“Jayce Phillips, you make friends fast. In about ten seconds, you’ll be flirting with some girls, and you’ll leave me to sit and stare at the fire. We’ll still dance. Just maybe alone. Later.”
“Give it a half hour. If you’re bored or still tired, then I’ll take you to the cabin myself.” Jayce started to move his hips and swing his arms to the song booming through the air.
I rolled my eyes, but he got me smiling.
“You feel it. I know you do.” Jayce started dancing around me. “We can make a dance floor out of this boardwalk.”
I covered my face to keep from laughing. Okay, Jayce was goofy, and he was just the antidote I needed. “You’re not shaking your butt correctly.”
“Please, teacher, show me, and I will learn.”
I let out an exaggerated sigh and started shaking my hips. “See? Like this.”
Lakely ran up to us. “Jayce! Who’s this pretty lady?”
“This is Brooke McFadden. She’s a friend from my high school.”
“Oh, that Brooke,” Lakely said, sharing a knowing glance with Jayce. “Wait a second, did you say McFadden? Any relation to Robert McFadden?”
Lakely had me smiling right off the bat. His eyes were huge as I once again explained my relation to his favorite author.
“Oh my word, I’m standing next to someone famous.”
“Not quite,” I said. “But I’m glad you like my dad’s books. That means a lot.”
“Will you continue the series? It’s supposed to be five books.”
“The third, as you know, is already slated to come out. And he finished the fourth book before…well, you know. Anyway, I’m not sure about the fifth book.”
“You know you can’t leave fans hanging like that.”
“I’ll work my magical powers and see what I can do.”
“Come on,” Jayce said, pulling me toward the bonfire and music. “A bunch of people are dancing. Let’s show them our moves.”
“Yes! I love dancing!” Lakely pulled at me from the other arm. “Dance with me, too!”
With both Jayce and Lakely leading me to a pack of party-goers dancing under the stars, I didn’t have much choice other than to follow along. Any nerves I had vanished as I got lost in the music and rhythm. Lakely made me laugh, dancing to his own beat. Then he’d jump between Jayce and me and shake his butt.
After three songs, Jayce and I decided to find something to drink while Lakely moved on to a set of girls to dance with.
“He’s crazy,” I said with a laugh.
“Yeah, I’m learning that,” Jayce agreed. “He’s my roommate in the club dorms. But so far, we’ve been getting along all right. Are you having fun?”
I nodded. “Thanks for making me stay.”
He led me over to the bonfire where three coolers sat beside the bushes. “Jackpot,” Jayce said. “A bunch of us threw some money together to stock the coolers with water bottles and cans of Coke. There’s other stuff in there too if you’re interested.”
“Nah, I’m fine with Coke.”
Jayce reached in one of the coolers and pulled out two Cokes. He handed me one.
“You’re here!” Heather said from behind me.
I turned to see her with a slew of her friends. But she wasn’t looking at me, she was smiling at Jayce.
“I wondered when you’d show up,” Jayce said, with a flirtatious tone.
“Here I am,” she said. Her friends already acted bored and made an excuse to leave her. Heather waved them away never taking her eyes of Jayce.
“I’m going to go sit by the fire,” I said, looking pointedly at Jayce. But he wasn’t paying me any attention. With a sigh, I left them alone. I told myself not to be irritated. Jayce could talk to whomever he desired. It’s not that I had a claim to him. But still. I remembered all the guys Heather flirted with last time—before the do-over—and I didn’t like the idea of Jayce getting hurt.
Suddenly Lakely’s arm was around me. “There you are, Beautiful. Where’ve you been all my life?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I teased.
“Want a s’more?” he asked, as we got to the fire.
“Of course. What’s a bonfire without a s’more?”
Lakely went to find the needed items while I sat on a log and drank my Coke.
“Brooke!” a girl’s voice called on the other side of the fire.
I leaned over and saw Maddie from work waving at me. But it was whose arm was around her that caught my attention even more. Lucas and I made eye contact, and my stomach took a nervous flip. I looked away and waved back at Maddie.
She jumped up, ran around the fire, and sat beside me. “I’m so glad you decided to come!”
“My friend, Jayce, convinced me. And then he ditched me.”
“I want us to hang out all summer and be the best of friends,” she gushed.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d be reliving the summer, but it’s not like I could give her the story. “Okay, that sounds like a plan.”
She put one arm around my shoulders, hugged me, and squealed. Then she said a little quieter, “You’re not upset about who I’m with, are you?”
“No, not at all. I don’t even know the guy.”
“Oh, whew,” she said, wiping at her forehead as if in relief. “I thought when I caught you watching him at the restaurant that you two had some past.”
“No, no, no,” I said. “Never met him. I was merely admiring his…hair?”
“He is hot, isn’t he?” she squealed again. “We kind of had a thing last year when I worked at the restaurant. Well, sort of. I mean, he dated lots of girls, but he would always flirt with me. And then tonight, he came right up to me and asked how I was doing. He hasn’t left my side since.”
“That’s great,” I admitted, seeing how happy she was. It’s not like I had a prayer with the guy. Might as well be happy for Maddie.
“You ready for a s’more?” Lakely said, approaching us with two long sticks, a bag of marshmallows, two chocolate bars, and an unopened stack of graham crackers. “We need to hurry though before that girl over there realizes I took most of the goodies.” Then his gaze landed on Maddie, and his grin spread. “Why, hello there, beautiful.”
“Hello,” Maddie giggled. “Is one of those sticks for me?”
“Absolutely,” he said with that goofy grin still on his face.
Maddie grabbed the sticks and handed one to me. “Thanks,” she said, squeezing his arm. “I appreciate it.”
The two of us began roasting marshmallows while Lakely sat on the log, obviously admiring Maddie. “How do you do it?” I asked.
“What?”
“The flirting. You’re so natural at it.”
Maddie shrugged. “I’ve worked around rich people for the last couple of years. I learned a thing or two. One of those things is that you can’t sit in the shadows and expect to get noticed. You got to flaunt it.”
“If you have something to flaunt.” I blew out the flame attached to my marshmallow. Maddie with her blonde hair cut to frame her face and her long legs had plenty of assets to flaunt.
“Another thing I learned is you have to be confident here. If not, they’ll eat you alive. And you, Brooke, my friend, have a lot going for you. Your hair is gorgeous and you have curves in all the right places. Use it to your advantage.” She moved beside Lakely who helped her assemble her s’more.
“Need some help with that?” I didn’t have to look up to know that voice. Lucas Fairchild. He took a chocolate bar from Lakely, assembled it on the graham cracker, and then held it out for me to slide the toasted marshmallow on.
I swallowed down my nerves and gave a quiet, “Thank you.”
“Would you like to share mine?” Maddie asked Lucas, cocking her head to the side and shooting him a playful look.
I excused myself and walked away.
“Wait for me!” Lakely called. I overheard him say to Lucas and Maddie. “Brooke’s my girl. We’re tight.”
I bit into the marshmallow and chocolate goodness and waited for Lakely to catch up. If I was being honest with myself, I liked the guy. He was kooky and friendly and fun to be around. Now as he approached, he pouted. “What’s the matter?” I asked.
“I didn’t get a s’more for myself.”
“Want to share?”
“No, not really.”
“Good, I didn’t want to share. Let’s go make you one.”
“Then we’ll dance again?”
“Sure,” I said. While I waited for Lakely to make his own treat, I searched the scene, scouting for Jayce. Boy, he had a way of ditching me at parties.
I spotted him slow dancing with Heather. They were talking and laughing and seeming to have a good time together. Is that how it happened last time? Did they meet up this early?
I finished the s’more and decided it was time to call it a night. I should probably tell Jayce, but he was otherwise occupied. Lakely would give Jayce the message. But my plan got intercepted. Lucas was coming right toward me.
No. Not now. Not after talking with Maddie and knowing how much she liked him. No school-girl crush would complicate my new friendship. A new friendship that I was excited about. I didn’t realize how much I missed my school friends until now. I had really closed myself in, and it had been lonely. I wasn’t about to ruin that by allowing Lucas Fairchild to talk to me and melt my heart.
I made a quick left and decided to go back to the cabin without saying good-bye to anyone. They probably wouldn’t even miss me.
8
“You ditched me.” Jayce’s hands rested on his hips.
I sat on one of the bar stools wrapping cloth napkins around individual sets of silverware. Miguel had called me in at eleven this morning, saying they were short-staffed for the opening shift. The restaurant didn’t open until noon, and he wanted me to come set up tables and stock condiments. “This coming from the guy who ignored me most of the night.”
“You left me with her!” He acted all frustrated. “One minute we’re getting sodas, then next minute you are at the bonfire with Lakely.”
I didn’t answer. Last night’s activities were no longer important. Not after last night’s dreams. Or nightmares. Whatever they were, I knew that it had something to do with the do-over, and I was officially freaked out. That’s why I told Miguel I’d come in early. I had to get out of the cabin. I had to do something to make me not think about what happened in my sleep.
“Brooke,” Jayce touched my hand. “Talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not mad. But don’t ever ask me to go to a party with you. I won’t fall for the whole I-promise-I-won’t-leave-you routine.”
“I didn’t leave you.”
I set down some silverware. “You’re right. I left you because it was pretty clear you wanted to be with Heather. And it’s no big deal. Lakely and I had fun. I just got tired and went home.”
“I told you I’d walk you home.”
“You were busy. Once again, not a big deal.”
“I’m never too busy for you. You should have said something.”
“When? While you were slow dancing with her? Would that have been an appropriate time?”
Jayce’s mouth fell open.
“Listen, it’s not a big deal. Will you please believe me and leave this alone?”
“How’s my bestie?” Maddie approached and threw her arms around my neck.
“Tired. How’d the night end?”
“Disappointing.” She released me and shrugged. “But oh well. Now are you going to introduce me, or do I have to introduce myself?” Maddie grinned at Jayce.
“This is my friend, Jayce. And Jayce, this is Maddie.”
“Jayce? That’s weird. There was a Jayce last night who got pranked big time. You’re not the same guy, are you?”
Jayce’s face immediately turned a deep shade of red. “I’ve got to go.” He abruptly left.
“Wait,” I said. But he didn’t stop. I had to follow him outside. “Jayce!” I yelled. “Wait up!”
He slowed, and I caught up.
“Talk to me. What happened?”
“Don’t worry about it, Brooke. I’m fine.”
“I’m going to worry about it, and I won’t stop bugging you until you tell me. What happened?”
“It was stupid. Not a big deal. They got a laugh, that’s all.”
“Tell. Me.”
Jayce took in a breath and exhaled slowly. “Heather convinced me to go swimming with her. She has a way of being really convincing. Anyway, when we got to the water, she started taking off her clothes. You know, like skinny dipping. She told me she’d take off the rest if I took off all of mine. So, well, I’m a guy. What do you think I did?”
“So, you went skinny dipping?”
“Got butt naked then went into the water. She got partly in and acted like she was taking off what little she had on. Then she ran to the shore, grabbed my clothes, and took off.”
I covered my mouth. “She left you without your clothes?”
“Yep. And someone was taking pictures, which showed up on Instagram and Snapchat and everywhere else. And I didn’t have anyone there to bring me a towel or anything, so I walked back to the dorms naked.”
“She seemed all into you,” I said, not hiding my anger. Especially at myself. “That’s the reason I left you two alone. You both were googly-eyed for each other.”
“Well, the joke’s on me. No biggie.”
“No biggie?”
“It’s embarrassing, but if I play my cards right, it won’t be social suicide. Anyway, this morning I received a few compliments on my…physique. So, maybe it’ll be a good thing.” Jayce gave me a goofy grin.
“You sure you’re okay?” I asked. “I will confront Heather if you’d like. I’m not scared. Maybe she needs to learn a lesson.”
“No, don’t get involved. It’s a harmless prank. I’ve been told they pull them on new people every year. Like an initiation into their group. I want to be a good sport about it.”
“You still like her, don’t you?” The realization hit me, and I shook my head. From Jayce’s guilty expression and lack of a response, I knew the answer. “Wow. I can’t believe my friend is a glutton for punishment.”
“Listen, I’m supposed to be at the concessions stand. I’m already a little late. Are we cool? You’re not mad anymore?”
“I wasn’t mad,” I said. “Just annoyed. But I’ll get over it. I’ve got to get back too.”
As he walked away, he said, “Please don’t say anything. I mean it.”
I headed back inside, fantasizing about all the different ways I could confront Heather. Unless the do-over was purgatory, and I had to be good to get my reward. My thoughts easily went back to my dreams. Something was up with them. They were way too vivid and real to be fake.
Almost to the bar, I groaned loudly. “This is so confusing!”
“What is?” Maddie asked.
I stopped in my tracks when I saw her standing on the other side of the bar talking with Lucas. What was he doing here? “Nothing.”
“Is it Jayce?” she asked.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Lucas was too distracting. Sure, he might have only been sitting there, but he was looking at me with an unreadable expression, and it made my insides all loopy. I turned on my heel and left them alone. “Get a grip, Brooke,” I muttered under my breath as I pushed open the kitchen doors. I called out to Miguel, “Maddie’s got the napkins and silverware covered. What’s next?”
Miguel pointed me toward the cooler. “Today’s menu includes a garden bar. Everything should be marked in the cooler. Go, set it up at the buffet station.”
I busied myself with the salad bar until the restaurant doors opened. Then Tracy came in and told me I was to shadow her again. “Got it.” I washed and dried my hands.
“Grab one of the wait staff’s aprons. And an available order pad. You’re going to try a few tables too.” She
stopped me before I could argue. “I’ll be right next to you, and it won’t be until the lunch rush slows and before the dinner rush begins. Trust me, you’ll do great.”
I followed her out to her section. She greeted the two older gentlemen and went over our specials. As I observed Tracy’s interactions with the customers and then back to the order station to enter it into the computer, I heard the sound of Mom’s laughter. At first, I didn’t connect it was her, especially because she hadn’t laughed in quite a while. But then I heard it again. I scanned the restaurant until I found her sitting at a window booth with none other than George Fairchild.
I gasped and said, “No way.”
“What?” Tracy asked. Following my gaze. “Mr. Fairchild? It’s pretty rude that he’s out so openly with another woman. Poor thing. She probably has no idea who she’s dealing with. Mrs. Fairchild doesn’t take kindly to other women.”
“That’s my mom,” I said, dread dripping off my words.
“Who? Mrs. Fairchild?”
“No. Her.” I pointed at my mother.
“Oh.”
I walked toward them, watching Mom throw her head back and laugh. My blood went cold. Mom laughed and swatted at him.
Mr. Fairchild had a thing for my mother. It was obvious. He kept sneaking glances at her and even reached out to touch her hand.
“Hi,” I interrupted. “What’s going on?”
“Brooke!” Mom jumped up to hug me. “I was just about to ask for you.”
“Well, here I am.”
“Your mother said you took a job here, and I couldn’t believe it.” Mr. Fairchild acted friendly but didn’t get up.
“Yes, and I like it so far. I’ve learned a lot. Not to mention, all the staff here knows practically everything about everyone. It’s quite interesting.” I smiled tightly at Mr. Fairchild and hoped he caught my meaning. From his vanishing smile, I figured he did.
It wasn’t lost on Mom either who quickly changed the topic. “So, are you our waitress?”
“No, I’m still shadowing Tracy. I only wanted to say hi and find out what you’re doing here.” I left out …alone with Mr. Fairchild.
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