Page 3 of Just One Chance
She was halfway down the steps when David spoke again.
“Is it always this hot?” he called.
When she reached the gravel path at the foot of his porch, she turned and smirked. “Nah, it’s only June. It’ll be hotter in August.”
She thought she heard him groan, which was totally understandable. Charleston summers were brutal even for people born and raised in the South.
She’d only made it a few more steps before he called out to her again.
“Avery, wait.”
Avery liked the way he said her name—with three distinct syllables.A-va-ree.Her Southern friends mostly mushed her name into two.A-vree.She turned around.
“I’m sure you can tell I feel a little out of my element. Is there anything else I need to know about the island? About Charleston, in general?”
Avery smiled. At least he was trying. “If you want good pizza, try the Obstinate Daughter. Kinda touristy, so get it to go if you want to avoid the crowds. The Co-Op over on Middle Street has great coffee, and groceries if all you need are the basics. I can walk it in half an hour.” Avery racked her brain. What else could she tell him? “The next time you have a free morning, go take a walking tour of downtown. It’ll hit all the historic high points and teach you the basics about the city, which are worth knowing if you’re going to call this place home.”
Of all the adorable things, David had pulled a little notepad out of his pocket and was scribbling down notes as she talked. “Got it. Anything else?”
Avery thought for a second. “Um, don’t kill the sand dollars?”
David’s eyebrows went up, his gaze landing on the sand dollar sitting on his porch railing. “What?”
“If they have purple fuzz on the bottom, they’re still alive. It’s technically against the law to bring them home, but you shouldn’t want to anyway. If they’re still living, they’ll die quick and then they’ll smell like death.” Avery crossed back to his porch, taking the steps two at a time. “See?” She picked up the sand dollar. “The yellow stain here says this one was alive when it hit the porch. It’s a toxin they release when they’re handled, harmless to humans, but a good indicator that it’s alive and shouldn’t leave the water.”
“Well that sucks,” David said. “I killed it.”
“Don’t feel bad. They’re all over the beach so it happens a lot. But now you know, right?”
“You grew up here?” David asked.
“Yep. Born in your hospital and raised right here on the island.”
“I guess that’s a good reason to trust you as an authority on marine life.”
Avery smiled. “That, and I’m also the education coordinator at the Charleston Aquarium.”
David sank onto his porch steps and dropped his head into his hands. “Which makes you doubly qualified to make me feel like an idiot.”
“I told you not to feel bad! Seriously. I promise you’re not the first person to make the same mistake.”
David cupped his hands around his knees. “Any other innocent crustaceans you need to warn me not to kill?”
“I mean, unless you’re the kind of guy that goes around pulling legs off of crabs...”
“Not that guy,” David said. “I promise.”
“Then I think we’re safe to let you walk the beaches unchaperoned.” Avery moved toward her groceries, still sitting on David’s driveway, but then turned back. Why was she having such a hard time leaving? “You should come down to the aquarium sometime. I’ll give you a free tour. Just to make sure you aren’t an actual threat.”
“Clearly I need the education,” he said, his expression serious, though Avery detected a lightness in his tone that said he wasn’t all that put out by her ribbing.
“See you around, Dave,” Avery said, this time leaving his porch for good.
“It’s David, actually. Not Dave.”
Avery turned to face him, taking a few backward steps toward her house. She grinned, not even a little surprised that a guy as buttoned up as he was didn’t want a nickname like Dave. “Okay.”
“And you’ll tell me, right? If I need to worry about the hurricane?”
