But I can’t ask. It’s not fair, is it? It’s too personal. We’ve gotten too close for comfort already, shared too much. I’m finding that he’s impossible to not like.
If he opens his mouth and tells me he overcame significant adversity to become this generous and hardworking person I’m coming to know, the attraction would be inescapable. I wouldn’t be able to stay away, to keep him at arm’s length.
“He wants to create a camp because of his childhood. Because it was a happy place for him?”
“Something like that.”
“But whymyland? He’s rich enough. He could probably buy a whole damn island somewhere.”
One big shoulder shifts up and down. “It’s the location relative to where he lives, the size, the creek and pond, and probably other things. Oliver is like a dog with a bone. He gets an idea about something, and you can’t make him shake it. His intentions are admirable. His methods, perhaps not so much.”
As altruistic as it all sounds, I’m still not selling.
We enter the city limits of Binghampton, and I direct Archer down some side streets and toward the rink. It’s a large, circular concrete stadium that hosts local hockey games in addition to practices and various ice-skating classes and events.
I point to the cluster of parents and kids crowded around the main entrance. “You can pull up by that group of people. They must have the doors locked still.”
He parks, and before I can warn him, he jumps out to grab my bag for me.
I manage to get out of the car before he can open the door for me, but I’m too late to stop the inevitable.
“Finley, is this one of your brothers?” Carol Anne, a single mom who has two girls in my class, has already sidled up to introduce herself, shaking his free hand even as he sets the bag on the ground at my feet.
“I only have one brother, and you’ve met him.”
“Oh, right. The young one.” Her nose wrinkles then smooths out when she looks up at Archer and smiles.
“Well, this one is much more mature,” Greg cuts in, shooting a glance to his partner, James.
“Finley, Finley! I lost a tooth!” One of the kids, Samuel, runs up, tugging on my sleeve.
Rebecca comes up behind him. “One time, the tooth fairy didn’t take my tooth for three days. Mommy said sometimes she gets tired.”
Samuel and Rebecca start arguing over whether the tooth fairy sleeps, and I give Archer an apologetic grimace.
It’s pure chaos, and I just got here.
Archer takes it in stride, smiling and nodding at everyone crowding around. “I’ll be back in a couple hours,” he says to me. Then, like the smart man he is, he makes his escape. “Text me if you need anything,” he calls out before climbing back into the car.
“He is a tall drink of water, and honey, I am thirsty,” Carol Anne tells me.
James nudges Greg. “That one doesn’t have to put the cookies in the oven. He just walks by and winks at it.”
They all laugh, and I press my lips together.
Carol Anne nudges me with her elbow. “You gonna share?”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Thank the heavens. Can I have him?”
“No.” He drives away, and then I turn to face her. “You can’t.”
ChapterTwelve
Archer
Istop at a coffee shop next to the Chenango River and set up at a table inside with my laptop and a notepad and pen.