Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Ryan leaned back in his chair at Ocean Breeze Café, taking a long sip of the latte he’d ordered and gazing leisurely around the room.
Ocean Breeze Café was one of his favorite places in Rosewood Beach. He’d been there as a teenager fairly often, and he liked that it hadn’t changed all that much. His father was always in favor of making things bigger and better, but Ryan felt that if something wasn’t broken, there was no need to fix it. There was often a charm to be found in the familiar that new, flashy things could never compare to.
He set down his latte and picked up one of the salmon benedicts he’d ordered for his brunch. It practically melted in his mouth, it was so delicious, and he half-closed his eyes for a moment to savor the harmonious blend of flavors and textures.
He liked the relaxed, calm atmosphere of the café. He’d been away doing work in various cities so many times since the beginning of the year that he was relishing the slower pace that Rosewood Beach had to offer.
Despite the family arguments that had surrounded his return, he was glad that he’d come home during his break. In the past, he’d avoided Rosewood Beach because of the drama that always went on between his father and his brothers as they ran the brewery. On this visit, however, he was finding the general peacefulness of Rosewood Beach so alluring that it made up for the tumultuous nature of his family.
He was just leaning back in his chair again, feeling relaxed and almost sleepy, when his phone buzzed. He grimaced as he saw that it was a text from one of the heads of the project that he’d been working on in Colorado. He was surprised by how unwelcome the text was. The man in question was pleasant and professional, and Ryan had no issues with him.
I guess I’m dreading going back to work, he thought with a sigh. Maybe I’ve been pushing myself too hard all these many months, and this first taste of relaxing is really making my head spin.
He took another bite of his salmon benedict before answering the text, chewing it thoughtfully. Maybe he needed the rest. It could very well be that he dreaded the idea of going back to work so much because his brain and body were telling him that he needed a longer break in order to restore his energy.
He texted back, answering the project head’s questions as briefly as he could while still being polite and communicative. He sent his message and then continued to eat his brunch, staring into space and wondering if he’d just caught a bad attitude or if he really did need more time to rest.
He was in the middle of riddling his way through his new contemplations when he noticed a lovely woman walk into Ocean Breeze Café. He’d never seen her before, but there was something about her wavy copper-colored hair and sharply intelligent deep brown eyes that captivated him.
From the way she was looking around the small, cozy café as if it were some kind of foreign jungle, he guessed that she was not from Rosewood Beach. Based on the way she’d done her makeup and the smart pale pink blazer she was wearing, he guessed that she was from a big city. She had a fish-out-of-water look about her that he sympathized with. He often felt the other way around when he went from his sleepy, little town to a large, bustling city.
He watched her as she made her way over to the counter and noticed that she had on a pair of glossy high heels. He smiled slightly, sure now that she was from the city—the heels were a dead giveaway that she wasn’t from Rosewood Beach.
He found himself wondering where she was from. He watched her politely, quizzing himself as to what city she might have come from. He’d been to so many different places that he felt he might be able to guess based on her vibe alone. Every city seemed to have a different energy and style, and he wondered if he could pinpoint which one she matched.
New York? No, the colors she was wearing weren’t dark enough for New York. Houston? No, she didn’t have the rough-and-ready energy that people from Texas often gave off.
He was just settling on the Pennsylvania or Virginia areas when his phone buzzed with another text. This time the project head was asking him if he could hop onto a phone call to discuss an issue that had come up.
Ryan sighed. It seemed that even on his brief vacation, he couldn’t be on vacation. He paid his bill and stood up reluctantly.
He’d lost sight of the woman while he read the text message and paid his bill, but he located her again as he walked to the front door. She was sitting at a small table near a window, lifting a steaming mug of tea to her lips with one hand, and holding a magazine in the other.
Just as he was passing her, she let out a cry and dropped the magazine. It fluttered to the floor just in front of Ryan.
“Are you okay?” he asked her with concern, stooping to pick up the magazine.
She was flapping her hand in the air as if in pain, and she set down the mug of tea hurriedly.
“Ow,” she gasped. “That’s boiling.”
He found himself smiling. He felt sorry that she’d hurt herself, but her tone was almost joking, it was so friendly. She smiled at him through her pain, and he repeated his question.
“Are you okay?”
She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “In a small town like this, no one thinks about the possibility of getting a lawsuit for injuring a customer.” She laughed after she said it, although there was something about how confidently she’d made the statement that made him think she was an expert on the subject.
Sure enough, when he glanced down at the magazine he’d picked up, he saw that it was a Bostonian law publication. Clearly the woman was a lawyer—and he’d pinpointed where she was from too.
“Boston!” he exclaimed. “I knew I was getting warmer.”
The woman blinked at him in surprise as she took the magazine back from him. “Excuse me?”
He chuckled. “I hope you don’t think it’s weird of me or anything, but I saw you come in and I guessed that you were from out of town. I’ve been to so many different cities that I was playing a game with myself, trying to guess where exactly you were from.”
Her mouth curved upward in a smile. “You’re from the city too, then?”
“Basically. I seem to be always on the road. I’ve traveled to all kinds of cities for extended periods of time, so I guess that makes me a city person. It takes one to know one, I guess—I knew as soon as you walked in that you weren’t from around here.”
She wrinkled her nose. “What gave me away?”
“Oh, the heels, definitely.”
She looked down at her heels. “Huh.” She laughed. “What brings you into town?”
“I’ve got family here, so I wanted to visit them. And technically, I live here, although it doesn’t really feel like that. I’m on a short break from a construction project so I came back to Rosewood Beach to take some time to decompress.”
“Hmm. Decompression sounds nice.”
“Are you a lawyer?” he asked, still feeling curious about her.
“I am!” She cocked her head to one side in confusion. “How do you know?”
He chuckled. “If the magazine you dropped and your immediate reference to a lawsuit weren’t enough, your outfit would be. You look like you’re ready to take on a courtroom.”
Something passed over her eyes for a moment, and he wondered if he’d offended her somehow.
“I mean, you look great,” he assured her hastily. “It’s just that you’re wearing clothes that are very different from the usual everyday attire of Rosewood Beach.”
She laughed and held out her hand for a handshake. “Well, you’re right. I am a lawyer, and my name is Faith Talbot.”
He shook her hand warmly. “I’m Ryan McCormick. Nice to meet you, Faith.”
He was about to ask her what brought her to town, since he was eager to keep speaking with her, but at that moment his phone began to ring. He silently cursed his luck as he looked at his screen and saw that it was the project head calling him.
“I should get this,” he said apologetically. “I’d better get going.”
“Work, huh?” she guessed insightfully. “For a guy who’s here to decompress, you’re clearly struggling to meet your goal.”
He grimaced good-naturedly. “You’re right. I can’t seem to escape work even on vacation.”
“It’s okay, I’m struggling with decompressing too,” she said, offering him a smile that he found extremely pleasant. “Sometimes it’s hard to step away from the life you’re used to. I mean, I miss Boston’s museums, that’s for sure.” She laughed lightly. “It’s a learning curve we’re both navigating, right?”
As she spoke, he realized how right she was about his circumstances. He was having trouble decompressing, almost as if he had an addiction to work. He felt almost guilty about just taking time for himself, as if he’d accidentally trained himself to think that if he wasn’t working, he was being a waste of space.
“Absolutely,” he agreed, nodding. “I’m letting what’s supposed to be relaxing become rushed.” He wished he could stay and talk to her longer. He considered ignoring the project head’s phone call for a moment—but then the guy immediately called back and the phone began to ring again.
“You’re still right,” he said with a rueful grin. “But I’d better take this. I guess it’s important.”
“I understand,” she said, smiling at him with a sympathetic expression.
He waved to her briefly and stepped outside before answering the phone call, wishing he’d decided to just stay inside and keep talking with her.