing bets, I might've put all my chips on something a lot more civilized – free of inflatable copilots and jive-talking grannies.
Suddenly I wanted to know more – not the résumé stuff, but what made her laugh when no one was watching.
The next thing I knew, I was saying, "You know what this means."
"What?"
"You and me – we've got to watch it sometime." I held out my hand. "I'm Ryder. And you are…?"
She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh, fudge!"
I had to say it."So…your parents hated you, huh?"
She spoke through her fingers. "Sorry, what?" But then, her gaze sharpened, and her hand returned to the bottle. "I didn't mean mynameis fudge. If you want the truth, Ialmostsaid something worse."
I lowered my voice to a shocked whisper. "Theotherf-word?"
"Well, I wasn't about to sayfiddlesticks." She turned and gave the shop's exit a worried glance. "Sorry, but I've gotta get back to work."
And with that, she turned and bolted for the exit, weaving through the crowd and taking the purple bottle with her.
I was still holding out my hand. With a chuckle, I dropped the hand and looked at the fudge.
Apparently, I'd be eating it alone.But hey, there was plenty more where that came from.
I meant the fudge, not Tessa.
Becauseshemight be one of a kind.
24
Triple Sorry
Tessa
The moment I walked in through the coffee shop's back door, I wanted to walk right back out again.
Skip was standing on a step stool, jabbing a metal spatula into the ceiling vent like he was probing for hidden treasure.
I stared up at the vent. "Is something…in there?"
He jumped, nearly fell, and then brandished the spatula like I'd come to steal his treasure. "You're late."
No kidding.I glanced down at the purple bottle I was still holding. It was the only reason I had ventured out in the first place. I'd sworn to hit every shop on the island if that's what it took. But in the end, I hadn't made it past store number nine.
And why?Because I'd lingered too long with Ryder Vaughn, who was doing a crazy job of distracting me.
