So Inn Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

Who’s got the little tykes group this summer?”
    A couple of girls raised their hands.
    “I hear he’s kind of a brat. Is that true?” one of the girls asked.
    “He’s not bad. At least he wasn’t last year.”
    “Anyway. How do we get the adult Talbots to like us?” I asked. I hoped I might have a head start, since my grandfather knewMr. Talbot Senior. Still, it had taken me two years to get hired, despite that. Hopefully Mr. Talbot Senior hadn’t soured on Grandpa, for some unknown reason. Hopefully Grandpa had been keeping up with his calls and Christmas cards and old-boy network stuff, like sharing jokes and cigars now and then. Virtually. Via e-mail.
    “It’s easy,” Hayden said. “Just flatter them.”
    “Yeah, but not in a phony way,” Zoe said. “They’re really nice guys, actually. Whatever happens, they’re just trying to protect the Inn’s image, so every once in a while, they flip out over something small,” she explained.
    “Like what?” I asked.
    “You’ll just have to find out on your own,” Caroline said, in a somewhat ominous tone, as if I were bound to screw up. I got the impression that if I were drowning, she wouldn’t throw me a life preserver. I don’t even think she’d try. She’d probably turn and walk the other way.
    What had I done? Was I forgetting some major slight on my part? Or was she remembering one that never happened?
    I usually find a way to get along with almost everyone. The real person to worry about wasn’t going to be a Talbot. It was her .
    “Okay, so you asked us what you need to know about the Inn,” Hayden said. “So tell us what we need to know about you.” He looked right at me.
    “Me?” I asked. “Don’t start with me.”
    He laughed. “Why not?”
    “I don’t know. I’m not that interesting,” I said. That wasn’t it, but I just didn’t feel like talking about myself to a bunch of people I didn’t know. “I’d rather hear about stuff from you guys.”
    “‘Not that interesting,’” Josh repeated. “Hm. You know, the people who say stuff like that are always the most interesting.”
    “You know, that’s true.” Hayden smiled at me across the bonfire.
    Why were they ganging up on me? “What can I tell you? I’m from a suburb outside Hartford, I’m cocaptain of the volleyball team, my birthday’s March twelfth, which means I’m a Pisces. Oh and I also like piña coladasand walks in the rain,” I said. “That’s about it.”
    “Righhhht,” Hayden said slowly.
    “Okay, you’re right, you really aren’t interesting,” Caroline declared.
    “Fine, then.” I turned to her. “Why don’t you talk about yourself?” She probably liked to do that.
    “We could be here for hours,” Daunte joked.
    “Stop it.” Caroline laughed and tossed a handful of sand in his direction.
    “Not cool. Not cool. I have contacts, remember?” Daunte rubbed at his eyes.
    “You know, we could sit here all night trading astrological signs. But I think I’d rather go swimming. Anyone else?” I asked.
    “Race you,” Hayden said as he jumped to his feet.
    “No fair—I don’t know the way—”
    “The ocean? It’s right over there,” Tyler said.
    “I know, but—”
    “Last one in is a rotten quahog!” Hayden yelled.
    “Ew. Smelly,” Caroline was commenting as I took off running for the water, stepping overrocks and stripping off my clothes as I did.
    Don’t worry, it wasn’t that racy—I was wearing a bathing suit underneath.
     
    I was tiptoeing into my room later that night when I knocked a book off the edge of the desk. It crashed to the floor and I saw Claire turn over in bed. “Sorry—I was trying not to wake you up so I didn’t want to turn on the light,” I said.
    “It’s okay. I heard you guys coming a mile away.”
    “Really?” I asked.
    “Oh yeah. Remember not to say anything personal as you’re walking up the path—you can hear everything,” Claire said. “So how was it? Sounded like