Page 6 of Fish Out of Water

“I’m Jake, by the way. What did you say your name was?”

“Just call me Robbie.”

“Robbie…”

Robbie sighed a sigh that was far too weighty for having to give out a simple last name. “Eaton.”

Jake raised his eyebrows. “Oh, soyou’rethe Eaton who owns every other business around here.”

“That would be my parents—sort of. My dad inherited most of the businesses from my grandfather.”

“So you’re just a nepo baby.”

Robbie grimaced. “I guess you could say that.”

“You don’t shop at your parent’s store?”

“No. It’s hard enough to get away from them as it is. I’m sure as hell not buying mygroceriesfrom them, too.”

“And they don’t, I don’t know, sneak you stuff from the back for free?”

Robbie looked like he was about to laugh, but instead he just smiled wryly. “You haven’t met them yet, have you?”

Jake shook his head. “I just got into town today.”

“Probably for the best. You want my advice?”

“Not really.”

“Avoid them like the plague. They won’t like you, and you definitely won’t like them.”

“Okay.” Jake glanced around awkwardly. A woman pushed her cart between them, the child in it staring back at Jake with big brown eyes. “So what do you do when you decide you’re bored, besides shopping for…” Jake looked closer at the items in Robbie’s basket. “Chocolate and yogurt?”

“Actually, I work at the Book Nook. I manage the store.”

“For your parents.”

“Yes, for my parents.”

Jake snorted. He couldn’t help himself.

“Do you have a problem with that?” Robbie asked sharply.

“You were just complaining about your parents, and yet you feed straight out of their hands.”

Robbie shook his head. “If you need anything else, ask an employee. At least they’repaidto help pricks like you.”

Jake opened his mouth to say something in retort, but Robbie had already disappeared around the corner, and he wasn’t about to abandon the cart full of items he’d worked so hard to find just to insult a man he barely knew.

Jake got backto the house later than he’d anticipated, but Isabel didn’t seem too worried. She sat in the living room reading a book, a dust cloth and some sort of cleaning spray resting on the coffee table.

“Hi Jakey, how did it go?” she asked as the door opened, not even looking up.

“Great,” Jake puffed. “Where do you want all this?”

“Leave the bags in the kitchen. I’ll put everything away in a bit.”

“I can do that.”