She sighed, knowing that it was for the best she didn’t confront him. Her mother couldn’t find out this way. For now, Haven would carry the burden of her father’s betrayal a little longer.
She heard approaching footsteps and knew she needed to get it together. The corner of the apron would have to do.
“Hi.” The customer who belonged to the footsteps stood in front of her. His voice was deep.
She flattened the tear-stained apron against the tops of her thighs and pulled her shoulders back.
“Hi. Can I help you?” Hopefully, he would rent a snorkel set and would be out of here in two minutes. She needed a moment alone to regroup. Being blindsided by so much emotion at once left her feeling off-balance.
“As a matter of fact, I was wondering if you have any job openings. I know it’s a long-shot, but I’m here for the summer and could use a little extra spending money.”
Haven looked at the guy. He was vaguely familiar. She thought she remembered him from a couple of weeks ago, but he didn’t have that beard and it was hard to remember all of the customers who walked through the store’s doors.
“You heard all of that, didn’t you?” She didn’t believe him for a second. Her level of embarrassment rose to an all-time high. She hoped he had only caught the end of the disagreement between her and her father.
He adjusted his sunglasses to the top of his head. “All I heard is that you are in charge of hiring, and I am here to be hired.” He smiled, and Haven tried to figure out what the look was in his eyes. They were warm, soft, and a gray-green color that blended in with the water on the horizon.
Yes, she definitely recognized that grin. He had been here before and forgotten a case of beer.
“Do you have a name?” She took in the curious stranger. He had sandy brown hair that probably hadn’t seen a cut in a few weeks. He reminded her a little of Pearce Hudson on the Carolina football team. It was the height and the broad shoulders.
“Jay. What about you?” He searched her apron for a name tag.
“Haven. Haven Owen.” She pointed to the sign behind his head. “Part of the great Owen’s General Store dynasty.”
“That seems like a pretty cool gig. You get to work out here all summer. Not a bad view.”
She noticed his eyes were locked on her and not on the boats in the marina or the waves out in the ocean. It made her neck warm, and she wondered if the color had risen to her cheeks.
“What are you doing here this summer, Jay with-no-last-name? Do you have any retail experience?” If he was truly interested in taking Travis’s position, the least she could do was vet him a little.
He took his time with his words. Nothing about this guy said, “I’m in a hurry.” For someone not from the island, he seemed at ease on the docks.
“I’m a writer. Spending the summer on Perry to—uh—write.” He shoved his hands in his pockets.
Her eyes shot to his. “Writer? You’re an actual writer? What do you write? Books? Are you a journalist?” Bubbles of adrenaline shot through her. “Any chance you write music, because I’m a songwriter.” Haven knew she was pelting him with question with no space between to answer, but this was exciting. An actual writer. It didn’t matter if he wrote menus, he wrote.
“I—uh—I’m working on a book.” He gave her a cautious reply.
Haven tried to picture the scruffy, athletic-looking man buried behind a laptop, or scribbling out words in a notebook. “I can’t believe this. A writer. But if you’re working on a book this summer, why do you want a job here?” She knew this might mean he wasn’t a successful writer.
He shifted in his flip-flops. “Like I said, I need a little extra summer spending cash, and it sounded like you needed some help. I can fill in for a few weeks until you find someone more permanent. That way you can keep those Thursdays.”
Her stomach twisted. He might have heard the entire conversation. How mortifying.
“What about your last name? Would I know any of your books?” How cool would it be if she had actually read something of his?
She could tell he was searching the boat slips behind her, but she didn’t know for what.
“It’s Grady. Jay Grady. And it’s my first book, so you wouldn’t have heard of me. I’m still an unknown.”
That didn’t matter to her. She was an unknown.
“That’s ok. All writers have to start somewhere. So what’s it about?”
“What’s what about?” He tilted his head.
Haven dropped her hands from her hips. “Your book. What’s the story?”
“Is this your standard job interview?” He cocked his eyebrow.
“Right. Sorry.” It was official. She was blushing now. The word “writer” had derailed her line of questioning. She stopped for a second.
“But you haven’t even asked what the pay is or the job. Don’t you want to know what the responsibilities are? Hours? That kind of thing?”
“I’ll take it. Doesn’t matter.”
“Doesn’t matter?”
“I mean, yeah it matters, but it’s temporary.” He leaned on the counter with his elbows and winked. “Does this mean I got the job?”
This was the first job interview Haven had ever conducted, and she wasn’t sure this was the typical protocol for hiring, but she wasn’t going to second-guess herself. For some reason, a flirty writer with a shaggy beard, but undeniably cute smile had appeared out of nowhere—of course he got the job.
“Yes, you’re hired.” She reached a hand toward him. “Welcome to Owen’s General Store.”
“All right. What day do you need me to start?” He shook her hand.
“Right now. Aprons are on the hooks in the employee hallway. Go grab one and meet me back here. I’ll give you the tour. We can start training this morning.” After a crappy morning, things had turned around rather quickly. The sickening pit that had formed in her stomach when Travis quit had been replaced by something that was hard to describe. It was like warm honey soothed her anxiousness every time he smiled.
“Right now? As in you want me to start working today?” His eyebrows arched.
“You do want the job, don’t you?” For someone who was persistent a minute ago, he was certainly backpedaling.
“Yep. I’m on it. Going to get that apron right now.” He smiled, filling her with that soothing feeling again.
She watched as he walked away, his shadow following his long frame on the pier. She bit into her lip, wondering if hiring a total stranger off the docks was the best decision. Something about him felt undeniably right, like the song she had written last night—slow and easy. And with all the tension swirling in her life right now, there was nothing she needed more.
WHAT IN the hell had he just done? He saw her crying, her auburn hair floating around her, petite shoulders hunched as she fought the emotions and he couldn’t stop himself. He had to swoop in and make her smile like one of the girls in his movies. Dammit. He reached for the row of aprons on the hooks, as she had instructed, and slipped one over his head. This wouldn’t have to last long. He was sure she could find a clerk replacement in a few days. In the meantime, he would fill his time doing something constructive, and if he were being honest, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to spend that time around her.
He pushed the screen door open and walked toward the rental booth. He spun around.
“What do you think? It’s my first time in an apron.”
She scrunched up her nose. “These aprons don’t look good on anyone. You can thank my father for that.”
He looked at his chest and wondered for a second if he had laid off the workouts for too long. Was there actually a woman in the world immune to his charm? “All right, then. What’s next?”
“Why don’t we start with something simple like the rental booth? We’re already out here.” She hung a lifejacket on a hook on the sidewall and clipped the straps together.
Assessing the stand, Evan didn’t think renting out equipment would be too
complicated. It had been a long time since he had bagged groceries at the local food market in Brees, Texas, but he remembered the cadence of working in a store. This would be easy.
“Ok. Train away. I’m all ears.” He nodded at a couple as they walked by, cameras dangling around their necks. He realized this might be the best way to blend in to island life—just be one of the locals.
She cleared her throat. “The first thing we always do in the booth is open all the windows, turn on the fans, and when I’m working, I turn on the music.” She reached over toward the radio and hit the power button.
“Nice. I think I like this even more.” He recognized one of the songs he heard in his Jeep. “What’s this music called?”
“You haven’t heard beach music before?”
“Can’t say I have, but I like the words.” He always judged a song by the lyrics. If it didn’t mean anything, why even bother with the music?
Haven’s mood seemed to have improved in the last hour. There wasn’t a trace of a tear on her cheeks. He kept getting distracted by her blue eyes. Every time she smiled at him, they sparked. It was enough to sidetrack any man.
She giggled. “My parents and all their friends love it. So it’s kind of like oldies. I can see how you would hear that sound. I’ve grown up listening to it.”
“So you like beach music and what else?” He thought of a few of his favorite country artists and wondered if she had ever heard them. The best were the ones who wrote music too.
Haven fidgeted with her apron. “Me? Oh I like everything. Anything that has depth in the words.” She scrunched her nose. “You probably don’t want to get me started on words. I can talk for hours about lyrics.”
It didn’t bother him if she wanted to talk about music. He wondered what words spoke to her. Right now, his favorite songs were about getting lost. She probably couldn’t relate. No one could.
“Hey, do we get to take them out?” He eyed the row of boats next to the stand.
“Not during our shifts, we don’t, but I guess it would be ok after work.”
Maybe he could still work in some paddling today. “You know, I think it would help me get a better understanding of the business and the equipment if we took the boats out. You should take me.”
She stopped fiddling with the lifejacket clips. “You want to go kayaking? With me?” She turned to face him.
“Why not? You did say you’d give me on-the-job training.” He watched her think over his invitation. He was glad she wasn’t crying anymore—at least he had accomplished something important today. Her face was too pretty for tears.
“True, but I’m not much of a kayaker. And—”
“Stop trying to come up with excuses and just take me out. Ok?” He grinned wider than he intended. He might be actually trying to get a reaction from her, and that was something he never did. Women naturally reacted when he was around. Not this one. She was different, and he liked that about her.
He walked behind the booth and glanced over her shoulder at the rental checklist. As his chest brushed her shoulder, he felt her stiffen, so he moved to the side. The flirting came so effortlessly to him that it was like breathing. Usually, he didn’t think about it, but now that he had removed himself from girls, and people in general, everything about this interaction seemed heightened. The way her hair smelled, the look she gave him, the hesitation in her response—all of it was like part of a dance he had been missing. A slow dance.
“Ok, I’ll take you. But, as part of the training.” She turned to face him. “You’re right; you should be familiar with the rental equipment.”
“Ah-ha.” He felt slightly triumphant. Wilderness Evan had not lost his touch. “It will be fun, dar— It will be fun.” He slid the clipboard across the counter, hoping to cover up his fumble. “So, tell me what we have here.”
“This is the checklist we use every time someone rents a piece of equipment. They have to fill out this sheet. Let’s start at the top.”
“DO WE get breaks around here?” Evan thought it had to be close to lunchtime. His stomach was growling, and he could go for one of those barbecue sandwiches he saw a customer pack on the back of the kayak.
Haven was scribbling something on a piece of paper. “Huh?”
“Lunch. Can I break for a few?” He tried to catch her eye, but she was buried in a small notebook.
“Sure. Sure. Whatever. Thirty minutes I guess.” She whispered something as her pen furiously inked out another line.
“Ok.” He untied his apron. “I’ll be back in a few.” He waited for her to respond, but he was certain he could fall overboard at this point and she wouldn’t notice.
Evan followed the boardwalk around the cove. There were bait shops and a few restaurants along the marina waterfront. It was like something you would see in an idyllic movie scene, although these people were real. Evan smiled at the thought as he tugged on the door handle of one of the sandwich shops and ordered a sandwich.
Fifteen minutes later, he emerged from the cafe, satisfied the hunger pains had subsided. He looked toward the end of the docks and spied an ice cream stand. He strolled in that direction and got in line behind a family of five. The couple argued over whether their children could eat the ice cream out of cones versus cups. Evan smiled, thinking if that was the dilemma of the day, it was a damn good problem to have.
“What can I get you?” The ice cream attendant squinted from the sun.
At first the plan was to sit here and watch the boats sail by while he still had ten minutes left on his break, but when he spotted the bucket of chocolate, he had another idea. All girls like chocolate.
“One strawberry and one chocolate.”
“Cones?” The man already had his scoop in the cooler.
“Yep. I think we can handle cones.” Evan handed the man cash and accepted the two heaping cones, already dripping from the heat. He would have to hurry to get them back to the kayak stand before they completely melted.
“Thank you. Enjoy the day.” The man turned to face the next family behind Evan.
“Thanks.” He tasted the strawberry before launching into a full sprint back to the store.
Haven was exactly where he left her. Her nose pointed at the notebook and her hand scrawling words across the pages.
“Brought you something.” He shoved the chocolate cone in her direction, dripping the dessert on the page.
“Uh—what the—?” She looked up, annoyed that her page was splattered with the sticky treat.
“Shit.” Evan scrambled for a paper towel. “I didn’t mean to spill it.” He tried to wipe the pages for her.
“No. No. I’ve got it.” She brushed his hand away. “It’s probably better with chocolate all over it.” Her eyes rose to his, and he caught a glimmer of laughter.
“Tell me you at least like chocolate. Did I screw that up too?”
She bit her bottom lip as the corners of her mouth rose. “Actually, my favorite is strawberry. But, it’s good. I’ll eat it.”
Evan chuckled. He was striking out left and right. He shifted the cones and placed the strawberry one in front of her. “Take this one.”
“No, it’s yours.” She shook her head.
“I’ve already ruined your page. Just take it.” He held the cone next to her hand.
She wrapped her fingers around the paper sleeve, touching the top of his hand in the process. He lingered for another second, wishing this girl hadn’t just stolen his next great line because it was going to be good. But her eyes made him forget all his witty comebacks. He chuckled under his breath.
“Something funny?” She licked the top of the strawberry swirl.
“No. Just learning a lot today.” He crunched on the side of the cone and stepped out of the booth. A party boat was headed out of the marina. He needed to study it for a second and try to remember who in the hell he was.
“FIVE O’CLOCK is quittin’ time, right?” Evan spied his new boss eyeing the clock.
The last
few hours Haven had shown him the employee entrance, the ins and outs of the rental stand, the general layout of the store, and given him his schedule. What kind of screwed up plan was this? He had to be at the store at five thirty in the morning. This would go down as one of the not-so-smart ideas of the summer.
Admittedly, he had had a good time. She was cute, funny, and it had been awhile since he had met a smartass. Most girls were so afraid to scare him off that they wouldn’t speak their minds. Going on dates was like watching fan blades spin around; it was an endless exercise of the same old garbage.
She smiled. “Yes. We’re done for the day. Why don’t you take these inside?” She tossed her apron into Evan’s chest. “Still want to go out paddling?” Her head tipped to the side, and he noticed the sun caught strands of her hair, turning them a bright honey color.
“Of course. Be right back.” He untied the canvas string and ducked inside the screen door. He had been waiting all day for this. Every time he saw a boat sail past he wanted to hop aboard and drift out to open waters.
The sun was so intense at this time of day, the only thing keeping his eyes from watering were his sunglasses. The rays smacked him in the face as soon as he walked back on the dock. He watched as Haven struggled to hold up one kayak while unhooking the suspension cord to keep the boat upright. If she let go, it would knock her in the head.
“Hey, let me help you with that.” He jogged over and braced the boat as she set it free.
“Thanks. This one was a little tighter than I expected.” She placed her hands on the sides of the kayak and dragged it to the open boat launch. “Can you get yours on your own?”
Evan laughed. “I think I can manage.” He flipped the handle on the lever and released the kayak into his arms.
Finding Haven Page 7
