Page 20 of Truth and Temptation
Once I’ve placed my order for a grilled panini and soup, I take a seat and open the news app on my phone. I’m thumbing through the headlines when I hear a soft voice say my name. I look up to see Summer smiling down at me.
“Hi, Summer,” I reply, glancing behind her to see if her hulking fiancée is with her. He isn’t, and when I look back at her, she’s smirking at me. Damn.
“Ethan’s at work. He won’t harass you again, trust me, I gave him shit for what he pulled at Hastings the other night. He just feels the need to protect everyone. I’m sorry you got caught up in that.”
“It’s fine. I respect that he’s watching out for Paige.”
“Anyway, I was hoping to see you again.” Summer pulls out the chair opposite me and sits down. “I’ve been thinking a lot about your business plan. Up for a little shoptalk over lunch?”
I shrug my shoulders because what else can I do. It’s not like I can tell her that the entire idea is a pipe dream, a fantasy I dreamt up with my dead brother years ago.
“Here’s the thing. The resort has only been open just over a year, but every weekend I get people asking for my advice on hiking trails, where they can rent kayaks, where they could go on a trail ride, or fishing, or any number of things that I don’t have answers for. If you’re interested, I would love to discuss how we could work together. I’ve got some space in the main building of the resort you could use as an office, and maybe in return my guests could get a small discount? I wrote down a list of everything I could remember being asked about over the last year.”
She slides a piece of paper across to me, and I glance at it quickly, trying to ignore the prickle of excitement at finally talking with someone else about the plan Ryder and I came up with over beers one night. Summer’s still talking, but my mind drifts back to a time when Ryder wasn’t sick, and we were young and stupid, planning our futures without a goddamn care in the world.
“It’ll be perfect, bro. I’ll relocate my branch of Crawford to the island, we can buy out an office building by the beach with your adventure tours on the main floor and my offices up above.”
“You’re assuming Mom and Dad will let me out of working for the business,” I say to my brother after cracking open two more bottles of beer. “They’re pretty set on us both taking over some day.”
“Fuck that. You don’t wanna be there, and no offense, man, but I’m way smarter than you. I’ll handle Crawford Books, you take all the hot tourists out on day trips.”
“Thanks, asshole, you make me sound like a total douche.”
Ryder just shrugs. Piece of shit.
“Just calling it like I see it, bro.” He grins.
I miss that grin. I miss him.
We never did get to plan out our futures in any more detail because the next week Ryder was diagnosed with aggressive acute myeloid leukemia and our entire world shifted focus onto his health. Dreams were forgotten in lieu of trying to fight the evil disease that ravaged my twin brother. In fact, the only other time we talked about my idea for an adventure tourism company was on what turned out to be the worst night of my life. We fought about it, tarnishing the dream forever.
“Summer, this looks great. I’m still figuring out the details of what I want to do, so can we maybe revisit this sometime soon?”
It’s a total cop-out, and I don’t give a fuck. The woman in front of me is nice, friendly, and offering me an opportunity I don’t think I would ever pass up if things were different.
She looks at me curiously for a minute, and I struggle not to shift restlessly under her scrutiny. “Sure. That’s fine.”
Her lunch comes over at the same time as mine. At the same time, the door to the café opens, and I see Paige walk in. My eyes are fixed on her and the instant she sees me, hers widen ever so slightly behind her glasses.
“You know what, I think I’ll take my lunch next door and make Mila take a break.” Summer stands up and picks up her plate. Paige has made her way to our table, and Summer leans over to give her a quick hug. “Hey Paige, you should join Wyatt for lunch. I’m abandoning him.”
Paige looks at me, chewing on her lip. “I do not mean to interrupt your discussion.”
Summer just waves her hand, and I try to smile reassuringly. Every fiber of my being wants Paige to sit down. Her nearness is intoxicating in a dangerous way.
“Nah, it’s fine. I was just bombarding him with all the things my guests are wanting from me. I’m trying to convince him to partner with me for his new company.”
Paige cocks her head to the side and looks at me inquisitively. “I was unaware that your business was so close to opening.”
Am I reading too much into her words or does she look hopeful? “It isn’t, not really. I’m still in the information gathering stage. Summer was just giving me some good ideas on what to offer if I ever get to that point.”
“Alrighty, I’m going to just leave you two. Bye!” Summer walks away, flashing an enigmatic smile.
I stand up and gesture toward the counter. “Can I buy you lunch?”
Finally, Paige smiles back. “I do believe I am in debt to you and should be paying for yours instead.”
“That’s crap. You don’t owe me anything,” I reply, shoving my hands into my pockets. Hands that are itching to reach out and touch her.
