But Kip didn’t laugh.
He just had her do it again.
And again, and again, and again.
“I think I’m getting the hang of it,” she declared breathlessly after one more run off the board. This time she’d been able to ride it by herself for a few feet before deciding to stop.
“Better than the hot yoga?” he asked.
“Much,” she answered without hesitation.
He laughed and stepped onto his board. She watched in awe as he easily carved around the road. She made a vow that before she finished with her longboarding endeavor, she would impress him.
Yep. New goal.
CHAPTER 7
It’s not the fire I fear
It’s the silence after
The quiet breath taken
When there’s nothing left to take
-Kip
KIP
“I was wondering…”
“Mm-hm?” Kip mumbled, holding the two screws in his lips so they wouldn’t drop into the abyss below the new water display he was putting together. Or rather, trying to put together.
Much like the mountain display on the other side of the store, this one was complicated.
And absurd, if he were being honest.
Why he thought he’d be able to set it up with little to no help was still unknown. Snow Mountain had taken him, Bo, Adam, and the creative architect three days to do. But the pieces for Wiamea had arrived earlier that day and Kip had been feeling cocky.
Apparently.
But he wasn’t too proud to ask for help when it was clear he was in over his head.
“Maybe we could get a drink.”
The screws clattered onto the metal platform before rolling off the edge—never to be seen again.
Kip squinted one eye and twisted his neck to face May.
“What?” he asked, trying to disguise the irritation in his voice.
May shrugged and glanced away, a fresh blush on her pale cheeks. “If not, that’s cool. I just—Uh, never mind.” She pressed her lips together, her blues eyes scanning the showroom floor.
Kip stood, stretching his body from the squat he’d been in for several minutes. “I have to finish building this display, so I can’t really go anywhere.”
He thought that was kind of obvious.
Weird.
Normally, May wasn’t the type to blow off a project to go hang out with friends.
“But if you have somewhere to be, you can take off. I can finish up here.”
May blinked at him, silent.
Kip wasn’t sure what else to add, so he pulled out his cell phone and dialed his buddy Adam.
“KC,” Adam greeted loudly.
“Hey, do you have a hammer drill? I’m building a new display and it’s being difficult.”
The loud background noise faded away. “Yes, I do. In fact, I have a brand new one I’m looking for an excuse to break in.”
“Are you busy at the moment?” Kip asked hopefully.
“Hell no,” Adam muttered. “Are you at the shop?”
“Affirmative.”
“Be there in twenty.”
Kip slipped the phone in his pocket and stretched his arms over his head to release some tension in his back.
Movement in the darkened area below caught his eye. He spotted May slipping on her jacket and muttering to herself. She didn’t even say anything to him before she left, locking the door behind her.
Now what had gotten into her?
Yeah, they’d had to stay late that night to set up the new inventory and displays, but she’d volunteered. Plus, she knew it would be counted as overtime pay on her check.
Kip’s phone rang and he smiled when he saw Tessa’s face on the screen. He’d taken a photo of her the other day when they’d been working on longboarding. He’d saved it as her new profile picture in his phone.
It was a great photo.
She was in the hat he’d given her, which was still backwards, and she was laughing. Her head was tipped back with her hands on her hips.
If joy was an image…
He answered her facetime request.
“Still working?” she asked.
“Yep.” He spotted the plain white walls behind her. “You too?”
“Wendy called in sick today,” she said with no sympathy. “So, I’m here returning her clients’ emails and making sure nothing gets forgotten. What are you doing?”
Kip sat down on the metal staircase. “I was just abandoned by my assistant manager so she could go to the bar. And I’m waiting for Adam to get here and help me finish up.”
Tessa frowned and shook her head once. “I have questions. What do you mean ‘abandoned?’”
Kip took off his beanie since he was alone and ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know. She volunteered to help me, and then while I was trying to screw together this thing, she asked if we could go get a drink. Apparently, it wasn’t as compelling as she thought it would be.”
During his last sentence Tessa had begun laughing.
“What?” he asked.
“She asked you if you wanted to get a drink.” Tessa raised her eyebrows and blinked at him as if he was supposed to know what she was talking about.
“Yeah,” Kip said, shrugging. “And then she got weird when I told her it was fine if she had somewhere she needed to be, and she left without even saying goodbye. Why are you laughing?”
Tessa wiped tears from under her eyes as she fought to breathe through her laughter. “Oh Kip. You’re wonderful and you have no idea.”
“I like being told I’m wonderful, but I’m going to need you to tell me why,” he said.
“She was asking you on a date,” Tessa said.
“No, she wasn—”
Tessa nodded and rolled her lips inward.
Kip ran his hand through his hair again as he replayed the interaction with May. “But I’m her boss,” he said uselessly.
“Lots of people date in the workplace.” Tessa shrugged. “If your reaction was as clueless as you’ve portrayed, she probably felt pretty stupid.”
“I don’t want to make her feel stupid!” Kip protested. “But I also don’t want to date her.”
Tessa snickered.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying this.” Kip rolled his eyes. May asking him out never even crossed his mind.
“Do you react this way every time a woman asks you out?” Tessa asked, trying and failing to hide her delight in this new revelation.
“I don’t think so…” Kip’s gaze snapped back to her. “How would I even know!”
Tessa threw herself back in her office chair and laughed hard. Her phone was propped up on the desk so Kip was able to see her entire torso. She looked different with work clothes on.
More mature. Less motley.
But it was still her.
All these little layers he kept uncovering about her just increased his infatuation.
They’d spent all of Sunday together—from sunrise to well after sundown—and all he wanted was more.
“Are we hanging out this weekend again?” he asked, planning ahead.
She sobered and leaned her elbows on her desk. “I would really like that.”
“No dates I need to know about?” he teased.
“Ha! No. No one has asked yet, but I plan on keeping this weekend open.”
“Yeah?” He ignored the stab of anxiety at the mention of someone asking her out. “You get asked out a lot, don’t you?” he guessed.
“Probably as much as you do. But at least I know what it sounds like.” Her words dissolved into giggles.
“Oh, shush,” he reprimanded half-heartedly. Her giggles were hella cute. He couldn’t even pretend like it upset him.
“Oh!” she declared, suddenly all business. “Next question. Who’s Adam?”
Kip thought about how to answer that question. Who was Adam? He didn’t think even Adam knew the answer to that question.
“Wow, okay,” Tessa sai
d around a snicker. “I didn’t think you’d get super existential all of a sudden.”
Kip smirked. “It’s a complicated question. I’ll just say he’s a friend from back in the day with a reputation that’s well-earned.”
“Does he work at Soaring Bird with you?”
“Uh, sometimes.” Kip chuckled.
Headlights turned into the lot signaling Adam’s arrival. Kip tugged his beanie back on.
“Speaking of,” he said. “I better get going.”
“Talk later?” Tessa asked.
Kip loved that she asked every time. Like it mattered to her. Like talking to him was something she looked forward to.
“Count on it, Peaches.”
Kip hurried down the steps to let Adam inside.
“Long time,” Adam greeted, grasping Kip’s hand and pulling him in for a quick hug.
“How’s the newest venture?” Kip asked, leading him up the steps to where he’d been working.
“Oh, it’s failing.” Adam tried to disguise his frustration with a laugh. “Just like all the others.”
Kip didn’t really know how to respond except to sigh for his friend.
“What have we got going on here?” Adam asked, resting his hands on his hips and looking over the monstrous water display.
“It’s supposed to be Wiamea,” Kip explained.
“Ahhh.” Adam nodded and his eyes lit up. “Got it. We can totally bust this out tonight.”
***
Kip rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and fought back a yawn.
They’d worked until dawn but Adam had been right, they’d been able to finish it.
Where was Adam? Kip scanned the quiet shop, but didn’t see the man anywhere.
An annoying buzz signaled the front door opening and Kip’s gaze tracked to where May entered.
After his conversation with Tessa last night, he wasn’t sure how to proceed with May. Should he talk to her about it? Tell her he wasn’t interested? Pretend like he was still clueless?
She nodded his direction, seemingly unsurprised that he was still there, and went to put her things behind the counter.
“Kip?” she called, staring down at the floor behind the register. “Is there a reason there’s a grown man sleeping on the floor?”
That’s where Adam went.
Kip rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s Adam. Sometimes we contract him for projects.” He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. “He built that last night.”
May’s eyes widened as she took in the massive display for the first time.
“Holy crap. You guys did that in one night?”
Kip twisted to look at it again. Her awe was appropriate.
Adam had cut, carved and painted a big wave with a featureless rider on a surfboard coming down its face. He’d used odds and ends and mannequins from inside the shop to make something brand new.
But the most captivating aspect was the fountain he’d created at its center.
“I didn’t know we had plumbing up there,” May muttered coming around to get a closer look.
“We didn’t. Adam installed all of that.”
“Geez,” she breathed.
“It’ll look even better once I finish up the detail work.”
They both turned around to see Adam stretching his arms above his head.
“Thanks again, man. I would not have been able to pull that off without you.”
“Not a problem.” Adam shrugged and came around the counter, his eyes on May. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Adam Sawyer.”
Kip rolled his eyes.
Adam always introduced himself with both first and last name. Because he honestly thought people knew who he was.
And maybe some people did, but not as many as he seemed to think.
May shook Adam’s hand. Her jaw and body tightened simultaneously.
“Well, you did a fantastic job, Adam.”
“I’ll walk you out so May can get to work,” Kip interjected before Adam decided to flirt with his manager.
“Hope to see you around, May,” Adam called over his shoulder as they walked outside.
They stopped on the sidewalk in front of Adam’s car.
“Any more emergencies you need me for?” Adam asked around a yawn.
“Not yet, but I have your number,” Kip chuckled.
Adam’s gaze drifted to the sign on the building and he sobered. “Damn. Shane sure knows what he’s doing. I wish I had those instincts,” he said wistfully.
“You’ve got more talent than you know what to do with, Sawyer,” Kip reminded. “You just need to pick a lane and commit.”
Adam smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
Kip watched his friend drive away, understanding a little of what Adam was struggling with. Maybe it would help if he told him that.
Nah.
No reason to tell him any of that now.
Not when it wasn’t a big deal.
***
TESSA
Friday could not have come sooner.
Normally, Tessa loved her job.
Well, she at least didn’t mind it.
But with Wendy out all week and Tessa the only one with enough experience to handle some of the accounts, it had been a hell of a week.
She closed her eyes for a moment and soaked in the air conditioning in her company car before going into her last stop of the day.
She’d been in Newport Beach all week and she was looking forward to hanging out with Kip all weekend.
He brought a sense of normalcy to her life that she’d begun to crave. With him, she could be goofy and intense and nuts and he seemed to be fine with all of it.
She could not be goofy in Newport Beach.
One more stop.
Then the weekend could begin.
The automatic doors slid open on her approach and the gust of cold air blew her long hair out of her face.
She glanced around the waiting area of the upscale practice, thankful there wasn’t anyone in the chairs.
For some reason adolescent cancer specialists always made her heart hurt. She hated seeing young people waiting.
Just waiting.
As if their life was on pause.
“Hi!” She smiled wide at the receptionist who had already spotted her sample case. “Is Dr. Carver here?”
“He’s with a patient right now.”
Tessa reached into the front pocket of her case pulling out her card and Narrs and Beltzer’s newest product packet.
“Do you want a sucker?” the nurse at the checkout window asked, distracting Tessa for a second.
The hardest part about her job was seeing kids dealing with something they should never have to. It wasn’t fair and even though it was commonplace (especially for her industry) it still made her want to scream at the world.
She straightened her shoulders, determined to ignore whatever small, unseen voice answered the nurse’s question.
“Peach if you have it,” an adult male voice answered.
Tessa cocked her head at the unexpected sound. Also, also, the familiarity of it sent a rush of goosebumps up her arms.
The check-out nurse beamed at the patient just out of view and Tessa’s stomach went into freefall.
A tan arm came into view along with the blue octopus tattoo she knew so well and Tessa’s heart stopped beating.
The door to the waiting room opened, and even though she knew Kip was going to step through it, it still rocked her when he did.
His eyes met hers and they both froze.
Her stomach never reached the floor, it just kept falling. The longer they stood staring at one another, the more it fell. Down, down, down, to a place so dark and deep she didn’t know it existed inside of her.
Her mind raced with facts and assumptions portrayed in sputtering bullet points.
Kip grew up in Newport Beach.
Kip just had an appointment with an oncologist.
An oncologist that treats adolescent
cancers.
Kip has cancer.
Kip is dying.
Kip isn’t an adolescent.
He’s not dying.
Kip is dating an oncologist.
And then, like he hadn’t seen her at all, he shook his keys out of his pocket and strode through the glass doors.
“Here’s some samples and my card. I’ll be back next week.” Tessa threw some objects onto the desk including a kidney-shaped stress toy that bounced off the counter and onto the floor.
But Tessa was already running out the door and into the parking lot.
She had questions.
And she had never been the kind of person to take new information casually. She didn’t know how to play it cool, and she wasn’t about ready to pretend to try.
She ran out into the parking lot and scanned for Kip’s bus.
She spotted Kip’s bus easily and scolded herself for not having seen it when she’d first arrived. She ran towards it but as she closed in, she realized he wasn’t trying to leave.
But he was just sitting in the driver’s seat staring straight ahead.
She slowed as she approached the window. He didn’t glance her direction and she waited a beat before she knocked on the glass.
He took a visible breath and frowned.
She waited, her heart pounding her questions out in Morse code.
Finally, he rolled his window down and the defeated expression on his face broke her heart.
“Would you like to come over for dinner?” he asked softly, not meeting her eyes.
“Yes,” she whispered.
He nodded once, rolled up his window, and drove away.
CHAPTER 8
I think of the stars
And wonder if your dust
Mingled with mine
Would create new suns
With new sunrises
-Tessa
TESSA
She parked her car beside his bus. No one else appeared to be home.
The beach house sat quiet in the golden rays of the setting sun. A deceitful calm which belied what she was about to walk into.
Sushi and Sun Salutations Page 9
