Page 40 of Tide Over

The man lifts his eyebrows with a nod. “Hard worker.”

I huff out a laugh, looking down at my coffee. “It’s not too bad.”

Then a black truck pulls up in front of the store, and my heart rate quickens.

Theo hops out and jogs up the steps, then stops in surprise when he sees me. “Oh, hey.”

“Hey,” I say, giving him a soft smile as I take in his wild hair and dirty grey hoodie.

“I was just going to grab coffee for home,” he says, stepping closer and nodding a greeting to the men.

I chuckle. “Same.”

He smiles, sitting in the chair across from me. “So, you a part of the old man crew now?”

“Oh, shut your trap,” Jimmy says with a laugh. “You’ll be here someday, and you won’t like that name so much.”

Theo’s smile briefly falters as he shifts in his seat, but his attention is then quickly pulled to one of the other men.

“How was the catch today?” the man asks.

Theo nods, leaning back in his chair. “Nothing to complain about,” he says.

“We got some nasty weather coming in this evening,” Jimmy says. “High wind and heavy rain.”

“Yeah, I know,” Theo says, blowing out a breath and running his hand through his hair. “We got the boat tied in in case it’s bad. Looks like it might go into the morning.” He then checks his watch and sighs again. “Well, I should get up to the Murphy’s and finish their fence.”

Jimmy laughs and shakes his head. “And why would you do something as foolish as that?”

Theo shoots him a look. “Foolish as what? My job?”

“Work on a fence before a rain and wind storm? Let the storm do what it’s going to do and then finish the job in one go.”

My eyes slide to Theo, as he nods thoughtfully. “Yeah… I guess.”

Jimmy smiles, a bit smugly for having told his grandson what to do. “It’s the calm before the storm. Enjoy the nice day and live a little. And stop leaving Liam alone in that house until the sun goes down.”

Theo slides his gaze to me and a small smile tugs at his lips. “I mean, unless you want some private ping-pong practice time?”

A laugh escapes me as I shake my head. “Why, so you can get some private fishing practice in?”

His eyes light up with challenge as he stands and points at me. “Alright, it’s on. Fishing rematch. Let’s go.”

The sound of the water lapping against the boat is soothing as I sit back in my seat, and we quietly wait for the fish to bite. We each caught one mackerel already, and I can’t help but smile at the intensity in Theo’s gaze as he guides his lure through the water, determined to catch more than me this time.

Too bad that won’t be happening.

I glance at the trees around us in the same spot Theo brought us to last time. Even though it’s starting to cloud over as the storm begins to roll in, it’s still so peaceful out here.

“Motherfucker,” Theo mumbles as he jerks the rod back. “Had a bite and lost it.”

I chuckle, casting a sideways glance at him. “Mm hm.”

He rolls his eyes at me, but I see the smile peeking through.

We sit in silence for a bit longer, slowly trolling along the channel while we wait for another bite. But the longer we sit here, that pull I feel towards Theo grows stronger.

“So, what do you want to do with your sunroom?” I ask, keeping my eyes on the water, trying to once again get my mind off my apparent attraction to him.

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