“Yup.” Archer scrambled to his feet. Shit. Mateo was early. Archer had planned to meet him outside the dorm. Mateo looked amazing though—breezy white linen shorts and a matching shirt that made his tawny skin pop. His black hair was tousled perfectly over his forehead. Archer wondered if he looked nice enough in his faded raspberry T-shirt and khaki shorts.

“Ready to go?” Caleb looked up and frowned. “Go where?”

“Um, Ms. Lamb invited Mateo and me to have tea in her cabin.”

“What?” Caleb scrunched his face. “That’s weird.”

“I guess, but … can’t hurt, right?” Archer reached under his bed for his flip-flops, but then noticed Mateo had slate blue canvas loafers on and changed his mind, digging for his white slip-on sneakers.

Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “So the two of you are just … going to have tea … with an old lady.”

Archer nodded, eyes flicking to Mateo, who looked completely unbothered by Caleb’s skepticism. A real talent of his.

“Whatever,” Caleb shrugged, attention going back to his phone. “Have fun.”

“Thanks. We’ll be back for dinner.”

Caleb nodded without looking up again.

Archer slipped his shoes on while Mateo hovered in the doorway, then they headed out into another beautiful day at Shady Queens. They walked in silence along the path toward the guest cabins and onto the grassy flat by the main beach. Archer smiled at a pigtailed toddler chasing after a ball, her moms following her, popsicles melting in their hands.

“Are you having a good time here?” Mateo asked as they took the next path toward Eileen’s cabin.

“What? Oh, yeah. Definitely. I mean, a paying gig for almost four months, not having to pound the pavement in the city, getting rejected every couple days.”

“Yeah…” Mateo nodded. “It’s not really the same, though, is it? Performing at Shady Queens versus a stage in Manhattan?”

Archer stiffened. “Not all of us can land roles on Broadway.”

Mateo studied the lake and the ripples kicked up by a warm breeze. “That’s not what I meant. I—”

“Helloooo!” They were interrupted by a distant trill.

Archer looked down the path, and there was Eileen, on her little front porch waving a scarf at them. Yellow, this time.

“Hello!” she called again, her smile growing the closer they got. “Thank you so much for coming!” she cried as they reached the path up to her door. She hopped down the steps and wrapped Archer in a hug.

“Hi, Ms. Lamb,” Archer said, surprised at her wiry strength. Once he had his limbs back, he turned to Mateo. “Mateo, may I introduce you to Ms. Eileen Lamb?”

“Hello, Ms. Lamb,” Mateo said smoothly, shaking her hand. “Thank you so much for having us. That’s very kind of you.”