Sigh. With the birds singing in the row of pine trees, the warm, light, spring breeze tickling the tops of the grass, and thehint of lilacs just beginning to scent the air, it was a fairy-tale-like day for love. She half expected to see bluebirds flying over the heads of Liam and Dani.
She blinked the image away. “Well, you make a good team. Everything I’ve seen looks amazing.”
“Thanks,” Dani said. Her phone buzzed and she looked at it for a moment, her face creasing into a frown before her eyes opened wide. “Oh, shoot! I really need to get over to the festival grounds. It was nice seeing you, Ava. Thanks again for being willing to partner with Zach for the charity stuff. I know he really wants to win. The Silver Platter means a lot to him.” Giving her a huge smile that faltered after a moment, Dani turned with Liam and hurried away, still tucked close to his side.
Ava watched them go for a moment and then returned to her bench, the seat cold underneath her.
After writing and crossing out three more sentences, Ava stood and walked a circuit around the inside of the gazebo. On her second turn around the interior, she spotted a familiar figure striding across the lawn toward her. The morning sun streamed over Zach’s dark locks, highlighting a few golden strands she’d never noticed before. He wore a white button-down shirt, rolled to the elbows, and black jeans. A hint of his ankle showed above a pair of checkerboard deck shoes.
“Good morning,” Zach said.
“Good morning, yourself.” She stood in the doorway to the gazebo. A ripple of something unfamiliar zinged up her spine.
“Beautiful weather.” Zach paused just outside the gazebo.
“Yeah. Nice day.” Seriously? Talking about the weather?
He nodded toward her hands. “I see you have your ever-present notepad. Working on a story?”
“Not really.” Just something much more important. But Zach wouldn’t care about that.
“Notes for our competition?”
“You told me you’d take care of that. You made it very clear.” She pointed at him with her pencil.
“True. And I have very good news on that front.” Zach pulled a crumpled bit of paper from his shirt pocket. “I worked out a perfect recipe.” He handed her the note. His bold handwriting ran all over the page, smudged in a few places, but still legible. And all completely unintelligible.
“I don’t know what half of this stuff means.” A pang ran through her stomach. Zach deserved to win. She thrust the note at him. “I should find Dani. Tell her to find you a different partner. One who can help you win.” It was the right thing to do. Even if it meant tanking her article. It wasn’t fair to saddle him with her incompetence. She would just have to find a new angle. That shouldn’t be too hard.
But he shook his head and tucked the slip back into his pocket. “I’ll write it out again, but clearer next time. We can win. I know we can.” He moved a half step closer to her. “With your help and my skills, we’re good partners.”
She searched his gaze. “Okay. Partners.” The thought rippled through her, making her heart flutter. “Did you come out here looking for me?”
He looked away. “Partly. I hoped I’d find you. I saw you walking in this direction earlier. I also have to find Dani.” Zach tucked his hands into his pockets. “She asked me to teach a class, and I just saw the sign-up list. It’s way too many people for one class, and I need her to split it into two groups.”
“Dani was just here. She and Liam went to the festival grounds. I think there was some kind of emergency.”
Zach’s eyebrows rose. A muscle in his jaw jumped. “Emergency?”
“Festival emergency. I’m sure she’s fine. She looked like she had everything under control.”
“She’s good at that.” He nodded. “Um, I’m going to go find her. Want to come along? Or are you busy with…” He gestured at her notebook.
She really should finish the letter, but maybe a walk was just what she needed to jump-start her creativity. “Lead on.”
They fell in step across the spongy grass. “Okay. So. Here’s what I’m thinking,” Zach said. “We’ll start by julienning some carrots.”
She really should mention in the letter that she wanted to make the island her permanent home. And maybe also talk about how much she had been enjoying meeting the people who already lived here.
“Ava, are you even listening to me?” Zach stepped in front of her and tapped her shoulder. He walked backward in front of her for a few steps.
She shook her head. “Sorry. No. I was miles away.” More like a half mile away.
“Want to tell me what’s going on? I can’t have you this distracted when we’re working.” He turned and fell into step with her again.
Right. She needed to be locked in for that. Partners.
She let out a long breath. “I’m trying to compose a letter to the current owners of a house I want to buy.”
