The beauty of Daddy having a chef is that all I had to do for Thanksgiving dinner was put the premade food into the oven at the right times to warm them up and then set them on the table for everyone to eat. Once dinner was over, I didn’t even have to wash dishes since Caroline and Preston insisted on doing them. They wouldn’t let Parker help either, so he followed me to the couch, where we both collapsed, and I handed him the remote.
Since I’d ceded control of the remote without a fight, I deserved to sprawl across the couch, claiming most of it for myself.
Parker didn't agree. “Don’t you have a party to plan?” He asked and pushed my legs off the couch before turning on the game, but fair is fair, so I put them right back where they’d been.
“Two parties. Which is why I’m taking a day off,” I said and pressed the soles of my feet into his thighs.
He pushed them away a few times, but I kept putting them back until he gave in. I may have won a battle of wills, but more likely he was slipping into a food coma like I was. With my head on a pillow and my feet in his lap, it didn’t take long before I was asleep.
I woke up an hour later to Beyoncé belting “Single Ladies,” my ringtone for Taylor. I still hadn’t changed it. I had until February.
“Hey!” she yelled in her one-too-many-glasses-of-wine voice. “Blake’s here. Can we come by and introduce you?”
“Weston’s brother?” I asked. “Yeah, come on by.”
We said goodbye, and I sat up. I wasn’t really in the mood for guests, mostly because I’d have to brush my hair, but Taylor had been dying to introduce me to Blake ever since she’d found out he was coming for Thanksgiving.
“Who was that?” Parker asked as I stretched my arms over my head. “By the way, you snore.”
“It was Taylor, and shut up.” I let my arms drop, smacking him on the head. “She and Weston are coming over to introduce me to his brother.”
“He has a brother?” Caroline asked from the kitchen. “Does he look like Weston?” She wouldn’t say it in front of Preston, but she thought Weston was hot.
“Half-brother,” I answered, ignoring whatever she was trying to imply. “Weston barely knows him. His mom didn’t let him see his dad much after they got divorced because his dad married a Mormon and moved to Idaho.”
“Ooh, family drama,” Caroline said. “I like it.”
“I don’t blame her. Martha’s ex-daughter-in-law was a Mormon too,” Daddy said from the kitchen, where he was scrubbing his hands. “I wouldn’t want you girls hanging around them, let alone marrying one.”
“Daddy! I’ve had lots of Mormon friends, and they’re just like anybody else.” I stood and moved my head side to side to work out the kinks. “Besides, you don’t have to worry about me marrying anyone, Mormon or not. Blake’s staying with Weston for a while, so Weston wants him to have some friends.” Taylor had said something once about us being sisters-in-law if Blake and I hit it off, but I’d given her a look to remind her that marriage was not my jam.
“That’s a relief.” Daddy walked into the family room, rubbing his hands with enough hand sanitizer I could smell it from ten feet away. He planted a kiss on Caroline’s cheek and then did the same to me. “Say hello to Taylor for me. I’ll see you in the morning.” He went down the hall to his room, where I knew he’d read and watch TV. It was too early for bed, but it was too late for him to muster up the energy to meet someone new.
Thirty minutes later, Taylor and Weston arrived with their very special guest. Taylor didn’t wait for me to answer the door, but instead walked right into the living room. I muted the show Parker, Preston, Caroline, and I were watching, while Taylor introduced Blake. Before she got past me he interrupted her, looked me straight in the eye, and said, “You know they’re trying to hook us up, right?”
I burst out laughing. “Oh, I know.” I stood and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you finally. Are you hungry? I can heat up some leftovers.”
Blake put his hands on his chest and fake collapsed. “That’s all you had to say to win my heart.”
I laughed again and led them into the kitchen. I already liked Blake. It wasn’t hard. I would have liked looking at him even if he hadn’t made me laugh. He had dark hair, blue eyes, and a chin so chiseled it could—I don’t know—chisel whatever needed chiseling?
“I hope we didn’t crash your party,” Taylor said as I opened the fridge and passed the containers of leftovers to her. “Blake couldn’t wait to meet you.”
“Please tell me they’ve talked about something besides me.” I closed the fridge and faced Blake. “Because, boring.”
“They’ve found a few other things to talk about, but I keep asking about you,” he answered. Then he put on a British accent and added, “I find the topic endlessly fascinating.”
“So, pray tell.” I tried an English accent of my own, but it sucked, so I dropped it. “What have they said?”
“You have a flower shop, and you’re the best florist in the entire continental United States. There’s not a flower you can’t name or tame. You’re fabulously wealthy but unpretentious—”
“Blake!” Taylor gave him a good smack that only made his smile stretch wider.
“I would tell him to stop, but he’s already told me there’s no keeping him in line.” Weston’s grin matched his brother’s, the only distinguishing feature they shared, although Blake was just as good-looking as his brother.
“Well, I’m out,” Parker interrupted from the doorway. Until then, I hadn’t noticed he’d followed us to the kitchen.
“You don’t have to leave,” I said, suddenly feeling hurt he was bailing even though he’d been there all day.
He answered with a wave goodbye and left without giving me my usual hug.
“And you surf.” Blake picked up where he’d been interrupted, and I turned my attention back to him. “Which is perfect because I’m looking for someone to teach me. I figure it can be part of the terms of our arranged marriage. I’ve already asked Taylor to put it in the contract.” Blake took a roll from the basket I’d set in front of him and popped a piece into his mouth.
“You’ve never surfed?” I asked, smothering my laugh so he’d understand the seriousness of the situation. “That could be a deal breaker.”
“Of course I’ve surfed . . .” He shifted his eyes back and forth guiltily. “What Idaho boy doesn’t surf? I only need you to help me tune up my skills.”
“Oh, well, in that case,” I said with the innocent enthusiasm of a twelve-year-old girl going to her first middle school dance. “Meet me here at seven, Saturday.”
“Seven? In the morning?”
“Surf’s up early,” I said. “Of course, you already know that. Being from Idaho and all.”
“Of course. Seven it is.” He swallowed hard.
Yeah, I liked him. He was fun.
Blake scored more points when he showed up Saturday morning with coffee and my favorite donut. Taylor and Weston were with him, so I suspected Taylor had something to do with it.
“Did you tell your brother to wear something under his swim trunks?” I asked Weston and took a bite of my apple fritter.
“I need something under them?” Blake asked.
“You can’t wear a wetsuit over them,” I answered.
“You can slip ’em off at the beach,” Weston said. “That’s why I brought you a towel.”
“I’m getting naked at the beach?”
“Only if the towel falls,” I said.
“I really don’t wear anything underneath the wetsuit?” Blake asked, looking less sure about his surf lesson by the second, and we hadn’t even made it to the water.
“Not if all you’ve got are board shorts.” I picked up my board and headed toward the beach. “I’m not gonna lie though, you’ll probably be a little rashy this time.”
I turned around when the sound of his flip-flops slapping the concrete stopped.
“Rashy?”
I pinched my fingers close together and held them in front of my face. “Little bit. It’ll be worth it,” I said and continued on my way. Seconds later I heard the thwack thwack of rubber hitting cement.
Once we got to the beach and Blake had successfully navigated changing behind a towel into a wetsuit, he was a lot more comfortable with the prospect of catching some waves. Maybe not physically comfortable, but at least mentally.
“Is it supposed to be this tight?” he asked, pulling on the neck of his wetsuit.
“It’ll be better once you’re in the water,” I answered. “Stop fidgeting and watch your brother.”
Taylor and Weston were already paddling past the break. We stayed on the sand and watched them get set up for their wave. When it came, Taylor popped up first with Weston right behind her.
“Is that all it takes?” Blake asked.
“First of all, they make it look easier than it is,” I said. “Second, don’t get discouraged if you can’t get up. It takes a long time.” I started toward the water and waved him to follow me. “And last, when you do get up, don’t ride someone else’s wave unless they want to share.”
“Are we going all the way out by them?”
“Not today,” I said, wading into the water. “You’ve got to master the little waves first. Staying upright is going to take more than one lesson.”
And then I ate my words.
It took him two tries to get up. On his third time, he stayed up all the way to shore. And he liked it so much I couldn’t get him out of the water. Taylor and Weston had to leave, but we stayed until the wind changed and the waves got mushy.
“Are you impressed?” he asked as we walked back to my house with our boards tucked under our arms. “I feel like you should be. I don’t know how long it should take to learn to surf, but I think I won at it today.”
“You definitely won. You even conquered the wet suit part.” I patted his back. “You’re almost ready for a big-boy board.”
He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “What do you mean ‘big-boy board’?” He untucked the long, wide board I’d loaned him, nearly dropping it. “I had the biggest board out there,” he said once he had it rebalanced under his arm.
“Yep. And when you’re ready to surf with the big boys, you can try one of these.” I held up my much slimmer, lighter board. “You’ve passed the first test to becoming a full-fledged San Clemente resident. Well done.”
“Nice.” He nodded. “What’s the second test?”
“Purchasing your first pair of Rainbows.”
“I’ve always wanted to buy a rainbow.”
“Different kind of rainbow,” I said. “I’m talking about flip-flops.”
“You mean—”
I held up my hand to stop him. “We never call them thongs. Ever.” Plenty of tourists made that mistake. “And I know what you’re thinking about now.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking about?” He leaned his board on the side of my house then took mine to stand next to it. “Why wouldn’t I be thinking about footwear when you say the word thong?”
“Because you’re a man.” I raised my eyebrows and waited for a response. He was less than a foot away and moving closer. For one exciting split second, I thought his comeback would involve lips rather than words.
“Hey,” a voice called behind me. A very familiar but unexpected voice.
“Hi.” I turned to face Parker. A memory flashed in my mind of the time he’d caught me pilfering some of his Halloween candy, and the same feeling of guilt I’d had then swept over me. Guilt over what I didn’t know. There wasn’t any candy in sight. Although, technically, Blake counted as eye candy.
“What’s going on?” His eyes bounced from me to Blake and back again.
“I taught Blake how to surf.” I wagged my head toward Blake. “He said he wanted to learn, so we went out this morning. The waves were awesome. He’s a natural—” I winced as Parker’s face clouded over.
“Eliza is an awesome teacher,” Blake interrupted and stepped closer to me. He shook the water out of his shoulder-length hair and pulled it back.
“Is that right?” Parker looked like he hadn’t had his morning coffee. He was testy. “Let me guess what she told you: ‘Enjoy the moment; live in the wave.’”
Blake laughed. “Yeah, something like that. It worked though. I didn’t worry about wiping out; I just went with what was happening with the water around me.”
I grabbed Blake’s arm and shook it in victory. “See? He totally gets it! I told you he’s a natural.”
“That’s great.” Parker’s “great” wasn’t very convincing. He was only getting grouchier. “You working today?” he asked.
“Yeah. How late is it?” I’d lost all track of time. I usually only opened for a few hours on Saturday, but with holiday shoppers out downtown, I had planned on working most of the day and having Hailey come in for a few hours.
Parker checked his watch. “Nine forty-five.”
“Oh! I’ve gotta go! I’ll have to ask Hailey to open.”
“Can I catch a ride with you since mine left?” Blake asked. “I can hang out at the shop for a while if you need me to.”
“Sure. Let me take a quick shower.” I typed in the garage code and the door went up. “Come inside. Parker can keep you company.”
“Uh, sure,” Parker answered and then picked up my board without my asking and put it away.
I yelled my thanks then ran upstairs to the shower. When the warm water hit me and blood started flowing to my brain again, I wondered why Parker had come by. We’d spent most of Friday together with Caroline and Preston before they’d left early this morning for San Fran. I hadn’t expected to see him again until Sunday.
Maybe I’d done something wrong the day before. That would explain his surly mood. I replayed everything I’d said but couldn’t figure out what I’d done to upset him, so I let it go. Whatever it was, he’d be sure to let me know.