Chapter Five
EMERY
KAYLA LEADS ME on the short walk to The Salty Spoon, across the main street and down a block from the marina.
While we walk, she jabbers about the research center, her love for marine biology, and Tidehaven itself.
She’s a wealth of information and while she talks, I take in the sights around me.
There are a decent number of people milling about the streets, popping in and out of shops and offices.
People stare at us with curiosity as we meander down the block, and I can’t help but wonder if I look like an outsider to them.
Kayla swings open the door to The Salty Spoon, and the bell above us rings.
The smell of bacon grease and coffee hits me in the face.
A few patrons glance up from their plates before going back to their meals.
Blue vinyl booths, ripped and duct-taped no doubt from years of loyal customers, line the perimeter of the restaurant.
Large windows let the sunshine through. Across the aisle runs a long bar top for counter service.
A chalkboard hangs on the wall that reads: Daily Special: Shrimp Platter. Market Price.
“Hi, Tess!” Kayla calls, heading straight for a stool at the counter.
“Hey, Kayla,” a curvy woman with dark graying hair piled on her head says, heading over to us. “Who’s your friend?”
“This is Dr. Emery Caldwell, the new research center director.” Kayla grins, gesturing in my direction.
Tess tilts her head, studying me for half a second too long before smiling, as if she can sense that I’m not from these parts. “Ah, well, welcome to Tidehaven.” Her thick southern drawl catches me off guard.
I smile back, trying to remain impassive. “Thank you,” I say, picking up the menu in front of me. “I’m starving. What’s good here?”
“Can’t go wrong with a cheeseburger or fish and chips, right, Tess?” Kayla says, spinning on her stool.
“Fish and chips sound good.” I close the menu. “And a Coke, please.”
Tess gives me a tight-lipped smile and a nod and then directs her attention to Kayla.
“Me too. Same.” Kayla grins. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and I push aside my nerves about being the newcomer in town.
Tess brings two sodas and sets them down in front of us, leaning on the counter. “So, Doc,” she starts.
I let out a chuckle, waving my hand. “Please, just call me Emery.”
“Emery,” Tess repeats. “Why’d you want to move to Tidehaven?”
I inhale deeply, letting it out slowly. “I just needed a change of scenery. Reevaluate my path a bit, I suppose. This is a six month sabbatical so hopefully I find some clarity.” I try to give her an answer that will suffice without giving too much away.
“Well, Tidehaven will do that for ya,” Tess says, wiping her hands on a dish cloth. “Just keep in mind, it’s a small town. Everybody knows everybody’s business.” Her tone sounds like a warning.
Tess walks away to help another customer, and I take a long, slow sip of my Coke as I scan the room.
I don’t need anyone to tell me—I stick out like a sore thumb.
Most of the men are broad-shouldered and windburned, wearing dirty work boots and faded hoodies.
There are only two women in here besides Kayla and me, and they’re both wearing faded cut-offs with sleeveless tees, their hair in messy knots on the tops of their heads.
These people wear the water like a second skin.
I, on the other hand, look like I stepped out of an office, pale skin and hands better suited to lab notes than lines and nets.
I’ve studied places like this for a living for the better part of a decade, but standing here, it’s clear I haven’t lived in one.
Until now.
“So,” Kayla says. “What are you going to be working on while you’re here?”
I furrow my brow. “Estuarine systems mostly. I want to see what’s changing and why. Specifically, species decline. My department chair said something about Dr. Young studying turtles. Do you know anything about that?”
At the mention of Dr. Young, Tess looks in our direction, her gaze stony, but she doesn’t say anything.
Kayla looks at Tess and then back at me. “She was,” she confirms, her voice low. “But…not everyone liked it.”
Now I’m really confused. “Not everyone liked it? What does that mean?”
Kayla stifles a cough. “Just that they’re endangered is all.” She looks uncomfortable, a stark contrast to the sharp, bubbly girl I walked in here with.
A moment later, Tess delivers our meals with nothing more than a polite nod.
Kayla and I eat in silence for a moment before she says, “Maybe you should study something different.”
I clear my throat and sip my Coke thoughtfully. “I think I’ll look at her reports and see where she left off,” I say carefully.
Kayla looks beside her to see who else might be nearby and listening and then she whispers, “All of her reports are in the filing cabinet under her desk in her office. The key is under the plant pot on the windowsill. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Oookay,” I say, lifting an eyebrow.
“Whoa, look at the time! I have to get home.” She hops off her stool. “Tess, can I have a box and my check?”
Tess reappears quickly with the two items. Kayla throws a twenty on the counter and dumps her food into the to-go container.
“I’ll see you tomorrow!” Kayla calls to me as she heads for the door.
“Bye, Kayla,” I say, but she’s already gone.
Tess watches her go, before clearing her throat. “Just be careful where you go pokin’, Dr. Caldwell. The marsh keeps better secrets than most folks in this town.” She pauses, eyeing me, assessing my reaction. “And it doesn’t like to be disturbed.”
I swallow. “I appreciate the heads up,” I say, careful my tone doesn’t betray the unease crawling up my spine.
My expression must give me away because Tess’s face softens, and she offers me a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.
“Word travels quick around here. Especially when a new person starts asking questions.” She drops my check on the counter and walks in the other direction before I can respond, leaving me to wonder what in the world researching turtles has to do with this sleepy little town.
I FINISH EATING and walk up the street to the general store, a small corner market with a light-up sign in the window that reads: Deli. Relieved that I’ll be able to get some grocery items here, I grab a small shopping cart and start slowly up the aisles, grabbing the basics so I don’t starve.
“Hello,” I say to the cashier, an elderly woman with wire rimmed glasses and gray curly hair.
She smiles at me. “Hello, dear. I don’t believe I know you.” She starts scanning my items, placing them carefully in reusable tote bags.
“I’m Emery.” I return her smile. “I’m the new director of the Tidehaven Research Center.”
The woman stops scanning, clasping her hands together in delight. “Wonderful! I’m Rosie. It’s so nice to meet you.”
Rosie is offering me the warmest welcome yet, and it makes something settle in my chest. Perhaps it’s hope? Relief that coming here wasn’t a complete mistake? Either way, I know I’ll be visiting her store again.
“That will be sixty-three ninety-five,” Rosie says as I dig for my wallet.
I swipe my credit card, and she hands me my bags.
“Thank you,” I say shifting one of them to my shoulder.
“Come again.” She smiles.
“I definitely will.”
As I start my walk toward home, I realize I didn’t think this through.
I’m easily three quarters of a mile from my cottage.
It’s ninety degrees and humid, and my grocery bags are much heavier than I thought.
It doesn’t take long before the sweat is dripping down the center of my spine.
It doesn’t matter that it’s mid-May. I’m not in Jersey anymore.
To make matters worse, I’m wearing my glasses instead of my contact lenses, and the late afternoon sun is still so bright.
When I reach the corner before the marina, I pause, setting my bags down, and wiping the burning sweat out of my eyes.
I look up when I hear the rumbling of a navy-blue pick-up truck pulling over to the shoulder.
“Need a lift?” a husky voice asks.
Reid. The man I met earlier. The ridiculously good-looking man.
“Oh, uh…” I hesitate, shifting my weight and the bags.
“I’m going your way.” He nods in the direction of my cottage.
“How do you know?” I frown at him.
“Because I know where the university puts its people. Blackbird Cottage.” Reid cocks his head in the direction I’m walking.
When I don’t move, he sticks a hand out the window and meets my gaze. “You coming?”
I shake my head, a smile pulling at my lips. “I don’t even know you.”
Reid waves a hand. “I don’t know if you Yankees know this, but Southerners are known for their hospitality.”
I hesitate a second longer before he turns back to the road.
“Okay, suit yourself.”
“Wait!” I hold up a hand. “Okay.”
“Okay?” He quirks his eyebrows, clearly amused by me.
“Yes.” I suck in a breath. “I’d like a ride. My milk is going to spoil in this heat.” I start to walk around the front of his truck when he hops out of the driver’s side, taking my bags from me.
“We wouldn’t want that, would we?” he asks, pulling open my door. He sets the bags on the floor and offers me a hand to climb the rig before closing the door.
I suck in a breath and buckle my seat belt while Reid walks around to his side. He might be the best-looking guy I’ve ever seen. But I’ll be working with him, so I need to wipe those thoughts from my mind.
He climbs in and glances at me. “Ready?”
“Yep.” My voice is quiet. Something about his large presence makes it retreat.
“Parking down here isn’t usually a problem. Next time you need groceries, you should drive.” He keeps his eyes on the road.
“Noted.” Just the nearness of our elbows on his center console is sending an electric current up my arm, giving me goosebumps and making the little blond hairs stand tall.
I wonder if he even took a second look at me.
I glance at his face for the briefest of seconds before forcing myself to face the road.
Getting tangled up with someone down here when I just broke up with Jason is so not something I need.
“Did you have a nice time with Kayla?” Reid asks, reaching over to turn up the air conditioner. Maybe he is feeling the heat. Strangely enough, that would be a relief—to know I’m not alone in my attraction.
“I did. Thank you.” I pause, debating whether to ask him about the turtles. I want to know though, so I swallow my nerves and say, “She got a little weird though.”
Reid looks my way for half a second before returning his eyes to the road. “Weird?”
“When I asked about the turtles Dr. Young was studying.”
“Turtles?” Reid’s expression is unreadable.
“Yes, they live in the estuaries I will be studying. I figured she might know something about it if she’d been working with her, but her reaction was strange.” I shake my head, bewildered.
“I know where they live,” he says, flicking on his blinker as he turns down the narrow gravel road toward my cottage.
“It’s just… She left in such a hurry after that. And then Tess told me not to go poking around the marsh…which essentially is my job so…” I trail off waiting for any kind of response from Reid. “Is there something I should know about this place?”
He pulls up to the cottage, putting his truck in park and he turns to me, licking his lips. “Maybe she just means you shouldn’t go poking around the marsh alone, as a newcomer.” His suggestion is mildly insulting.
I shake my head. “I’m not worried about that.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll take you on a marsh tour. My cabin is just through those woods. Walk through and when you reach the clearing, take the left side of the fork. I’ll show you the estuaries.”
He says it to be helpful, like it’s no big deal.
And maybe that’s all it is. But his suggestion sends a rush of heat up the back of my neck.
I already know how to read a tide chart.
I know how to handle a skiff. I don’t need a tour with a guide who smells like salt water and pine, all hard lines and quiet strength.
Spending time with him would be dangerous in a way I can’t explain.
But I know one thing, Jason never made my pulse do what Reid’s voice just did.
“I’ll be good.” I push open the door and collect the bags at my feet. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Doc,” he calls after me, perhaps trying to change my mind.
I turn and give him a wave before disappearing inside.