Chapter 5: Uncomfortable Beginnings

THEO

Before I knew it, Sunday had arrived, and we were standing at our gate, waiting for our flight to board.

“Are you okay?” I asked Nadia. She seemed nervous.

“I’m fine. I’ve never been away from Nate like this.”

“He’ll be fine. He’s a strong boy, and he knows what to do if he doesn’t feel well.”

“I know, but I can’t help it.”

“You’ll be able to call him after we settle in to the first place.”

Part of me understood her anxiety, but the other part of me wanted to roll my eyes. Nathan was eleven, and he knew better.

She needed to give him some freedom, but then again, I knew nothing about raising children.

Luckily, our flight was called to board, and after a few minutes of waiting for zones to be called, we were finally in our seats and ready to go.

“I almost forgot, here is your wedding band,” I said. “You’ll need it when we stay at these places. We want the genuine experience, and we don’t want people thinking we aren’t serious because we don’t have rings.”

“Okay.” She hesitantly took the ring from me and placed it in her pocket before paying attention to her phone.

We were halfway through our flight when we hit turbulence, and the pilot turned on the seatbelt sign.

As the plane dipped down and back up, I heard Nadia gasp.

“Is…is this normal?” she asked.

“It is. Sometimes planes encounter this. It’s nothing to be worried about.”

When the plane rocked again, Nadia’s hand flew onto mine and she squeezed it, and I didn’t hate her touch. In fact, the warmth radiating from her hand was comforting.

It took a few more minutes for the turbulence to stop, and once it did, Nadia jerked her hand away from me.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s okay.”

I didn’t want to admit that I enjoyed holding her hand. I glanced away and acted like I was paying attention to my phone.

***

Nadia didn’t say a word after the hand incident until we were in the rental car heading to Lover’s Orchard. I wasn’t sure why—if she was embarrassed, she shouldn’t be.

“About the plane… I’m sorry I grabbed your hand.”

“There is nothing for you to apologize for, so don’t worry about it.”

“How far is this place?”

“Just twenty minutes from the airport. Even though you didn’t want to come all this way, I think you’ll like it here.”

“I’ve never traveled out of state before. This was also my first time flying.”

“Well, you managed it well, especially the turbulence. Most people freak out their first time.”

“I didn’t want you to judge me. You already think I’m annoying for not wanting to do this.”

I let out a sigh.

“I don’t think you’re annoying. I think you could open up your mind to new experiences, though.”

Apparently, that wasn’t the right answer because she huffed and folded her arms across her chest, which I would not complain about.

She was wearing a T-shirt that had a V-cut on the front, and crossing her arms made her cleavage stand out more.

Okay, I had to nip this in the bud. I couldn’t be attracted to her—it was going to make working with her more difficult.

Nadia didn’t say anything else until we arrived at the inn.

Before we got out of the car, we slipped on our rings. I grabbed our luggage from the trunk.

As soon as we opened the door, we were greeted by an elderly lady.

“Oh my, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Hart. I’m Mabel. I’ve been the one communicating with you.”

“It’s nice to put a face to the name,” I said.

“Same here. You said you were here for your honeymoon, correct?”

“That’s correct.”

“You also asked for some activities. Do you still want those?”

“If it’s not too much of a hassle. We would love to see things that are often overlooked by the locals.”

“Perfect. I’ll get you checked in and show you to your room.”

We followed Mabel to the third floor. You could tell it was an old home that they had renovated and made additions to in order to accommodate more guests.

“Here you go. The honeymoon suite. If you need anything, please let me know.”

“Thank you,” Nadia said as Mabel closed the door behind her.

“There is only one bed,” Nadia said in a panic.

“There’s a couch I can take.”

“But that isn’t fair to you.”

“The only other option is to share a bed, and I don’t think you’re comfortable enough with me to do that.”

“I can sleep on the couch.”

“I will not let you do that, Nadia.”

“Maybe we can take turns?”

“No. I’ll sleep on the couch. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay.”

Her voice was a whisper, and you could tell she felt bad, but I refused to make a female sleep on the couch when there was a bed in the room.

“Are you hungry?” I asked her.

“Yes, I’m starving.”

“I’ll head down and get a recommendation from Mabel.”

This was a pleasant inn. It was small and airy.

It was perfect for people who wanted a getaway but didn’t want many people around.

“Anything I can help you with, Mr. Hart?” Mabel asked as I approached the front desk.

“Please call me Theo. My wife and I were wondering if you have any recommendations for dinner,” I said.

“There is a nice little burger and fries place right on the beach. I recommend going there and enjoying it on the beach. It’s called Bay Burgers.”

“Thank you,” I replied.

“You’re welcome. If you need anything else, just ask.”

“Actually, can we get an extra blanket? Nadia gets cold easily.” The truth was, I needed it for the couch.

“Certainly. I’ll put it in your room while you’re out to dinner.”

“Wonderful.” I flashed Mabel a smile and headed back upstairs to Nadia.

As I got to our room, I opened the door and started talking to Nadia. But Nadia had been changing clothes, and I walked in on her changing.

“I am so sorry!” I yelled out and closed my eyes.

“Oh my god,” Nadia squealed. “I thought I had more time before you came back.”

“Please hurry and put on a shirt.”

Normally, I wasn’t this shy about seeing a lady without a shirt on, but this was Nadia.

A person who didn’t want to be here, and I didn’t want to give her any more reasons to hate doing this job with me.

“There.”

“Rule number one, always change in the bathroom,” I said.

“Sorry,” she snapped. “I thought you would have taken longer.”

“Anyway, will you eat burgers?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, then let’s go.”

This was going to be the longest job assignment ever.