Page 5 of Fish Out of Water

With the list still in hand, he began to search the store for everything he needed. Everyone else marched around with such purpose, and it made sense. They came here every week, alwaysgoing to the same aisles to buy the same things. Jake was the only one who had to wander around, checking every aisle regardless of the sign indicating what was supposed to be down it.

Three trips around the entire store later, and he was still looking for dry beans. He’d found the canned ones, but Isabel had specifically written on her listno canned beans. Jake couldn’t let her down now.

With a frustrated sigh, he went down the aisle with canned beans again. The dry ones were there; he was just missing them. They hadto be there. He passed someone else carrying a basket and quickly lowered his gaze. This man walking by didn’t need to know the shame Jake felt in his inability to shop for beans, of all things.

But the man stopped in his tracks, and Jake realized he was watching him. He looked up, offering a polite but stiff smile. That would surely be enough.

It was not.

The man, tall and statuesque, with light brown hair and piercing blue eyes, raised a single eyebrow. Then he smiled, flashing bright white teeth, and walked toward Jake.

“Hello.”

Jake narrowed his eyes. He would have been strikingly handsome if only he weren’t trying so hard to flaunt it. “Hi.”

“I couldn’t help noticing you look a little lost. I saw you on the other side of the store a few minutes ago. Are you looking for something in particular?”

Jake’s gaze dropped to the man’s chest, searching his shirt for a name tag. The rust-colored button-up was a far cry from the blue polo shirts all the Sandway employees appeared to wear. “Do you work here?”

“I don’t, but I’ve been shopping here for most of my adult life. If you just tell me what you need, I promise I can find it for you in seconds.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess. Where are the dried beans?”

“Down the next aisle.” The man pointed. “Want me to show you?”

“Sure. Couldn’t hurt.”

Jake walked with the mysterious man to one aisle over where, at the end, sat a row of all sorts of bagged dry beans, from black to kidney to garbanzo. How he’d missed them twice before, he couldn’t fathom.

“There you go,” the man said. “Do you need help with anything else? Checking out, maybe, or loading your bags back into your car?”

Jake bit his tongue to keep himself from saying something rude to the person who had just helped him. “No,” he said, his voice clipped. “That’s all. Thanks.”

The man nodded, smirking a little. He was having more fun with Jake’s incompetency than he’d initially let on. “Sure thing.”

Jake grabbed the bag that Isabel wanted, hoping that when he turned around, the man would be gone.

“Hey, are you new in town? I’ve never seen you here before.”

Jake dropped the bag into the cart with athud. “Yeah. Well, I’m helping my aunt out for a couple of months. I’ll be gone after that.”

“Oh, who’s your aunt?”

“Isabel Haver.”

The man’s expression changed instantly, his eyes brightening and his smirk dropping. “You’re her nephew? Small world.”

“Considering there are, like, 500 people living here, I’d say that’s an understatement.”

“Well, sorry for teasing you about the beans. I really thought you were just a tourist at first, but obviously I was mistaken.”

Jake glared at him incredulously. He didn’t believe for a second that this man, whoever he was, was offering a genuine apology. He probably just felt bad now that he knew he would have to see Jake around town for the next few months.

“I’m sorry about Marcus too,” the man added. “He and Isabel were a big part of the community before he got sick. Any time Isabel wants to come back to volunteering at the beach, we welcome her with open arms.”

“She’s actually busy trying to get her life back in order after Mark’s death,” Jake said coldly. “She needs to work on her own place before she helps out at the beach.” He paused, sensing the tension between them growing.

This was not what Isabel wanted for him, and even Jake knew he didn’t need to make enemies on his first day in such a small town. He took a deep breath. He had to at least try.