Chapter Seven. Marooned
Chapter Seven
MAROONED
The POS system required as much attention as Cam expected, which was unfortunate when her mind was elsewhere.
Esme’s words swam through her consciousness, echoing at an unbearable volume whenever Danny appeared.
Cam never pictured an owner refilling ketchup bottles, or shooing seagulls, or wiping down tables, but he was doing it, all while whistling along to the music playing overhead.
He was in his element. Like he finally found the place he was meant to shine.
As every minute passed, her guilt grew.
“I like to write thank you and draw a smiley face on the receipts,” Xavier explained, pulling the white paper from the printer and scribbling on it.
“You don’t have to. I just like personalizing it.
” Once he rolled the receipt into the small repurposed metal buckets they used as check presenters, he turned to Cam. “How are you doing?”
She responded with a jumbled mix of good and fine, but she failed to pay attention to Xavier, too busy following Danny with her eyes. He leaned on one of the booths, laughing with a group of older women drinking mimosas. They fawned over him, and as charming as ever, he played along.
“He’s really great here,” Xavier said, noticing her focus. “Pauly says towards the end, Beau was too tired to do his usual rounds. This place lost some of its sparkle, and then it shuttered for nearly four months after his death. But when Danny showed up, he breathed life back into it.”
“Is he like this every day?” she asked.
She’d struggled with the people-pleasing required of her career, the constant abiding of corporate politics and exhausting small talk. She couldn’t imagine doing it with the big smile Danny wore.
“Always. He’s usually in for most of the day, too,” Xavier replied.
“There used to be this ’63 VW bus out front.
Fully operable, but it was basically lawn decor in the summer months.
Beau won it in a poker game way back and kept it to taunt one of our regulars.
When he died, he left it to Danny, and Danny auctioned it off to be the initial investment in a health insurance fund for the staff.
It’s the first time I’m covered since I was a teenager. ”
Beau died of cancer. It wasn’t surprising Danny was willing to do anything to keep his employees healthy. Instead of pocketing every cent like so many would, he used his inheritance to help other people.
Her stomach hurt, like her insides had twisted. She knew why.
If put in the same position, she would’ve paid off her debt. She would’ve sold Beau’s—and everything in it—at the first opportunity.
“I was thinking about taking a few business classes at the community college and he offered to pay for those, too. This job has changed my life.” Xavier laughed.
“Never thought I’d say that about waiting tables.
Anyways!” He nodded towards the dining room, dangling the bucket-turned-check-presenter.
“Let’s drop this off and then we’ll take table six’s order. ”
Through the remainder of the Sunday brunch crowd, she shadowed Xavier, trying her hardest to focus on training.
But in the late afternoon, Danny grabbed her from the bar, where she’d been sent to grab a few drinks, all while repeating salad dressings to herself.
A customer had asked about their options, and when Xavier passed the question to her, she stammered out, “Uh … ranch?”
Last week, she wrote social media copy and ran email campaigns for beauty brands. Now, she wondered if she’d ever remember all nine salad dressings, let alone identify the difference between ranch and blue cheese.
“Look at you!” Danny came up behind her. “Once you deliver those,” he whispered directly in her ear, breaking her out in goose bumps, “join me on the deck, okay? It’s time for a break.”
With a wink, he disappeared into the kitchen. From behind the bar, Esme rolled her eyes and dropped a maraschino cherry into table eight’s third Shirley Temple. Rougher than necessary, she grabbed the soda gun and filled a fresh glass with ginger ale.
Gritting her teeth, Cam asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
“Nope.” Esme slid over the glasses, unimpressed. “But tell the parents that no seven-year-old needs three Shirley Temples.”
Cam delivered the drinks with her best smile, her thoughts on Danny’s promise of a break.
After giving Xavier a heads-up, she went to the deck, and when she didn’t immediately see Danny, she dropped into a red Adirondack chair.
Training was harder than she’d expected.
Her legs were sore, her feet hurt, and she had a pounding headache behind her eyes.
“You look tired.” Danny sat beside her, placing a tray of food on the end table between them. It was filled with delicious options: two glasses of lemonade, a sandwich with fries, and a plate of cookies.
Her stomach growled.
“Tired and hungry,” he amended, grabbing a cookie.
As he chewed, he groaned in delight and stretched his legs.
“These are one of the monthly specials. Pauly’s calling them strawberry shortcake cookies.
Who knew that was a thing?” With another two bites, he finished the cookie and grabbed another. “These might need to become permanent.”
She grabbed half the sandwich, and a bite confirmed it was an avocado BLT. The first taste of fresh avocado and salty bacon had her devouring the half and reaching for the other.
“So.” Danny dusted the cookie crumbs off his jeans, watching her eat. “How’s shadowing gone?”
“Pretty good. Xavier is great but … it’s a lot to process. The POS system I can do, but it’s the menu that’s tripping me up. It’s not that big but there’s a lot to remember.”
Danny shrugged, nudging her with his foot. His Chucks were the same color as the chairs, and the match made her smile. “You’re not on an island, Cam. You have questions, we have answers. You just gotta ask.”
She knew that, but she didn’t like struggling. Usually, studying was enough for her to grasp a new concept. She just needed time. And to focus. Which meant she needed to get something off her chest.
After eating a few fries, she asked, “Did it bother you I didn’t visit?
” She shifted on the chair so she could sit on one of her legs.
The crush was oddly comforting, distracting her from his big brown eyes.
“I mean … when you got back from traveling and took over Beau’s, I never visited.
It’s been more than three years, and this is my first time up here. ”
He shrugged, like her concerns were silly. But the way his gaze moved to the water told her otherwise. “Nah. We all had stuff going on.” A hand plunged into dark hair, disheveling the strands. “Besides, we’re not right around the corner.”
He was lying to her.
“Three years is a long time,” she continued, suddenly desperate to catch him in the sugarcoating. “Last summer, Morgan and I stayed with Drew for a week. There was no reason we couldn’t have driven down here, right?”
“I joined you guys in Boston, so—”
“Danny—”
“Camille.” He rarely used her full name, the instances relegated to two categories: playful scolding or serious conversation. Based on the way he gripped the arms of the chair, she knew it was the latter. “What do you want me to say? That it sucked? Okay. It sucked. But … you’re here now.”
Because you brought me here, she thought sadly.
Then, like the Danny she knew, he turned to her, charm oozing from a forced, toothy smile. “How was lunch?”
“Perfect. Thank you.”
Nodding, he turned back to the water. The silver chain he always wore on his neck glittered in the sunshine, and for the second time that day, she was taken by how handsome he was. The strong jawline, the thick eyebrows, the intense dimpling of his cheeks …
She blinked quickly, shaking off the thoughts. Where had they come from? Was this a side effect of too much sun exposure? There was just something about him in his Beau’s T-shirt, suntanned arms bare except a sprinkling of dark hair and …
A familiar, twined burst of color on his right wrist.
It was the same bracelet she’d tied onto him during their spring break trip to Tulum senior year. Society had a running joke about group travel ruining friendships, but back in college, Cam believed their party of five was strong enough to weather any storm.
Unfortunately, the Mexican sunshine had been their undoing.
On their final day, an expedition to visit cenotes had ended poorly, and if not for her fluent Spanish, they would’ve never negotiated a ride back to the hotel.
Cam wanted to blame the stressful afternoon and heat wave for everyone’s sour moods, but she couldn’t.
Something mysterious had happened between Drew and Morgan, leaving them barely on speaking terms.
Things hadn’t been any better between Cam and Cory. A semester’s worth of miscommunication and disagreements about their plans after graduation bubbled to the surface in their tiny hotel room. The long-overdue argument evolved into a long-overdue breakup.
She’d left the hotel room shocked. Shocked that the breakup happened on the trip they’d looked forward to for months. Shocked their nearly three-year relationship was over in the blink of an eye.
Shocked because she was upset—crying, even—and yet … her heart wasn’t broken.
She remembered sitting in the lobby, wondering what tore her up more: the split with Cory or their friend group seemingly in shambles.
But in her sadness, Danny found her. The minute he noticed her tears, he was her sunshine, insistent on saving her final night.
He took her into town, entertaining her until daybreak.
They ate delicious food, drank too much tequila, and stumbled through the streets, where they spotted the bracelet on a vendor’s table.
Or … bracelets.
Because he bought her one, too. Hers hung from her keys, battered and bruised after years of being stuffed in pockets and purses.
But every time she saw Danny, he was wearing his.
Feeling naked, she circled her wrist with her fingers.
Esme was right.