Page 55
Chapter 15
Tea
Courting a mate is a quiet affair. The male loon will return to their territory and establish where nesting will take place. The female follows weeks later, joining the same male after the previous year in their familiar territory. Then comes the subtle dance of courtship—side-by-side swimming, bill dipping, circling, and calls between mates to solidify their new home.
“What’s the dream, Arch?”
She felt him tense and hardened her grip, refusing to let him steal his hand back. It seemed like it took him a considerable amount of effort to even make the move on her; there was no way she was going to let him end it that soon.
He closed his eyes and let out a breath. He squeezed her hand, then squeezed it again.
She squeezed back, hoping that it would reassure him. It’s okay, she wanted to tell him. You can trust me.
He cleared his throat. “When I started in cocktail bars, I always had this dream in the back of my mind about opening my own spot.”
He didn’t say anything after that. She rubbed her pointer finger into his skin. Keep going.
“Not just a cocktail bar, but an actual school. Somewhere people can train, or take short courses. I had my eye on a spot for a while, but then…” He sighed. “Well, you know.”
“Arch, that’s—”
“Crazy, I know.”
“Awesome. It’s awesome.”
He looked into her eyes. “Tea, you’ve seen me try to manage the resort. I’m horrible at admin of any kind, and I can’t get myself locked in to any consistent schedule.”
“Thankfully you don’t have to do it alone.”
His head tilted in confusion.
“Obviously you have me right now,” she continued. “But the miraculous thing about starting a business? You can hire people to do the things you aren’t good at. People who have those strengths.”
He loosened his grip on her hand. She thought she’d completely blown it, that he was going to retreat into himself. Instead, he brushed his hand up her wrist and arm, then back down. He continued his pattern in soft, methodical strokes. “I wish I had your confidence.”
She scoffed. “Confidence? Try again.”
“Yes, confidence. You came to me determined to work this summer. You knew exactly what you wanted, and you went for it. Nothing will stop you. I…admire it. I wish I had some more of it.”
She sighed. I wouldn’t exactly put it that way. She didn’t have anything to do, and offering to work with Archer felt more like a relief than a burden. Even though Wild Pines didn’t pay—thankfully all of her student loan payments were put on pause—it’d become her favorite job yet. She contemplated if it was the work…or the man she worked with.
She concluded it was the work. She liked numbers, but she also liked people. She needed both. Even though she spent years avoiding the latter.
A thunk came from below and seconds later, a large splash of water crested the boat and splattered all over Archer, spraying Tea in the process.
He growled, hanging his head in defeat. Then he bolted upright, dropping his hand from her skin, and screamed to his brother. “All right, asshole, get ready to be cooked beef.”
Austin cackled as Archer ran off the boat and jumped in close enough to his brother that he could have hit his head, splashing Riley in the process.
Austin and Riley left two days later. Riley made her promise that she would actually talk to her and keep in touch. Tea agreed, but deep down, she felt like she was going to fail Riley all over again. Especially after that day on the boat, when Archer reached for her hand and touched her skin in a way that was obviously more than friendly. She didn’t even try to push him away. She’d practically egged him on.
She knew she shouldn’t have. Things with Archer could go south fast. She still planned on driving back to the east coast at the end of the summer and finding a job close to Mom. If she let herself get involved, she would leave him heartbroken and shattered like last time, and any mended friendships she made would likely be done for good.
And yet that didn’t stop her from thinking about the feel of his hand in hers.
Tea sat in her usual Adirondack chair overlooking the lake, sipping her wine and reading her next book on loons: Voices of the Water: The Mating Patterns of Loons. She found their mating behaviors fascinating, like how both the male and female incubate the eggs before hatching, and how nests are built close to the water. She kept mulling over their migration patterns, how it was natural for loons to be settled in the same spot every summer, then traveling somewhere else for the cold season ahead. It made her think of her own summer migrations, spending long days under the sun at the lake, then long nights back in New Jersey for the winter. New Jersey had never really felt like home. For Tea, it was merely a period of time to endure before returning back to the place that felt most natural to her.
She slammed her book shut, rattling the wine glass perched on the armrest next to her. It was these kinds of thoughts that were the most dangerous. It opened a chasm in her heart when she thought about what this place really meant to her. It made her miss her dad. It made her regret all the wasted summers after his death. It made her anxious about finding a job and realizing she may never be able to have another full summer at Wild Pines ever again.
