Page 16 of Sweet Summertide (Christmas Cove #4)

In addition to Theodor’s hungry stomach vibrating with growls in his belly, his phone was buzzing with an angry rhythm too.

He took his ringing phone from a generic gray bin where he had placed his personal belongings upon booking.

He took a deep breath before answering his dad’s call.

“Hi, Dad.” Theodor didn’t get any more words out before the yelling began.

“Do you know what strings I had to pull to get you out of there?”

“Dad, please. It wasn’t my fault?—”

“Do you know how often I hear that in my courtroom? I may be a good judge of the law, but I have misjudged you for far too long, thinking you would pull yourself together?—”

“I am pulling myself together. I’m opening my new shop in a couple of weeks. No thanks to the girl that got me arrested.”

“There’s a girl? I see. And I’ve heard everything I need to hear about the situation.”

“It’s not like that. You’re not being evenhanded here,” Theodor tried to explain but was cut off again.

“I’m your father. I don’t have to be anything. What I am is disappointed, once again. So, you run along and play with your little chocolate bars and don’t you dare call me to bail you out again.”

“Dad, I was working a deal. You didn’t need you to do anything.”

The line went dead.

That’s when he looked up and saw two cops shaking their heads at him.

“Don’t you judge me too,” he said and placed his wallet and phone in his pants pocket.

He retrieved his Peugeot timepiece and slid the gold band over his hand.

Last, he replaced his favorite hair elastic—the one he was forced to remove when getting his photo taken—on his wrist.

“You’re free to go, Saint Theo,” the female officer said, but he knew the drill from attending a criminal law class and waited at the exit door for her to buzz him out to the lobby while wondering how his dad knew about the arrest anyway.

Teddy stopped at a bank of vending machines.

He scanned the selection for whatever had the most caffeine and settled on Big Buzz energy drink.

Whatever that is . He retrieved his credit card from his wallet and shoved it in the slot.

He pressed the corresponding button, and nothing happened.

“Oh, come on!” The side panel shuddered under the force of his palm, and he bumped the glass with his hip.

That’s when the scrolling word, DECLINED , caught his eye.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” His dad wasn’t playing around this time, it seemed.

With no caffeine, no money, and no way to get home, he passed through the outside doors and cringed at the bright, mid-morning sun. Taking a deep breath of clean air, cooler and more pleasant than the atmosphere had been inside the jail, he filled his lungs with the essence of freedom.

No amount of relief at being out could squash the anger that was strangling his heart. He hated his father for cutting him off, and he hated Holly for causing him to feel so mad and disappointed.

The full breath allowed him a moment to scan his surroundings. That’s when he spotted Alfonso sitting on the hood of the red truck. Theodor walked with purpose and pointed his finger at Alfonso. “You called my dad? I was taking care of it. I even had a deal worked out to get us both out for free.”

Alfonso put his hands up in surrender. “Alfonso not know this and call mamma.”

“That’s even worse,” Theodor said and stopped in his tracks. “She’s the last person that actually likes me.”

“Alfonso like.” He held a hand over his heart and then pointed it to Theodor. “Alfonso. Theodor. Bros, no?”

“Yes, Alfonso, we’re friends. And thank you for getting me out, however you went about it. I’m grateful to not be stuck in there with her for one more minute.”

“Holly?”

“Who else?” Theodor looked back at the building’s side door where he’d exited.

“I left her in there. I tried to cut a deal and talk my way out of it, but there was nothing else I could do but wait for the judge to decide.” He opened the passenger side door.

“Plus, she deserves to stay in there a little longer for what she was going to do. Speaking of that, did you get the delivery?”

“ Si ,” Alfonso climbed in the front seat and slammed the door. “What now?”

“Drive. I need to get to the shop. I have more work to do than ever. My father turned off the money spigot and now I have to win that grant money to keep my shop going. I can’t afford anything else going wrong.”

Alfonso put the truck into reverse but was halted by a passing car honking a horn behind him.

He wasted no time throwing the truck into park and diving out the door, shouting something in Italian and flailing his arms and hands in the air.

Theodor rolled down the window and pulled his upper half through the opening, sitting on the narrow ledge.

A woman got out of the car, the wind blew her dark hair in front of her face and shrouded her features, but she shouted right back at Alfonso.

The high-pitched voice was unmistakable. “Hey, Millie. Here for a conjugal?” Theodor teased once he knew for sure who the woman was.

“Very funny.” She rolled her eyes and approached him. “You know I told her to back off of all this, and I thought she listened to me for once. I can’t believe she went ahead with her harebrained idea.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You knew what she was planning and didn’t stop her?”

“You act like I’m in charge of her. Holly has always had a mind of her own, just ask her parents who cut her off yesterday.” Millie slapped herself in the forehead. “That’s why she did it. Now, her creamery is her last shot to make it on her own.”

“I don’t care if she was told to do it at gun point, she went too far. And what makes her reason so special? This business is my only chance too, but you don’t see me sabotaging her at every corner just to win a few bucks.”

Alfonso came around and whispered into Millie’s ear causing her to look at him with sad eyes. “You’ve been cut off too? That’s not great, but now you’ll have to suck it up like the rest of us and work for a living instead of relying on daddy.”

“That’s amusing coming from someone defending a rich girl for the same reason.”

Alfonso put his body between Theodor and Millie but faced Millie. “No fight like racoons. Get Holly. Alfonso got bro.” He nodded with his head towards Theodor as though Millie wouldn’t know who he was referring to.

She put her hands up and walked back to her sedan. “Keep him away from me and keep him away from my best friend, will you?”

The two guys stood by and watched as she pulled her car forward and parked in a vacant visitor spot before they got back into the red truck.

Theodor’s emotions floated over the abyss of his reality.

Nothing she said about him needing to work for his own living was wrong.

But it’s one thing to strike out on your own and another to know you’re still in spring training.

Until fifteen minutes ago, he was biding time, now he was thrown into the big game of life.

“Alfonso, I think spring training is over. No more Saint Theo. I’m winning the grant money no matter what. Now let’s get out of here.”