Page 18 of Just One Chance
“Come on,” Avery said, motioning toward her backyard. “They’re on ice on the back porch. Harvested fresh this afternoon.”
David silently hoped there was also a deep fryer on the back porch. Enough breading and sizzling fat, and he could choke anything down.
“Didyouharvest them?” he asked as he followed Avery around the side of her house.
“Nah, it’s too hot. After the end of May, the island closes the public shellfish grounds because the water is too warm. Too much risk of bacteria.”
“You say that like someone whohasharvested them before.”
She looked over her shoulder and grinned. “Ask me in February and I’ll take you with me.” She pulled open the door to her screened in back porch, holding it open with her hip while David filed in behind her.
“Have you ever had oysters before?” She led him to a table pushed up against the back of the house and opened a large cooler that sat on top. David peered in and saw dozens of large, bumpy shells resting on a cold bed of ice. He swallowed. “Nope. But not because I haven’t had the opportunity.”
Avery laughed. “That’s what everybody says until they’ve had oysters with me. You dress them the right way? I promise it’s an experience you won’t want to forget.”
He looked at her, at the evening sun on her hair and the freckles on her cheeks and the excitement in her eyes and thought he’d probably eat anything if she asked him to. She was mesmerizing. Stunning. Captivating in a way no woman had ever captivated him before. He cleared his throat. “So, Tucker.”
Avery stilled. “What about him?”
Good question. David had brought him up, but why? What did he really want to know about the guy? “How are things going between you two?”
“Good, I guess,” Avery said. “Stay here—I need to get all the fixings from the kitchen.” She left the door into the kitchen open, the cool air pouring out and over David. He’d almost forgotten how warm it was until he felt the contrast. Avery appeared moments later carrying a large tray full of lemons and cocktail sauce, crackers, olive oil and what looked like minced garlic. She set it down on the table beside the cooler. “I’m sorry if things got weird with him, there at the end before he left. I saw him giving you that . . .” She wiggled her hands in front of her face. “That look.”
David cleared his throat, suddenly wishing he’d never brought Tucker up. “It definitely felt a little like he was claiming his territory.”
“Which is dumb,” Avery said, not missing a beat. “I’m not territory to be claimed.”
“I agree with you,” David said. He swallowed the next part of his comment. If she thought Tucker was dumb, why was she dating him?
“So why am I dating him?” she asked, guessing his thoughts.
David let out a breath. “I didn’t say that.”
“No, but you thought it. I could practically hear the words buzzing around in your brain.”
“I’ll think quieter next time,” David said with a grin. “But truly—it’s none of my business. You don’t really owe me an answer.”
“Except, I like you, Dave. And I don’t want you to think I’m an idiot.” She lifted a few oysters out of the cooler, placing them on the countertop, and picked up a knife with a rounded wooden handle and a short, pointed blade. “Here. You take this one.” She picked up another knife, slightly smaller, then reached for an oyster. She paused, knife poised over the shell and looked David right in the eyes. “Tucker and I were really good together for close to two years. Our break-up wasn’t great, but we’ve both grown and changed over the past year, so I think we’re going to give it another go. The whole situation is still so new. I think he just felt a little weird about you and me having dinner together.”
David held her gaze. “Okay.”
Avery’s shoulders fell. “You don’t believe me.”
He sighed. “Avery, I only spent four seconds with the guy, and your relationship isn’t any of my business.” Did she want him to wish her good luck? Tell her he thought Tucker was a great guy? He reallyhadn’tspent enough time with him to form a valid opinion and he doubted Avery would want to hear hisinvalid opinion, seeing as how it was hastily formed and based on raging jealousy.
Clearing his throat, he held up his oyster knife. “So I guess I’m supposed to use this for something?”
Avery hesitated only a moment before fully embracing David’s subject change. “Yes.” She looked at the oyster still in her hand. “So you slide the knife in here, at the hinge, like so,” she said, as she demonstrated, “then slide it all the way around the edge until you can lift the top right off.” She lifted the top of the shell, revealing a shining, shimmering . . . glob. David took a deep breath. He was really supposed to eat that thing? Steeling his nerves, he tried to smile at Avery. He’d seen some of the grossest things imaginable in the ER. He could handle this.
She laughed. “Oh my word. Try not to look so miserable. At least not until you actually try one.” She held out the oyster. “Here. You hold this, and I’ll doctor it up for you.”
“Wait, you’re going to make me eat it right now? Right here as we shuck them?”
“Absolutely,” Avery said. “At least this first one. I want to know what you think.”
“Rightnownow?” David asked again.
“Nownow,” Avery said. “So first you add a little splash of lemon.” David watched as she squeezed the lemon slice over the oyster. “Then you add a little bit of olive oil, a little bit of garlic paste, and a healthy dollop of cocktail sauce.”
