8. Archer
Chapter 8
Archer
After not talking for eight years and ignoring each other outright during her first week at Wild Pines, Archer was surprised how easy it was to fall into a routine with Tea.
He wondered at first if he made a mistake agreeing to let her work for him this summer.
But when she tackled his spreadsheets and filled out those pesky task forms that first morning all before it was time for lunch, he stopped questioning it.
Tea was good at what she did—which wasn’t a surprise to him at all.
Watching her speedily spit out numbers and organize finances reminded him of those summers in their high school years, when she would fill out thick books full of impossible equations preparing for all of the advanced college courses she signed up for.
He would call her a nerd, she would laugh, then he would drag her down the lawn to go sailing.
If only it were that easy to get her in a boat now.
Tea didn’t have any desire to go near the water, except for dipping her toes in as she sat on the dock or stood on the beach.
He wanted to push, but he knew it wasn’t his place.
Things were…fragile.
Like a delicate vase that broke into dozens of pieces, glued carefully together but left with jagged scars.
He knew saying something would be the equivalent of throwing that vase across the room.
So he made her coffee, as promised.
He would fill his Chemex every morning, pour the hot coffee in a carafe, and place it on his kitchen table with a fresh mug.
She would come over with a plate of whatever Kelly baked in Cabin B that morning—blueberry muffins, French breakfast puffs, sticky pecan rolls—and force Archer to eat one before he left her to settle in at his table with her laptop for the day.
Caffeinated and buzzed on whatever sugary creation Tea bullied him into eating, he left her to handle the outdoor tasks.
He pulled pesky weeds that lined the beach.
He power washed the docks until they gleamed.
He even had time to spray the lawn and kill the clovers that attracted too many bees.
The flowers dotted across the lawn did make the resort seem quaint, but the bees that congregated around them made it hard for people to walk safely around barefoot.
And everyone walked around barefoot here.
That fourth day when he returned for lunch, frustrated by whoever didn’t clean up after themselves in the fishing cabin again , he walked in on Tea examining his wall of sticky notes.
Or, what was his wall of sticky notes.
Instead of a haphazard collection of tasks on his wall, she organized the squares into categories, each sticky note lined up vertically under a column of tasks.
Outdoor repairs. Cleaning.
Administrative to-do’s.
Silver Falls Lake Association.
Community building. She even had a column for personal goals, like painting the cabin and replacing the ripped up old couch.
As impressed as he was with the organization of it all, he couldn’t help imagine what this wall would look like when the resort opened up fully.
Would the number of sticky notes double when there were tasks to do for renters to visit, like cleaning the cabins and arranging boat and pontoon rentals?
Would the organized system go back to complete chaos without Tea helping him keep things in line?
Archer watched her pull another note from the administrative tasks, one of the only columns that had less than three sticky notes under it.
He whistled. “Damn, Richards. You don’t mess around.”
Tea sipped her steaming coffee, still fresh from the carafe he made her.
“What did you finish up?”
“Cleared the pine tree sap on the roof of the storage unit, and replaced the batteries for all the lift remotes. I even had time to fix Jorge’s boat.”
She pulled three sticky notes off the wall and crinkled them in her hand.
“Oh, and the fishing cabin, but that’s usually not on there.” He grumbled to himself as he made his way to his kitchen, snatching his bag of Wonder bread, then opening the fridge.
She squinted at him.
“And why’s that?”
He shrugged.
“It’s practically a daily occurrence. Someone is gutting fish and not cleaning the cabin.”
She rolled her eyes.
Archer watched as she grabbed the pad of sticky notes and scribbled something down.
She smacked it on the wall, then pointed to it.
“These are talking points that need to be addressed for the owners’ meeting. We’ll keep adding to it, then put together the agenda on July first and email it out to everyone so they know what needs to be discussed.”
“Email it out? Doesn’t that seem excessive?”
“Not if we want to get everything accomplished. Those meetings aren’t exactly known for being productive.”
“True that.” He slathered yellow mustard onto his bread, then opened his package of bologna, not meeting her eyes as he said, “Make sure you add jet skis on there.”
“Already done.”
His head whipped in her direction.
“How did you—?”
“It used to be on the agenda every year. I assumed.”
Archer smiled, thankful his mask was covering his face.
She was always ten steps ahead of everyone, capable and strong and reliable.
And a tad bit stubborn.
Or…more than a tad bit.
It was one of the many reasons why he’d fallen for her in the first place.
Not like that was the case now though.
He removed his mask to take a bite of his sandwich.
“Want lunch?”
“What lunch are you offering?”
“Um, a sandwich?” he said with a mouth full of food.
She sighed. “What else do you have?”
“A jar of blackberry jam and a frozen pizza.”
“Seriously? That’s it?”
He shrugged.
“I eat whatever I can steal from my mom’s fridge when she’s not in her cabin.”
Tea sighed, then grabbed her tote bag on the table.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Go…where?”
“The grocery store? I’m not spending my summer in what you call a ‘depressing cabin’ with nothing to eat.”
“You don’t think this place is depressing?”
She didn’t say anything as she slipped on her hat and made her way to his back door.
“Wait…you want to go into town? Like, right now?”
She nodded.
“Right now.”
“But, there’s still daylight and there’s so much to do—”
“Archer, I finished six of those administrative tasks in a single morning. Grab your keys and get your ass to your truck.” She didn’t even wait for him to respond as she whipped open the door and stepped out.
He coughed a laugh, then shoved the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and followed, jogging after her as he reached for his car keys in the pocket of his shorts.
He caught up to her right before she reached for the handle leading to his passenger seat, and pressed a hand to the door to stop her.
Her forehead creased.
“What’s wrong?”
“Are you sure about this? We’ll have to sit in my car at a much closer distance than six feet.”
“We’ll keep our masks on, and open the windows.”
“Okay, but then we have to step into a grocery store , likely with people who aren’t wearing masks.”
“And so that means we can’t buy food and eat?” She rolled her eyes.
“I’ll make a list as you drive so we can be quick.”
He shook his head.
“Still as stubborn as ever.”
“Did you expect anything less?”
“You’re right, my mistake. I forgot who I’m working with.”
“Exactly. Now move.”
He hesitated, then stepped away, opening the car door for her.
“After you.”
“Spring mix, goat cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, pecans, apples…” Tea scanned her list as she read it off.
“Think you could grill some chicken for our salads?”
“You’re really going to make me eat salad ?”
“My salads then. You can keep eating sad bologna sandwiches.”
“Hey, I like sad bologna sandwiches.”
She scribbled down more items on her list. “Oh, I know. You have for years.”
Archer tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
Having Tea back in his life again felt equal parts easy and incredibly complicated.
Being her friend was never hard, the two of them fell back into their usual rhythms quickly.
She would frown and stare at him seriously while he made jokes until she cracked a smile that made his day.
Then she went and said things like that , things that reminded him how deeply she knew him and how royally fucked up it was between them, and his stomach churned.
He asked himself dozens of times if befriending her again was a bad idea…
until he realized how helpful it was to have her working for him, and how easy it was to do his job with an extra set of hands.
The past three nights he was able to finish up work while the sun still remained above the horizon, giving him enough time to bother Jorge for Pisco sours.
Twice.
He wound his way through the curving streets, heading into downtown Silver Falls.
Tall pine trees blanketed the sides of the road, with promising peeks of the shining blue lake in between shaded trunks.
He glanced over at Tea, noticing the way her brow furrowed as she made her list, a small crease folding at the center of her forehead.
Seeing it was like déjà vu—a regular occurrence for Archer these days.
His stomach churned again as he fixed his eyes back on the road.
“You could at least make them more exciting,” Tea continued, oblivious to Archer’s tense shoulders and his death grip on the steering wheel.
“Maybe add in some vegetables or cheese and toast it on the griddle?”
He shook his head quickly.
Focus. He relaxed his hands.
“I’ll grill chicken.”
She didn’t answer him.
When they hit a red light he turned to face her, realizing that stern look with the crease in her forehead had zeroed in on him.
“That was way too easy,” she finally answered.
“You never back down from a fight.”
He shrugged, looking back at the road.
“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.”
It was a low blow, and he knew it.
Her silence was telling enough as the light turned green and he made the turn onto Main Street.
She turned back to the checklist. “Yeah, maybe I don’t if you’re willing to eat salad .”
“I didn’t say that!” He huffed.
“We’ll grill enough chicken so I can upgrade my sandwiches. Or make quesadillas.”
He didn’t need to look at her to know that she was smirking underneath that mask.
He may not be eating salads, but they both knew she’d won.
Archer pulled into the busy parking lot of Hector’s Food Mart.
Shoppers grabbed carts and made their way into the store.
Some of them wore masks.
Some of them didn’t.
He grimaced as he cut the ignition.
“You sure you’re up for this?”
“We have to eat, Arch.”
Arch.
His stomach clenched.
She handed him a slip of paper.
“Here’s your list, I’ve got a different one so we can move quickly.”
“Okay, but—”
Tea hopped out of his truck.
“Loser has to buy dinner!”
“Wait, what?! ”
She was already gone, jogging toward the store.
She turned back at him, her long red waves moving with the wind, and she flipped him off.
Heat flared in his chest. He jumped out of the truck.
“Oh you are so done !”
She picked up her pace.
He ran after her, but her long legs were too quick.
When he got to the automatic sliding door, the rush of cool air chilling his skin, he couldn’t find her at all.
He unwrinkled the list in his fist and read his items. Chicken thighs.
Olive oil. Italian seasoning.
Canned tuna. Bread. Ice cream.
Booze.
His list was way too easy.
She had to handle the produce, which would take much longer.
Archer snatched a basket as a cart whizzed by him.
It was Tea, her cart already packed with fruit and vegetables.
“I would like Smile Pizza for dinner, please!”
He got moving, his heart already racing.
“No way. A ghost kitchen opened up nearby, and I want their tacos!”
Three hours later, he ordered Smile Pizza for delivery.
“So, are we going to open up that carton of Blue Bunny? Or do you have some kind of lunch in mind that involves ice cream?”
Tea nibbled on her leftover crust, her knees tucked close to her chest as they sat on the porch outside of his cabin overlooking the lake.
“It’s for whenever. A freezer without ice cream is so sad.”
“You don’t even know what’s in my freezer.”
“Corn, expired frozen pizza, and a bottle of vodka.”
“Never mind, you know what’s in my freezer,” he grumbled.
She smirked, then took a sip of her pale ale.
Archer completely lost track of timing as he distracted himself with all of the microbrew options at the store, leaving him with no chance of winning their race.
He picked out beer to go with pizza and accepted his fate.
He stuffed the rest of his crust in his mouth and chewed, watching the way Tea kept her eyes on the sailboats out on the lake, the water a golden peach color from the sun that’d begun to set.
That should be you out there , he wanted to say.
He coughed. “Didn’t feel like having dinner with your grandparents tonight?”
She shrugged.
“I kind of felt like you needed me.”
He furrowed his brow.
“Why?”
She brushed the crumbs off her hands, then took a pull of her beer before she answered.
“Except for that first night we talked, you’ve avoided eating with your family, even though your mom is so insistent that you go over there.”
Archer clenched his fists, then released them.
Clenched, then released.
“You also kind of seem like you have a lot of anxiety about the pandemic.”
This time his stomach didn’t just churn.
It dropped with a thunk , like a solid, heavy boulder.
Clench. Unclench.
She pointed to the cabin behind them.
“Your place was practically empty of food. I was going to play it off as you being a guy or something, but this past week you kept joking that you couldn’t make it over to your folks’ place to steal food because they were always there. And you never once mentioned buying food at the store.”
His chest flared.
He sucked in a breath and looked out at the lake.
He wasn’t ready to tell her how the pandemic had upended his life.
She scratched at the paper label on her beer bottle, wet with condensation.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, I also am scared about what’s going on. But I can’t figure out if the reason you’re avoiding your family is because of COVID, or something else. That’s why I made a game out of grocery shopping today. I hoped it would get your mind off having to go in.”
Archer rested his elbows on his knees, pressing his fists into his eyes hard .
He didn’t want to admit any of his feelings with her.
He wanted to keep things surface level and easy.
Clear boundaries. Casual.
Friends.
He could hear her shifting in her seat.
“Arch?”
He sat up straight, eyes on the lake.
“Yeah?”
“You mad?”
Yes .
He closed his eyes, imagining building a brick wall around his heart.
A strong defense. Unbreakable.
When he opened his eyes, he smiled.
“I’m really busy. Grocery shopping or spending time with my family is the least of my priorities. As for the pandemic, I’m trying to keep everyone safe.”
He knew in his heart he wasn’t outright lying, because those were the reasons why.
But by the way her chest fell at his response, Archer knew Tea wasn’t buying it.
“Okay,” she replied softly, pulling her gaze away, her eyes on the wet beer label she was scratching off.
“Sorry I assumed.”
He leaned back and crossed his arms. “All good.”