Page 35 of The Deal Maker
Trying not to smile at being able to read him for once, I say, "This must've been what your family was talking about?"
He nods and removes his hands, showing me his dark blue eyes. A girl could get lost in those.
But not me. I shake my head, trying to focus on the conversation. Maybe we needed to walk inside Josie's place and get the photo taken.
“My mom likes to talk about the two things she thinks I haven't fulfilled. My potential as a father and my potential as a provider.”
"Wow, she went right for the paternal rights, huh?" My parents ask me if I'm dating someone all the time, but they know better than to jump to the guilt about needing to be grandparents.
"Yep. She means well and I love my mother. But there's a lot to unpack there. How old were your parents when they got married?"
The question sets me on my heels because I'm not sure what he's trying to point out.
"My dad was twenty-three and my mom was twenty."
He shakes his head. "Babies. They were practically babies then."
"I have to disagree. I think they were fairly mature." Then again, that didn’t last to keep them together longer than seven years.
"Do you know what I was doing at twenty-three?" Duke asks. When I shake my head, he says, "I was trying to do a flight course with Coop so I could be a pilot."
"Do you still have your license?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "I never finished."
"What other jobs have you held?"
"How much time do you have?" Duke asks before laughing.
"So, you're having a hard time finding a career. Have you done the tests that tell you what you’re most likely to do?"
"Like answer a bunch of vague questions and we'll tell you exactly what to do with your life? Yep."
I smile at him and say, "What do they tell you?"
"The problem is that I took too many. Now there are conflicting options of what they say I should be and I can't narrow them down."
"Have you actually spent time in each of the disciplines?" I ask, suddenly feeling like this is a problem we should be able to get to the bottom of quickly.
"One of them. But I'm not a good surf coach. Just ask King. We tried that one about six years ago when I was home from college."
I'd almost forgotten he'd gone to college. "What did you major in? Please tell me you finished school."
"That I did. I have a degree in finance."
"Well there's still hope for you. I'm sure there are plenty of careers that deal with finance."
He frowns, raising one eyebrow. "In Willow Cove? Not likely."
"What's keeping you here then? You could go anywhere and come back to visit whenever you want."
His expression changes from playful to serious right before we walk into the photography shop.
“Should we go in?”
I don't know why he looks so relieved to not be talking about this anymore, but I'll have to revisit it later. The more I can help solve his problems, the less I have to worry about my feelings shifting for him.
SIXTEEN
