“How’s business going?”she asked him.
“Always busy.Always busy.Between supplying restaurants and selling them myself, I can barely keep enough in stock.So, no complaints.Glad to have my sons home this summer to help me on the boat.How about you guys?Heard the tasting room opened last weekend.Going well?”
“Always a hiccup or two on opening day, but even then, it was a successful weekend.It’s gearing up to be a really busy summer.Once we get Bonn Remmen’s land developed, we won’t have to turn down the bigger event reservations that keep pouring in.It hurts my heart to have to refuse large parties.”
Willy clicked his tongue.“I feel the same when I have to throw back the big guys.”
A couple came up behind us, and they seemed like they wanted to buy some crabs, so we stepped to the side and said goodbye to Willy.
It was a seat yourself style setup at Flo’s, and we managed to snag a two-top table on the patio.I pulled out Naomi’s chair for her, earning myself a big, glowing smile as she took her seat.“More wooing?”she asked.
“Trying to woo.Are you feeling wooed?”
“So wooed.”
I sat down just as a teenage girl wearing khaki shorts and a baby-blue polo that said Flo’s Floathouse on it, approached our table.“Hi, Naomi.Hi, Principal Paul,” she said, flashing us big smiles.
“Hey, Lola,” Naomi said.“How’s it going?”
Lola said she was looking forward to school being done for the year, but nervous about her first summer working at Flo’s and how busy it could get with tourists.I wasn’t quite sure how this high schooler knew who I was until Naomi filled me in that Lola’s younger siblings went to my school.
“They love you,” Lola told me.“Say you’re so cool and nice.And that you actually go and hang out with the kids during recess.Consider my siblings converts and their minds boggled.”
I chuckled at her compliment.“Well, Becky and Brian are great kids.Brian is quite the soccer player, and Becky’s art is impressive for a ten-year-old.”
“He’s going to lose his mind when I tell him you said that.”She whipped out her notepad.“What can I get you guys?”
We ordered some of their “famous” raspberry-mint lemonade and a basket of calamari to share, then looked over the menu when Lola disappeared.
Water rippled below, and I hung my head over the white wooden railing to find what had to be Cammy and Squid swimming around in the placid green water.“Oh, hello there,” I said.
Naomi chuckled as she leaned over as well.“Oh, Cammy, your baby is so cute.But we don’t have any food for you guys right now.I’m sorry.”
“Look at those big, black eyes,” I marveled.“I’ll definitely have to bring Mabes down here.Just not on a weekend, and well before school lets out.”
Naomi said back in her seat and nodded.Her foot beneath the table found mine and started to playfully rub back and forth.I’d never played footsies with anyone before.The cheeky glint in her eyes and half smirk on her lips said that maybe she hadn’t either.
Lola returned with our drinks and calamari.We placed the rest of our order.I was going to have the seared Cajun salmon with quinoa salad, and Naomi ordered the crab cakes and coleslaw.
Cammy and Squid continued to just paddle around below us, drawing quite the crowd from other diners and people passing by.Eventually, someone bought some herring or something from Willy and started throwing it into the water, which Cammy greatly appreciated.
“Dinner and a show,” I said.“It’s like I planned this or something.”
Naomi’s small, coquettish smile made my body warm.“Yeah …”
Reaching for her hand across the table, I ran my thumb across her knuckles.That just made her beam even brighter as she sipped her lemonade.But then, as if a big gust of wind just blew through and snuffed out a candle, her face dropped and her glow disappeared.She also pulled her hand away.
I craned my neck around to see what had caused such a sudden shift in her behavior.“What just happened?”I asked, unable to see anything out of the ordinary.
Her eyes darted to the left and behind me, and she brought her voice down to a whisper.“The pointing and whispering of those people over there.”
I continued to gawk around, then leaned in across the table.“You mean the table of four over there?”
“Yes.Those are parents at the school.Their kids are in the same grades as Honor and Austin.I don’t like the way they’re looking and whispering.Shaina even pointed when you reached for my hand.”
My jaw grew tight, and I sucked in a sharp breath before turning to face them.They all glanced away in the most ridiculously conspicuous ways.“Hey, folks,” I said, giving them an enthusiastic and friendly wave.“Nice night for a date, huh?”
The two men and two women all awkwardly waved back at me and nodded.
