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“Leave the boy alone, Ted, or I’ll punch you in the throat.”
I smother my laughter with one hand, setting my coffee down on the edge of my dad’s desk. Thankful for the interruption, I quickly get up from my chair.
“You can’t talk to me like that at work, Dottie!” my dad whispers loudly as I greet my grandmother with a kiss on the cheek when she gets to me.
“Fine. I’ll type it up in a memo so you can read it later.” She rolls her eyes at me, and this time, I let the laughter come tumbling out of me. She’s one of my favorite people, and it always puts me in a better mood when I see her.
“You’re late. Again,” my dad complains to her when I pull back, grabbing the coffee I got her out of the drink holder on his desk and handing it to her.
“Eat shit, Ted. I run this place. You’re lucky I even show up at all.”
Dorothy “Dottie” Wilson is my mom’s mother and my father’s mother-in-law. She’s been the administrative assistant to the mayor of Summersweet Island since my grandfather was in office. It’s actually how my parents met. Back then, Dottie lived on the mainland and brought my mom to work with her one day when my dad was interning here during his summer break as a file clerk.
Dottie has no plans to ever retire, even though my dad has wished for it on every single birthday when he blows out his candles. She and my dad have shared a love-hate relationship for as long as I can remember. Nothing changed after my mom shocked us all a few months ago and asked my dad for a divorce. She left him, as well as this island, to travel the world and see what’s out there other than being a mayor’s wife in a small town. If anything, Dottie and Dad bicker even worse now, since my mom isn’t here to act as a buffer, and her random phone calls checking in don’t put nearly enough fear into either one of them to behave. With her short, wavy bob that she gets dyed blonde every six weeks, work uniform of Victoria’s Secret Pink leggings and a matching hoodie that she owns combinations of in every single color and style, flip-flops on her feet, and her insistence that I call her Dottie instead of Grandma, she’s a sassy thing who will never act her age. She does whatever makes her happy, without apologies, and I wish I could be more like her.
She’s also the most unprofessional assistant ever, but she’s right. She runs this place. My dad won’t so much as send an email without checking with her first. City hall would fall apart without Dottie Wilson keeping everyone in line.
“So, what are we talking about this morning?” she asks, both of us sitting down in the chairs across from my dad’s desk.
“Your grandson making smart choices.”
I wince, knowing I probably need to tell them about Tinsley sooner, rather than later. This is a small island, and everyone is always in each other’s business. If I don’t tell them now, they’ll hear it from someone else, and that would not be good for me. At this point, I’d rather talk aboutanythingother than being the next mayor.
“About that…” I pause, still undecided if this choice I made was smart or not. “I’m going to have a roommate living with me. It’s a favor for a friend, and hopefully it’s just for a few weeks.”
“That’s nice of you. Anyone we know?” my dad asks, flipping through the furniture catalogue again.
Rubbing my hand over the back of my neck, I fidget a little in my seat.
“Remember my friend Tristan from college?”
“Tristan Brewster? He’s coming to stay on the island?” My dad’s eyes light up immediately when he stops picking out furniture to look up at me.
Every time I mention Tristan, my dad practically wets his pants. The Brewster family owns one of the biggest real estate development firms in the United States. My father has always encouraged my friendship with him, thinking more about what he could do for me than whether or not he’s a good friend. It seems to have escaped his attention that after all these years of friendship,I’malways the one doing things forTristan.
“Yes. Well, not him, but his younger sister. I guess she has some personal stuff going on, and Tristan wants me to help her out until she’s ready to go back to Chicago.”
“Oooh, a young woman living right down the hall? This sounds like a romance novel waiting to happen and just the kind of excitement you need in your life.” Dottie winks at me.
I just shake my head at her, while my dad voices both our thoughts.
“Oh, no, no, no. That is not a good idea.”
“Exactly.” I nod. “She’s my friend’s little sister. She’s off-limits.”
“And you’ll never get Emily back if you start something with another woman,” he adds, now voicing hisownstupid thoughts.
He has never forgiven me for breaking things off with Emily. No matter how many times he’s seen her with Quinn around town—or all over entertainment news when they attend an event together. And also no matter how I’ve told him until I’m blue in the face that I do notwanther back, just as much as she doesn’t want to come back.
“Oh give it a rest, Ted. Emily isn’t going to happen again. You need to let that go and move on. They were not right for each other; they never were.”
“Thank you.” I turn my head and smile at Dottie when she sticks up for me.
“He needs to get laid. I want to hear more about the best friend’s younger sister you’re going to do dirty things to when you bump into each other getting a glass of water in the middle of the night in your skivvies.”
Now, I drop my head in my hands and groan.
“Oh my God, Dottie!” Dad complains.
