Birds, Secrets, and Love

Chapter 1

"Hey Holly!", Tessa Whitbrooke said in a hurried voice as she rushed around the office carrying dozens of oversized sketches of dresses. Her best friend and partner in crime, Holly Monreuvia raised an eyebrow and said, "Good morning overachiever. Do you need help with that?". "Nah, you hurry up and finish your work and then we can leave early and pack! I can't wait to eat jam all week long," Tessa stumbled as her tower of papers wobbled. Holly nodded and got back to work. Today was the day that Tessa and Holly were finally going on vacation to Tessa's childhood town: Timberwood Point. Holly looked up from her paperwork and grinned, "Am I finally going to meet that George you always talk about?". "Definitely not! He's been in Denmark for a whole decade saving the butterflies. Why would such an important guy take a break from his work and come home to such a small town?", Tessa responded. "Well, you did tell me that you were going to that highschool reunion, maybe he'll show up?", Holly smiled. Tessa sighed, "I guess we'll wait and see". Suddenly, Agatha Poplar, their boss, barged in and scowled at Tessa, "Stop that chit-chatting girls. What am I paying you for, to gossip? I'll take back your vacation time if this keeps up!". Tessa smiled, "Guess what, Ms. Poplar, we just finished our work. All I have to do now is get these sketches down to the printers". "Impressive ladies, I hope you have a fun time away from us real people in the real world", Agatha grumbled as she slammed the door behind her. Holly and Tessa slowly turned to look at eachother and burst out laughing. "What does that even mean?," Holly snickered. "Who knows?", Tessa wheeved. The two fashion interns put their work away and headed back to their apartment.

"I sure am going to miss the rats in the subway and the bad air quality", Tessa said sarcastically as they packed their bags. "I have literally no idea how we're going to get around without taxis", Holly laughed.

Once packed, they headed off to the airport and began their flight to the town Tessa grew up in. "Now landing at Timberwood Point, Vermont. Local time: 10:00am", the staticky pilot's voice bellowed throughout the aircraft. The two best friends were greeted with fresh pine smelling air as they walked down the airplane stairs. "Ah it smells so nice here! And the sun is out!", Holly exclaimed. "Yep, it's good to be back", Tessa breathed it in as memories came flooding back. They looked around the small airport for Tessa's brother, their chauffeur for the day. After a while, they spotted an awkwardly tall Canadian that looked identical to Tessa. Tessa waved at him and they walked over there. "Hiii you must be Isaac, I'm Holly. I can definitely tell you two are related, like it's scary", Holly said. Isaac smiled, "Yeah, we get that a lot, let's head out. I brought the tractor". "Not the tractor!", Tessa yelled, "Does it at least have seatbelts?". "Of course..... it's safe, It can only go ten miles an hour.", her brother reassured her. "This is gonna be a looooong ride", Holly sighed.

The ride seemed to last an eternity until they approached a sweet blue house where Tessa grew up. "Mouse is going to be so happy to see you!", Isaac said as he opened the front door. Immediately they were bombarded by Tessa's parents and their golden retriever, Goldie. "Oh, my. It is so good to see my little girl!", Janice Whitbrooke exclaimed as she pulled everyone into a hug. "Oof, it's good to see you too, mom. You too dad", Tessa said. "Likewise! I'm sure Mouse is dying of anticipation to see his favorite person!", Jim Whitbrooke said. Holly broke out of the surprise hug and cocked her head in confusion, "You have a pet mouse?". "More like a pet named Mouse! He's a falcon, let's go say hi to him!", Tessa grabbed Holly's arm and ran to Mouse's cage where a gorgeous falcon sat screeching in excitement. "Hey buddy, I missed you too!", Tessa said as she opened the cage and petted the critter, who cooed and rubbed against her like a purring cat. Holly's mouth was agape in shock. "HE'S SO CUTE!!", she screamed as she pet Mouse. "I think he knows that too", Tessa laughed, "So...should we go out back to the lake house and unpack? We've got the whole place to ourselves!". Holly took a double-take, "A LAKE HOUSE?! Man! I knew your family was rich but not this rich!".

At the lake house, the girls unpacked their things and then regrouped in the kitchen. "Soooo... what should we do on our first day of vacation?", Holly asked. "You've got to get a tour of the farm! I'm sure Isaac would be happy to show you around!", Tessa suggested. "Oh? And what will you be doing?...Looking for George?", Holly responded. "Absolutely not! I'm going to go to the supermarket and stock up the fridge", Tessa sighed. Holly grinned, "Then it's decided. We'll meet back up in a couple hours. Make sure to buy tons of junk food". "Will do", Tessa said as she walked out the door.

Tessa swerves her mom's SUV into the supermarket parking lot. Suddenly a distracted parent lets their stroller roll into Tessa's way, causing her to pull an evasive maneuver. She accelerates and moves to the right and almost runs over another pedestrian, who shouts, "Hey watch where you're going lady!". Tessa freaks out and rolls down her window and is met with delicious chocolate brown eyes glaring at her. "S-sorry", she stammers at the beautiful young man. "Whatever, just keep your eyes on the road", he responds in his strange accent. The aloof mom runs over to the car and shouts, "Thank you so much for avoiding the stroller. I thought I put the break on!". The mystery man looks back at Tessa and says, "Sorry for jumping to conclusions". Tessa is speechless. The man walks away before she can find words and so she continues to find a parking spot. 'Who was that guy?', she thought, 'I didn't think Timberwood Point had many foreigners'. She kept thinking about where he could have been from. Maybe Italy? That accent sounded exotic. Much to its dismay, she made her brain shut up and went into the store.