Page 15

T he next afternoon, after they’d worked hard to restock the shop, sweep off the patio, and arrange match play, Endy and Maria stood at the front desk looking over the next day’s schedule.

Joel walked past them holding a tennis racquet.

He stopped and turned back to Endy and looked at her from beneath his eyebrows.

“Sebastian Hall and I are going to the Stout House this Friday,” he said. “He wanted me to invite you guys to meet up with us.”

“Did he?” Endy smiled.

“Yeah,” replied Joel. He studied Endy. “I didn’t know you knew him.”

“I don’t, really. I mean, we had some wine and talked …”

“… the other night,” finished Joel.

Endy’s eyes narrowed, and she frowned. “How do you know about the other night?”

“I saw you get into his golf cart after you got off work. Seems to me that you guys were pretty chummy.”

“Seems to me that it’s none of your business.

” Endy again had the sense that Joel was jealous, which kind of baffled her.

They had dated briefly when she had first moved to Palm Springs.

He was certainly more than attractive enough in that jock-ish way with hair that is messy but not too messy, strong shoulders, and six-pack abs.

Joel was confident and cocky, so girls were drawn to him, and he never went long without some girlfriend pining over him.

Endy and Joel were super comfortable around each other.

While workplace romances tended to happen everywhere, Endy hadn’t felt a special spark with him, so their relationship was over within a few months.

She had broken it off, telling him that it was uncomfortable for her to be dating someone who was her boss.

Joel hadn’t wanted to call it off, but Endy said she wanted to keep things professional, so he’d reluctantly agreed. Very reluctantly.

She thought about Joel’s earlier behavior when she’d brought Sebastian the ice for his twisted knee.

Was Joel jealous? And is that why he had shoved himself between her and Sebastian when she’d tried to help him to the bench?

But the idea of Joel being jealous was ridiculous … Endy barely knew Sebastian.

Except, when Endy had brought Sebastian to his car, she’d noticed a blue and gold bumper sticker with a brown bear—a UCLA bruin.

Sebastian had mentioned that he knew Joel from when they played college tennis.

And Endy knew that Joel had gone to the University of Southern California.

In fact, pretty much everyone knew Joel had gone to USC since his saying of choice was a smug “Fight on.”

From what Endy had seen over the past few days, just like their college rivalry, Sebastian and Joel were well matched … and extremely competitive.

Joel was quiet as he walked to the stringing machine and placed the tennis racquet on top. Finally, with a surly glance at Endy, he said, “You know, Sebastian is messed up.”

Endy returned his glance. “Yeah, he said something about how he keeps reinjuring his knee.”

“Not like that, Endy,” said Joel. “Well, yeah, that too, sure. But what I mean is that he has a reputation as being a quitter.”

Endy’s eyebrows drew together, and she looked at Maria, who just shrugged.

“When we played against each other, Sebastian was literally the best in Pac-12 tennis,” continued Joel. “His college career was the stuff of legends. When he played for UCLA, he helped them win three straight NCAA Team Championships, and hell, he himself won a couple of NCAA Singles Championships.”

Maria moved from behind the front counter. “Doesn’t sound messed up to me.”

“It’s what happened after all that. Everyone thought that Sebastian would turn professional. Everyone said it—he was that good. But during one match, I think it was at the end of his junior year, he was playing against Ivan Kovacic—”

“Wait, the Ivan Kovacic who just made it to the quarterfinals at the US Open?” asked Maria, her eyebrows raised. Joel nodded.

“So Sebastian was actually winning against Kovacic. He had won the first set pretty convincingly but was down a break in the second set.” Joel leaned his arms against the stringing machine.

“Kovacic served this bomb out wide, and Sebastian lunged to get to it. But instead, his knee twisted and bent back under him, completely the wrong way.” Joel’s torso shook as he visibly shivered.

“We were all there watching. Even now just remembering it and what it looked like makes me feel like throwing up.”

Endy approached Joel, her eyes full of concern. “Okay, but you said he wasn’t messed up because of his knee. And yet …”

“Right. See, he could have gotten it completely fixed by any of those world-renowned doctors in LA, and he probably could have done rehab and come back to play his senior year.” Joel shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

“But he didn’t. He just up and quit tennis altogether.

So it’s no wonder he said he felt like his knee never fully healed. He’s a fucking quitter.”

“Come on, Joel. Give him a break. Sebastian had his dream of becoming a pro tennis player crushed along with his knee.”

“But was it? His dream, I mean.” Joel picked up the tennis racquet and started snipping the strings.

“After what happened with his knee, Sebastian sure wasn’t interested in becoming a pro tennis player any longer.

He wasn’t interested in tennis, or actually …

anything. Just up and quit everything. And since then, I don’t know if he’s ever found anything he’s interested in.

” Endy couldn’t decide how much of this history to believe. “Have you ever asked him what he—”

“He wasn’t even interested in Sloane anymore,” interrupted Joel. “Broke off their engagement, which surprised everyone, especially her.”

Sebastian was engaged?

“Sebastian hasn’t really done anything since he quit tennis, and then quit Sloane.” Joel frowned and crossed his arms. “So yeah, I think that makes him both messed up and a quitter.”

They all remained quiet for a bit after Joel finished this story. Endy retreated to her office and pretended to go through all the emails on her computer. But her mind was buzzing with thoughts of Sebastian.

A knock at her door pulled Endy out of her thoughts.

Maria entered and sat in the chair across from Endy’s desk.

“What was all that about?” she asked. “Who is this Sebastian that Joel was talking about? And why is he so wildly jealous of him?” Maria looked over her shoulder, then turned back to Endy.

“You can talk. He already left for the day.”

Endy raised her hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sebastian Hall,” she started. “The hottest, most handsome, most incredible …”

“Wait, what?” screamed Maria as she leaned close to Endy, a huge grin on her face. “Why didn’t you tell me about him when I was at your house last night?”

Endy laughed. “I guess I wasn’t even thinking about him because we got so caught up talking about trying to make more friends here.”

“He could be a friend .” Maria lifted her hands, and her fingers made quotes in the air. “What is even going on? Spill everything!”

Over the next half hour, Endy recounted everything—from how she’d run into Sebastian when she was late to Picklers, to bringing him ice, to laughing uncontrollably with him on the golf cart.

By the time Endy got to the part where she and Sebastian had shared a bottle of wine a couple of evenings before, Maria was whooping and dancing around Endy’s office.

“I dunno, don’t read anything into this. He might just be like this with everyone, you know, super nice, kinda flirty …”

“I’ve never seen Joel act like he did today. He knows there is something up between you and Sebastian.”

“There is nothing up between me and Sebastian Hall.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” replied Maria, still doing little hip shakes. “But I’m going home now. I gotta light some kind of candles and put out some prayer flags or something for you. You’ve found our first new friend, Endy.” She winked.

“Maria, please, please don’t make this into something it’s not.” Endy dropped her face into her palms.

Maria smiled at Endy, leaned across the desk, and planted a kiss on her head. She backed out of the office, holding both hands up with fingers crossed, and a wicked grin playing across her red lips.