Page 31 of Patio Lanterns (The Blue Canoe Cottage #1)

Robin

After washing away the day in a long, hot shower, Robin padded downstairs for a well-deserved beer. She opened the fridge, reached into the back to pull out a cold one, and then slammed the door sh—

“Jesus, Lark!” She shrieked, her hand over her pounding heart. “Do you get your jollies scaring the living shit out of me?”

Robin pulled back the tab on her beer, releasing a lazy hiss, and stepped around her sister as she chugged and walked.

“Stop!” Lark’s eyes glowed hot. “Not so fast, missy.”

Robin swallowed, wiping the foam from her lips. “Now what?”

“What’s going on between you and Rick Hunter?”

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. Robin gulped another sip, trying to play it cool. “Huh?”

“You were just talking outside,” Lark said. “Since when are you two so friendly?”

Robin shrugged. “He’s a friendly guy. So what?”

“I saw him touch you.” Lark jabbed her with the pointy end of an accusation.

“Touch me?” Robin repeated, buying a few seconds as her brain unscrambled. “Oh, that? Geez, it was nothing. I had a knot in my neck, and he massaged it for like, all of three seconds.”

Lark’s stone-faced scowl said she remained unconvinced. “Seemed awfully chummy to me. I mean, considering you barely know the man.”

Robin shifted her weight, planting a hand on her hip. “I don’t know what you’re trying to get at, but I don’t appreciate your tone.”

“Flirting with Aidan’s father? Really?” Lark charged, coming at her with both horns.

“I was not!” Robin deflected with the wave of her red cape. “Maybe it’s time you got your eyes tested, doc.”

Lark scanned her face, her eyes bouncing like a polygraph’s needles. “You have the same guilty look as when I caught you doing the walk of shame this morning. Remember?”

“How could I forget?” Robin scoffed. “You practically waterboarded me over the kitchen sink.”

“You never did say where you went last night. Were you out with Rick Hunter?”

Fuck. Robin’s heart seized. Never had she wished for anything more than for a sinkhole to open up under the cottage and swallow her that instant. “Oh my God, Lark, you’ve lost your ever-loving mind.”

“I swear Robin, if I find out you shamelessly threw yourself at that man, you’ll be the one getting your head examined.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Robin sneered.

“For someone who’s trying to make a case for being more mature and responsible, you sure don’t act like it.”

“And for someone who’s supposed to be my sister, you sure act like a prison warden.”

“All right you two, break it up.” Aidan came inside and marched into the kitchen. “Geez, I can hear your bickering over the power sander.”

Robin and Lark glared intensely at one another, like two duelling gunslingers waiting to see who would draw first.

“Hey, Aidan,” Robin called to him, without breaking the stare down with her sister. “You still wanna grab that drink with me later?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said. “Sure thing, Robbie. How about tonight, say around seven?”

“Perfect. I’ll be ready for you to pick me up at seven,” she answered.

Then, as Robin lifted her beer can to her lips, she slowly raised her middle finger and flipped Lark the bird.

Capsized was a dockside tavern on Mirror Bay that had been serving local cottagers for years. Although their service was slow and the food was mid, their views were pretty much unbeatable, and as advertised, the beer on tap was “as cold as your ex’s heart.”

Aidan raised his beer mug to Robin, and a bit of foam sloshed over the side as they clinked. “I’m glad we’re finally doing this, Robbie.”

“Me too,” she said, taking a sip. “It feels like I haven’t seen you in like, a million years.”

“It’s definitely been a minute,” he said, smiling back. “You really look great.”

“Thanks,” she said, feeling cute in a pink tank top and denim short overalls.

Aidan had on khaki shorts and a breezy white cotton shirt, unbuttoned distractingly low.

He’d blown away her first impression of him, with those sunglasses and cocky Glen Powell swagger.

Now he looked more like Glen Powell on a yacht vacation. “You too. You haven’t changed much.”

“Well, you definitely have, but in a good way,” he said with a sparkle in his blue eyes. Just like Rick.

Oh God. Rick. This is so fucking messed up.

“So, Lark tells me you’ve managed to escape the marriage noose so far.”

“Yeah, I’m still single, but looking. I mean, you never know, right?” he said. “How ‘bout you? Seeing anyone at the moment?”

“At this moment? No,” she answered, which wasn’t a lie if she interpreted the question down to the precise minute and geographical location. Not at that moment, no.

He pursed his lips. “Interesting.”

She laughed, feeling uncomfortable as his gaze focused on her. “Is it interesting?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Now I’m not sure,” he said, chuckling along with her.

This felt weird. Was Aidan coming on to her, or was he just making small talk to pass the time? She honestly couldn’t tell. It didn’t feel like flirting, although he was certainly tap dancing around it. It all just felt a little too awkward or staged for her to be flattered by his attention.

She wondered if Lark was the puppet master pulling the strings. She was trying to push them together. Did she convince him to actually go so far as to flirt too? Because there was no way that Aidan Hunter was actually into Robin Pelletier. Was there?

“Robin?”

“Hmm?” She snapped back to the conversation. “I’m sorry, you were saying?”

“I said, it must be hard to be in a relationship when you’re travelling with the band.”

“It sure doesn’t make things any easier.” It’s not even easy when you’re dating someone in the band. “Not sure if you’ve heard, but the Dawn Cherries recently hit the skids.” She quickly pulled up the video of Parker’s meltdown in Orillia and showed him the clip.

“Oh shit,” he said, handing her phone back. “I guess I missed that. So, what does this mean for the band?”

She shrugged. “Until they decide to talk to each other again, I’m kinda stuck in limbo.”

“At least it’s summer, and you’re at the lake. There are worse places to be stuck in limbo.”

“That’s for sure,” she said, taking a drink at the same time their server brought two cheeseburger platters to the table. “Sounds like your job is going much better than mine. Let’s talk about that instead, shall we?”

“Sure,” he said, starting on his fries first. “What about it?”

“Well, you said you’re building cottages for movie stars now. That’s cool. You were always really handy. I think I remember you working on our dock with my dad, and if memory serves, you MacGyvered our lawn mower a time or two.”

He laughed. “Oh yeah, that’s right. The Pelletiers were probably my first customers,” he said. “You should come down to my mom’s cottage sometime to see all the renos I did there. Well, actually, it’s my dad’s now. He made quite a few changes himself. Bet you wouldn’t even recognize the old place.”

Robin picked up her burger, preparing to stuff it in her mouth so she didn’t make any stupid slips. “So, why would you want to give up what you’re good at to get into real estate?”

“I see it as combining the best of both worlds, really. I’m interested in the holistic process—buying the land, financing the deals, building the projects, and bringing in crews for projects,” he said, his eyes lighting up.

“I get to imagine and then orchestrate the entire development process from beginning to end.”

“So, you’re a total control freak,” she laughed, shaking her head. “Just like Lark.”

Aidan laughed too. “The guy I’m working with has reeled in some very impressive clients,” he said. “And to show him I’m partnership material, I’ve already got a nibble on someone who may be the biggest catch of them all. He’s a real A-lister.”

Since Kurt and Goldie first bought their place some twenty-odd years ago and their famous friends soon started flocking to Muskoka, longtime residents barely gave celebrities a second look.

Running into someone who sort of looked like that guy who was in that movie pumping gas, buying ice cream, or playing a round of golf was old hat.

It helped that there was an unspoken understanding that respecting privacy was a two-way street.

Celebrities were welcome to vacation on the down low, as long as they kept the peace in and the paparazzi out.

Aidan leaned forward. “Can you keep a secret?”

Robin mirrored him, leaning forward as she grinned. “I don’t know, can I?”

His eyes darted from side to side to ensure no one was within earshot range. “The guy I’m talking about is megawatt huge. Guess who it is.”

“I don’t know, Aidan. I’m really not good at—”

“Go on. Take a guess,” he said eagerly. “Okay, I’ll give you a hint. He’s one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Does all his own stunts.”

She shrugged. “I dunno. Tom Cruise?”

“Okay, maybe not that huge, but still pretty up there. You’ve definitely heard of him, and for sure you’ve seen his movies.”

“I really don’t know, Aidan,” Robin said, rolling her eyes. “It could be anyone.”

“Okay, here’s another hint. Likes fast cars and faster women?”

That narrowed it down to no one in particular. She shrugged, not wanting to continue playing his silly game, yet not wanting to hurt his feelings. “I’m sorry, I give up.”

He shook his head. “Does the name Barrett Kemp ring a bell?”

Ding-dong, did it ever. “I don’t live under a rock, of course, I know Barrett Kemp. Question is, how do you know him?”

“I don’t really, at least not yet. His business manager knows people who know people, and those people know people who have seen my work.

And somehow, Barrett got hold of some pictures and liked what he saw.

At least, that’s what I heard.” He shrugged.

“Who knows? He might be asking yours truly to build him a lakefront vacation home right here.”

“Might be?”