Surf Break 43
SURF BREAK
Jillian Chantal
Secret Cravings Publishing
www.secretcravingspublishing.com
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A Secret Cravings Publishing Book
Surf Break
Copyright © 2012 Jillian Chantal
E-book ISBN: 978-1-61885-395-5
First E-book Publication: September 2012
Cover design by Dawne Dominique
Edited by Lori Paige
Proofread by George Smith
All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Secret Cravings Publishing
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
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Dedication
This story is dedicated to Sandy Sullivan, owner, Secret Cravings Publishing as well as Beth Walker, publisher, Secret Cravings Publishing and Pam Barker. Sandy and Pam attended Silken Sands Writer's Conference on beautiful Pensacola Beach and I tried to take them to lunch at my favorite burger joint which is a Mecca for surfers. We couldn't find a parking place so we didn't get to go, but the fun we had that weekend inspired this story. As to Beth, well, she's a superstar to work with. I'm thrilled to be able to thank these ladies for being such great people to be around.
SURF BREAK
Jillian Chantal
Copyright © 2012
Juliette Mackey shoved her glasses up onto her head to push the hair out of her eyes. When she dressed for work that morning, she lost the battle with her left contact lens and decided to leave them in the case. Darn it, I can’t see with these glasses on and all they do is cause me aggravation when they fog up in the humidity of this joint or slide down my nose. I hate them.
She wiped her face with the hem of her apron. Covered in a sheen of sweat that slid down her spine and into her panties, she shuddered in disgust. I bet I smell like an old goat. I can’t wait to get off and take a dip. My back is killing me. Who knew this job was so hard?
“Hey, lady. Can we order here?” A teenager with curly blonde hair yelled across the restaurant at Juliette.
“Just a sec. Let me deliver these burgers and I’ll be right over.” Juliette picked up the tray laden with four orders of the specialty of the house, called surf burgers. They were served with a secret sauce, kind of a mixture of ketchup, mayonnaise and Thousand Island dressing. The orders she carried also contained hula fries. Sweet potato fries that were twice fried and were Juliette’s new addiction. The enemy of her hips. She inhaled the scent of the grease as she carried the tray to a table where four young men sat. It shouldn’t smell so good, but it did.
As she sat the food down in front of one of the guys at the table, he said, “What’s a chick like you doing in a joint like this?”
Juliette smiled. She bit the inside of her cheek. That was the hardest part of taking this job at the beach for the summer. Putting up with the smart-mouth kids. In her real job as a college professor, the students all bowed and scraped to get good grades. Here, they acted like she was someone to push around or ignore because she was older than the normal crowd in the burger joint.
Juliette didn’t answer the boy. She served their food in silence and moved on to the next table. She pulled out her order pad from the pocket of her uniform and flipped the page back to write down the new order. She attempted to pull her pencil out of her hair. It was a bit of a struggle as it got caught in her curls.
One of the customers at the second table laughed at Juliette’s st
ruggle with the pencil and said, “Need some help, ma’am?”
She jerked the offending pencil out of the snarl of hair and smiled at the customer. “Nah. I’m used to it.”
A young man at the table she just left looked over at her and said, “Sorry, ma’am. It seems some of these dudes weren’t taught any manners by their mammas. Please forgive my friend.”
Juliette smiled at the young man. How refreshing. A nice boy. She wrote down the orders of the other surfers seated at the table, then turned toward the kitchen to place their requests with the kitchen.
She clipped the form to the wheel above the grill. Lou, the cook on duty said, “Why don’t you take a break? You’ve been dashing around for hours without one. You need to regroup. I heard those young whipper-snappers harassing you again.”
Juliette shrugged. “It’s all part of the job. To them, I’m an old lady and they think they can say what they want.” She slumped against the wall to take some of the pressure off her aching feet. Perhaps a break would be a good idea.
Lou flipped one of the burgers on the grill. “They have no idea who you are and how you could whip all of them— in brains and in surfing skills.”
“I’m an old has-been, Lou. I’m just glad to be on the beach again. Living in town and working at the university has been stifling.”
“I can see a change in you from the day you started working here. You seem happier. More tired for sure, but happy.”
“You know what? You’re right. I’m glad to have the summer off from teaching but I’ll have to go back in the fall. I only took this job to afford the cottage for the summer. I couldn’t swing it on my salary with having to keep my townhouse up, too.”
Lou plated the latest order. “Take these over to the boys and then take a break. Go out there and surf a set.” He jerked his head toward the wall to indicate the ocean behind them. “I know you have your board, and I’d bet you have on a suit under that uniform.” He nodded at her pink and white dress covered in a 1950s patterned surf motif and covered by a mostly pink frilly apron. Less the ketchup stains and sweat, of course.
“Ahh, you know me well, my friend.” Juliette picked up the tray of food and as she turned to deliver it, over her shoulder she said, “I’m going to take you up on that offer.”
She looked up when the door opened and sucked in her breath. Three of the beach patrol Sheriff’s Department officers sauntered in. They wore khaki shorts and green polo shirts with the department logo embroidered on the right side of the chest.
Juliette looked down quickly lest she miss a step and dump the food on the floor. One of the men, an Officer Schwartz, was so attractive that he lit up the room with his smile. Since the first day she met him, she was off balance when he came in the restaurant. Never one to be tongue-tied, she found herself becoming a bumbling idiot every time he spoke to her.
She dared a glance in his direction. I’m too old to be nervous about talking to a cute guy.
Paying close attention to her task, she set each plate down carefully on the table while the young men jostled each other to grab the condiments. As soon as the tray was empty, she stumbled toward the kitchen so she could take her break.
Before she reached the safety of the kitchen, Officer Schwartz called out, “Juliette, aren’t you going to take our orders?”
Lou yelled out the window from the kitchen to the dining area, “She’s on break.”
“Juliette, baby, my love, please don’t go on break without coming over to talk to me,” Officer Schwartz said.
The surfer teens at the two tables Juliette waited on earlier hooted and made catcalls. She kept walking through the kitchen and out the back door to the upper deck. Angry at being the butt of the young men’s jokes again and blinded by the tears that filled her eyes, she almost stumbled down the flight of steps to the sand. Once she reached the ground, she moved toward her car, pulling her dress and apron over her head as she walked. She kicked off her shoes beside the driver’s door and tossed her glasses on top of them.
She jerked her board off the rack on top of the car and hugging it tightly to her chest, ran across the hot sand, and flopped into the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico.
Juliette paddled out past the breakwater and to the bigger swells. She sat straddled on her board, waiting for the perfect set. Finally, the waves that spoke to her soul came along and she leapt into a standing position on the board and rode the crest.
After three more runs, she lay back on the board and floated for a few minutes. She ran her hand back and forth in the water that was as warm as a bath. The movement helped relax her. She mulled over her day as the waves lapped at her sides.
Almost time to get back to work, but that felt so good. Thank God I can come back out this evening when I get off. I want to challenge those brats to a surf-off but I know it’s my pride. They think I’m beneath their notice but I can outsurf them all day long.
She sat up abruptly and waited for a wave to ride back in to shore.
Once back on the sand, she returned her board to her car and hooked it onto the racks. She put on her glasses, slid her shoes back on and bent down to pick up her dress with the apron still attached. She’d tossed it off so fast that she hadn’t taken the time to unknot the strings.
“Ahem.”
Juliette jumped. She whirled around and gasped. Officer Schwartz stood with one hand resting on his service weapon attached to his hip.
He smiled then knelt down. He picked up her waitress uniform and handed it to her. “Yours, I presume?”
She snatched it from him and slipped it on over her head. She smoothed the apron down. “Thanks. I was just getting that. I have to head back to work.” She reached into the pocket of the apron and pulled out a large tortoiseshell barrette. She pulled her wet hair back and clipped it. “Gotta go. See you later.”
She turned toward the outside stairway. The restaurant was built on tall pilings to protect it from the tide and the dining room was upstairs with an outdoor patio surrounding it. Juliette’s foot touched the bottom rung and the officer stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Wait.”
Juliette turned back. “Yes?”
“I was seriously hurt when you didn’t stay to take my order and chat with me a while.”
She snorted. “Right. Sure. Now, I really have to get back. Lou’s a good boss, but he doesn’t like me to be late coming back from my break.”
“I wondered if I could meet you for a drink after you get off.”
At his invitation, her heart leapt in her chest, but she tamped down the excitement. He’s a man. Remember, they hurt you. Say no. She shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” His hand moved down her arm to her hand. He held it up. “I don’t see a ring. I’m single, you’re single, so why not?”
Repressing the shudder of delight that threatened to take her over at his touch, she said, “The number one reason is I don’t even know your first name.”
“Easy enough to remedy that. What’s number two?”
“Number two what?”
“Reason you won’t meet me for a drink.” He lifted his eyebrows.
Juliette opened her mouth to answer, but couldn’t find the right words to say, in a nice way, that she’d been burned and had sworn off men.
Luckily, she didn’t have to respond as the other waitress, Melba, yelled down the stairs, “Come on, Jules, we got a big group in while you’ve been down there. Lou’s fit to be tied.”
Juliette pulled her arm from the deputy’s grasp and dashed up the stairs. “I’m coming.”
When she reached the upper outside deck, she couldn’t resist a look back down at the man. He doffed his official ball cap at her and grinned. Dang, he caught me. Now, he’ll be encouraged.
She bustled back into the crowd inside the burger joint and grabbed Melba’s arm. “Do you want me to work the patio?”
“Sure, hon. That’d be great. I can’t stand all that breeze anymore. It gives me wind
burn and chasing down napkins that blow off the tables makes my arthritis act up.”
Juliette smiled, grabbed an order pad and headed out to take the orders of the beach-goers seated on the upper deck.
* * * *
Pete Schwartz watched Juliette go inside the restaurant and shook his head. Doesn’t she see that she’s stolen my heart? She showed up one day out of the blue at the beginning of the summer and the first time he laid eyes on her, he was lost. Why can’t she see I’m not a fan of hamburgers but come to lunch here every day just to see her? I leave half my food uneaten most of the time.
He rubbed his stomach and said out loud, “Thank God we have bikes to ride on the beach patrol or these burgers for lunch every day would be killing me.”
“Worried about yer figger, mate?” Hamish, the newest deputy on the force, a man from Glasgow, stepped up beside Pete.
“Yeah. I am. Let’s take a vigorous ride down the beach and look for drunks. I find I’m in the mood to run someone in.”
“I heard the lass refuse ye. Too bad. She’s a right looker.”
“I don’t think she realizes how attractive she is. She’s got it all. I know there’s more to her than meets the eye and those young men who treat her so bad make my blood boil.”
Hamish pointed to Pete’s waist. “Yeah. I saw yer hand go to your gun a few times in there today. You can defend the lady’s honor all you want, mate, just not by shooting the blokes.”
“I’m not going to shoot those idiots although I wish they’d leave her alone.” Pete said.
Surf Break Page 1