11. Tea
Chapter 11
Tea
Loons can perform territorial rights when gliding across the lake, by lifting their bodies and flapping vigorously, which can happen when someone or something threatening gets too close.
Tea watched it all happen from a distance with a frog lodged in her throat.
The touch of his arm, the reassuring smile, the stroke of her thumb.
She would have left him alone if he seemed relaxed by this woman’s sudden appearance, but she saw the way his hands worked by his sides and knew enough.
He was uncomfortable and needed saving.
Knowing Archer, he was too polite to save himself.
Rhonda and Steph clinked bottles beside her.
“To making our son’s love life more complicated,” Steph said.
Rhonda groaned. “Oh god, do you really think so? I thought it was common knowledge that they kiss now. I’ve seen it twice , and I’m afraid it’s burned into my memory.”
“Do you really think Ashley is running into Cabin G and saying to her father ‘hey, guess whose tongue I swallowed today’?”
“Who’s that?” Tea interrupted, listening to Rhonda cough out a laugh.
They paused, following Tea’s gaze.
Rhonda tutted. “Ah, Janelle. Wondered when she would turn up. Her grandparents have a cabin on Angel Creek Lake. I think it’s, what, a twenty-minute drive from here?”
Tea turned to the two of them and watched as Steph nodded, her eyes on Tea instead of her wife.
Tea’s face flushed at the silent examination—and the words unspoken.
“She certainly looks chummy for a woman who broke his heart six months ago,” Rhonda continued.
“That bad, huh?” Tea whispered.
“Not like he would admit it. Archer is always hiding behind that mask of his. Metaphorically and literally .” She tutted again.
“According to Austin, things weren’t nearly as bad as…”
Tea remained silent through her pause, watching the way Rhonda’s cheeks flushed as she reached for her beer.
“Well, you know,” Rhonda muttered.
She looked down at her hands, then up at Steph.
Steph nodded, then cocked her head in Archer’s direction.
She nodded back, then got up from the picnic table and sidled up next to Archer, not allowing herself a moment to second-guess herself.
Not when she heard Rhonda mumble “You’re playing with fire, hon” as she walked away, and not when she stepped behind Archer and slipped her hand in his.
His head whipped around, and the look on his face was shock before it smoothed into something relaxed but undeniably confused.
He finished his niceties and then she dragged him away, making sure he sat close, keeping a hand on him in case Janelle came back.
She hadn’t a clue what his situation was like with Janelle and if she’d made a huge mistake by advancing on him like that, but by the way he relaxed under her touch and his eyes softened with gratitude at her saving him, she had a feeling he didn’t want to give her another chance where he was alone.
Rhonda and Steph left to grab another round, but Tea remained, hand on his leg.
Archer loosened his clasped hands, slipping one underneath the table.
He brushed her knuckles delicately with his thumb, and her stomach somersaulted.
“You didn’t have to pretend to be my girlfriend, you know.”
“I know.” She liked the way his hand felt on hers, his gentle touch and soft voice.
“You looked like you were sinking out there.”
“I was.”
She lifted a brow.
“Wow, you actually admitted a feeling to me.”
The corner of his mouth dipped into his cheek, his eyes on their hands.
“I have feelings.”
“Not like you allow anyone to see them.”
Archer peered up at her.
“Maybe I find it easier that way.”
“And then you sink and drown.”
He removed his hand and didn’t say anything.
Feeling bold, Tea grabbed for it before he could pull away further and squeezed his palm between her two hands, pressing them into the top of his thigh.
“Allow me to see them, Arch.”
He sighed, and for those couple breathes, Tea wondered if she’d stepped too far.
Then he looked down at their joined hands and relaxed, brushing his thumb against hers.
“I’ve missed you.”
The frog hopped back into her throat.
“Me too,” she whispered.
“There’s so much I’ve wanted to tell you over the years, but I—” His exhale was deep and long.
“I couldn’t get myself to do it, and I’m sorry.”
“You’re not the one who needs to apologize, you know that.”
His eyes were soft as he looked up at her and scanned her face.
He opened his mouth, like he was going to actually invite the conversation, then snapped it shut.
She decided to push it a little further.
“I’m sorry. About all of it.” She looked away from him.
It was too painful to see the expression on his face.
The hurt that was all her doing.
“I ran and I didn’t talk to you and I let you think that I didn’t care. I lost our friendship that day, and I would do anything to get it back.”
When he didn’t respond, she peered up at him.
She expected hurt and anger, but was only met with a familiar gentleness.
“Let me in . Please,” she whispered.
He sighed, shifting his head back, the brim of his hat shading his eyes from the bright sun.
“What does that mean?”
She squeezed his hands.
“Friendship, like the old days. You actually tell me things. Catch me up on the last eight years. Talk to me. You’re so surface level, and it’s killing me.”
“Maybe I feel like I have to be. What if you run again?”
When she didn’t respond, he shifted toward her and looked into her eyes.
“Low blow, sorry.”
“You’re right, low blow. Does that mean you’re ready to talk about it?”
He shook his head.
“But I can give you friendship. Only if you promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“You have to get in the sailboat by the end of the summer.”
She pursed her lips.
“Okay, maybe not anything .”
“You can’t ignore it forever, Tea bag.”
She scowled.
“That’s not my nickname.”
He frowned.
“I don’t have a nickname for you.”
She pointed a finger in his face.
“Yes you do. Don’t pretend like you forgot.”
He shrugged.
“I did forget.”
“You son of a—”
“ Promise me , Tea.”
She exhaled.
He cocked his head. “If you’re going to make me get uncomfortable with you and let you in , then it seems only fair, don’t you think?”
She squeezed her eyes shut.
“By the end of the summer?”
This time his hand squeezed hers.
“Yes. You have all summer. And we’ll do it whenever you want.”
She inhaled sharply, letting it out slowly as she blinked her eyes open.
Then she nodded.
His face split into a smile, but his response was cut off by Rhonda and Steph returning with four more bottles of beer.
“Favorite cocktail?”
Archer gave her a face.
“That’s like asking if I have a favorite child.”
“Everyone does have a favorite child. They just don’t want to admit it.”
“Says the only-child kid.”
Tea cocked her head.
“But am I wrong?”
He grinned as he pressed his hands back on the dock, his legs dangling along the edge, bare feet trimming the water.
“Naked and Famous. But it has to be made with Chichicapa or it’s not worth it.”
She smirked.
“Not only do you have a favorite, but you’re a snob about it.”
Archer leaned over and bumped her with his shoulder, his pinky finger brushing against hers with the motion.
His close proximity made her dizzy.
Since their conversation at the bar, Archer had unlocked an old part of himself, allowing Tea to get to know him again.
They spent their evenings after work like this, finishing a bottle of wine as they rattled off endless questions to one another.
Favorite class in college?
Where did you spend your twenty-first birthday?
What are you listening to right now?
Do you still hate hot dogs?
(Archer to Tea.) Do you still hate scary movies?
(Tea to Archer.) They sat there on the dock, two empty jars and half a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.
It was nice to have him so close again, to hear him joke and laugh and relax.
Even if conversation remained friendly and they skated around anything too deep.
She wondered if Archer would always hold himself at a distance.
She pulled her feet close and itched the tops of them.
“Your turn.”
“Hmmmm.” Archer scanned the lake, the orange glow of the sunset gleaming off the silvery, sleek water.
“Have you water skied since you were last here?”
She frowned.
“No, unfortunately.”
“Do you want to?”
Her feet throbbed.
She scratched them again, her nails leaving red streaks.
God, they’re itchy. “It’s been so long, I probably won’t be able to get up.”
His eyes blew wide.
“Shall we test that theory?”
“Right now ?”
He motioned a hand across the lake.
“It’s glass out there. No better time than the present.”
“God, I don’t—”
Archer hopped up.
“Go get your suit on, and grab a life jacket.”
Her chest flared with panic.
“Arch, wait—”
“One ski, or two?” He walked away from her.
“Who am I kidding? One.”
“I really, really don’t think—”
“Ten minutes!” he shouted, jogging his way to Rhonda’s cabin.
Tea looked out at the lake, a deep frown settled on her mouth.
The last time she water skied, her father was the one pulling her from Pop’s boat.
Archer sat at the rear, keeping an eye on her as she glided across the lake, cheering her on.
She gripped the end of the dock as she observed the water.
It was like glass. She could practically hear her father shouting from the cabin, telling her to get her suit on already.
She turned her head, realizing it was actually Archer bellowing at her.
She rubbed at her feet once more, then stood up slowly, eyes scanning the golden sky sprinkled with tall pine trees.
“I miss you,” she whispered, then made her way down the dock.
Rhonda cut the engine of her boat as Archer tossed the water ski into the water.
“Now remember, grip the handle hard and lean back, then—”
“Archer, please shut up. It may have been eight years, but I haven’t forgotten what to do.”
He held up his hands.
“All right, all right, just helping you out.”
She grumbled as she eyed the water.
Since arriving at Silver Falls, Tea hadn’t allowed herself to go in the water beyond getting her feet wet.
Jumping in felt like a commitment.
It meant finally facing the inevitable.
“Don’t make me push you.”
She whipped her head around and glared at him.
“Don’t make me push you .”
“I’m ready to push both of you in if one of you doesn’t shut up and get in the water,” Rhonda chimed in.
Archer raised a brow.
“Let’s go, Tea bag.”
She squinted her eyes.
“Still not the nickname.”
He shrugged, that condescending smirk never leaving his face.
“What nickname?”
Rhonda helped up three fingers.
“Three.” She dropped one into her palm.
“Two.”
Tea sucked in a breath, held her arms tight to her life jacket, then jumped in.
The water felt like ice.
Cold licked her skin as she surfaced for air, tiny droplets of water running down her lashes.
“ So cold! ” she squealed.
Archer crossed his arms as he looked down at her from the boat.
“When did you become such a wimp?”
Tea snatched the water ski.
“When did you become such a tyrant?” she grumbled.
“I always have been.” He tossed the bright blue handle into the water.
“You ready for this?”
“Not even in the slightest.”
She slipped her right foot into the ski as Rhonda aligned the boat, the handle dragging behind it.
Tea snatched it and grasped tightly, feeling the tug of the boat as Rhonda inched forward.
“Ready!?” Archer yelled.
The pull of the boat had her leaning sideways, water catching in her mouth.
She spit it out and flicked wet hair out of her face, her stomach tight with nerves.
Once she righted herself, feeling like she had a firm grasp, she yelled “ Ready! ”
The boat roared to life and the pull was agonizing, but she kept leaning back, pressing the water with the ski to try to right herself.
The handle slipped from her grip, and she fell backward into the lake, the ski flying off her foot and slapping down on the lake a couple of yards in the distance.
The boat puttered toward her as she scrambled to grab the ski.
Archer was kneeling down, leaning over the edge.
“It’s okay, the first try is always the hardest.”
She brushed wet hair from her face.
“I’m also twenty-five pounds heavier than I was as a teenager. Makes it more difficult.”
“You mean twenty-five pounds curvier.”
She blinked at him, droplets of water running down her cheek.
Archer smirked. “Curvy is good.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t,” she replied.
“Good. Just making sure.”
Tea slipped the ski back on her foot, consciously averting her eyes.
Was he… flirting ? Or simply being insufferable?
“Let’s go again.”
“You sure? Do you want to try with a second ski?”
She glared at him.
“Never. I’m not giving up.”
He grinned.
“There’s the stubborn Tea I missed so much.”
She rolled her eyes as she grabbed for the handle and Rhonda righted the boat.
“Ready!?” Rhonda yelled.
Tea nodded. “Go!”
The handle slipped from her hands again.
Then again. And again.
The fifth time around, she gripped the handle so tightly, she ended up falling forward and face planting into the water.
Her foot slipped out of the ski, the tip of it slamming into her upper thigh.
She rolled over in the water, face to the sky, and groaned as the boat approached.
“You all right?” Archer asked, his face tight with concern.
“No. This is impossible.”
“Want to try one more time?”
She shook her head.
“It’s pointless now. My arms are goo.”
Archer reached a hand out to her.
She stepped onto the back ladder and let him pull her into the boat, then wrapped a towel around her arms. “Proud of you,” he murmured.
She brushed hair out of her face and noticed he was also wearing a life jacket.
“You’re going?”
“Duh?”
She sat down and watched Archer hop in, completely unfazed by the cold.
He slipped on the ski with practiced ease, then slicked his hair back from his forehead as he grappled the handle.
Without any hesitation, he yelled, “ Go! ”
The engine bellowed, and in less than three seconds, he popped out of the water.
He flicked hair out of his face as Rhonda steered the boat and Archer began to fly.
Tea sat there in stunned silence as she watched him skim the surface of the lake, the sun glistening along the water as he rode the boat’s wake, making sharp turns as water sprinkled along his path.
Rhonda made a swinging motion with her hand, signaling a sharp turn.
When she steered the boat in almost a full one-eighty, Archer glided along with it, allowing the swing of the boat to steer him past the wake and along the side where the water was calm.
He grinned as he leaned back, skimming a hand along the lake’s surface, then brushed his hair back with his hand.
Then he looked at her, and he had the audacity to wink .
Tea’s mouth fell open.
Archer was always the best water skier of the group, yet somehow, he was even better now.
She could tell he’d practiced over the years.
It was equally thrilling and devastating to watch.
It reminded her of all that she missed, and all that she lost. It also reminded her how much she loved this place and being out on the water.
It stirred something deep inside her heart.
She didn’t hate the feeling of it.
She let it marinate as she watched him ride the waves.
She rubbed her thigh, already bruising from her last fall, and promised herself that she would pop out of the water with her ski this summer.
Even if it took her weeks of trying and failing again and again, she would do it.
For Archer. For her father.
For herself.
Archer eventually let go and sank in the water.
He climbed on the boat and unhooked his life jacket, giving Tea a full view of his tattooed chest and arms. When he turned to grab a towel, Tea’s mouth fell open once more.
The tattoo on his back was a replica of the view from his family’s cabin window.
The grass of Wild Pines with clovers dotted along the lawn.
A sailboat rode across the glistening lake with a glowing sun.
Two loons swam in the water and in the distance, two kids jumped from the dock, hands grasped tightly.
Archer rubbed his wet hair with his towel as he turned to her.
He looked at her expression, and his grin from earlier melted into a knowing soft smile.
He took a seat next to her as Rhonda steered their boat in the direction of Wild Pines.
Tea wrapped her towel tight around her shoulders and brought her knees to her chest. “Was that your first tattoo?”
He shook his head.
“It was one of the first though.”
She tilted her head and pressed a cheek to her knee.
“When did you get it?”
He sighed, his eyes not leaving her face.
“October 2012.”
Tea squeezed her eyes shut, emotion stealing her breath away.
She understood his meaning.
It was the month Dad died.