“Beck,” I say patiently, interrupting her rant. “They didn’t have any. I asked.”
“Oh.” She turns a pretty shade of pink. “Okay, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I nod towards the food. “Eat.”
“Okay,” she says as she fills her plate. “This all looks delicious.” Glancing up at me, she asks, “Are you going to eat?”
“I will.” Placing my hot coffee on the table, I pick up a plate and choose what I want.
“So, what’s the plan?” she asks before taking a bite of watermelon. I watch as she catches juice with her tongue.
“Plan?” I glance away from her mouth and down to the plate in my hand. Blinking away the vision of her licking her lips, I scoop up scrambled eggs.
“Yeah. Do you have anything you need to do here before we go back to Emerley?”
“No. After we eat, you can get dressed, and we will head out.”
“Sounds good.”
We eat silently for a moment, each lost in our own thoughts when she says, “Hey Ryan, I know Vaughan said you went to boarding school, but where did you actually grow up?”
“My parents have a condo in Toronto, but I wouldn’t exactly call it my home, though. When I wasn’t at school or summer camp when I was a kid, I stayed at the lake. My parents hired different nannies over the years to take care of me and try to keep me out of trouble. My grandparents were close by.”
“That’s kind of sad,” she murmurs. Picking up her coffee cup, she asks, “Do you have any siblings?”
“It’s all I knew growing up, and no, I’m an only child.”
“Me too. Do you see your parents very often?”
“No, but I visit my grandfather regularly. What about you?”
“Not really. They come to Emerley once or twice a year, but they never stay too long.”
“You grew up in the States?”
“Yeah. My father grew up in Emerley but went to university in Boston. That’s where he met my mom. After they got married, they moved to Maine and had me. He grew up in the same house that Aunt Maggie lives in. It’s nothing like it was then. Aunt Maggie has filled it full of personality now that she owns it.”
“How did you end up moving to Emerley?” I know bits and pieces of this story, but the more we talk about her, the less we will talk about me.
“Now there’s a good story.” She rolls her eyes dramatically. “It started with my flunking out of university. Don’t judge.” She points her fork at me.
“No judgement from me.” I raise my palm. “Trust me.”
“Well, let’s just say my parents had big feelings about it. They’re academics, so the expectations they had for me were high. There was a lot of tension, so when Aunt Maggie invited me to come visit her for the summer, I couldn’t get there fast enough. Living with her was so easy. I didn’t feel like I was walking on eggshells all the time. She has always accepted me for exactly who I am.”
“I’m glad you have her,” I say honestly. Her story is closer to mine than she thinks. The only difference is my parents had no big aspirations for me. The bar was pretty low from a pretty young age. “What happened next?” I ask curiously.
“I started working at the bakery. Aunt Maggie tried to teach me how to bake but it was hopeless.” She laughs. “I was much better suited to working out front. That’s how I met Banks.”
“Tell me more about that. Had you ever considered becoming a tattoo artist before?”
“God, no. My parents would have died.” She bites her bottom lip and shakes her head. “It was…serendipity. Banks stopped at the bakery at least twice a day, and I got to know him well. One morning he mentioned that he needed a shop assistant. I wasn’t the best barista, to no one’s surprise, so I decided to give it a try. I started as an assistant and moved to an apprentice and then an artist over a few years. And ta-da, here I am now.”
“I’ve seen your work. You are very talented.”
“Thank you; that means a lot. Drawing is the one thing I do well.” Her face flushes with the compliment. “What about you? Did you always want to help people?”
“No.” I try to think quickly about how I want to address this question as honestly as possible. “It took time to figure out what I wanted in life. I knew I couldn’t continue on the path I was heading. And I had no desire to go into the family business.”
