Every so often, she’d look up and stare at Danny while his attention was focused elsewhere. He looked the same, only older and with that ridiculously sexy stubble that defined his sharp jaw. When he had stood at her counter and she looked into his brown eyes, her knees knocked together. She tried to play it cool. That was until he asked if she remembered him. She had never forgotten.
She also watched the dog, which sat obediently outside, hoping it was his and not a stray that had taken up residence by her door. Her daughter would be beside herself happy if a dog found its way into their lives. She’s asked for one in the past, but living in an apartment in New York City, Kelly thought it was inhumane to keep a dog locked up all the time, without the freedom to run around.
When Danny would try to catch her eye, she’d turned away and pick up a rag or jot something random down on her notepad. What she should do was start baking for tomorrow’s morning rush, instead of gawking at the eye candy occupying one of her tables. Didn’t he have a job? A family to tend to? Somewhere else he needed to be other than her café?
Her pastries barely lasted through the morning and even the brownies sold out, which she thought would serve as after school treats for Kori, Carolyn and Brett, but she was mistaken. She would have to triple what they made last night in order to meet the demand, which was definitely not a bad problem to have on your opening day.
As much as Kelly wanted to get to work, she couldn’t leave Danny sitting there by himself. She prided herself on being hospitable. She wanted people in town saying nothing but positive things about Java Hut. She had already towed the line when she wouldn’t speak to him earlier. She would have to rectify that but wasn’t sure she could get her mouth to work in his presence.
She decided to sweep the floor. It wasn’t dirty, but she was doing anything she could to keep her eyes away from the boy-turned-devilishly-handsome-man who had stolen her heart, all while standing as close as she could to him without being obvious.
She waited for him to say something to her so she could respond in kind and apologize for being standoffish when he came in, but he said nothing. His cup was empty, she noticed, and she thought about offering him a free refill since he tipped her so generously. However, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything, primarily because she didn’t know what to say.
Coward.
Their eyes met, he smiled, and her world stood still. She was back on the beach, sitting between his legs with his arms wrapped around her. All their friends were gathered around, everyone was laughing, and the waves crashed loudly toward them. Everyone talked about what they should do as a group for summer vacation. The last summer vacation together before people went their separate ways for college. Danny and Kelly had already made plans and he whispered them into her ear, reminding her of their road trip out west. The plan was to leave six weeks before school started and drive across the country, stopping and seeing all the sights they could, falling in love more and more, and finally he would drop her off at her dorm at Santa Clara, and he would continue down the road to Stanford.
Their plan was flawless, until the unthinkable happened and her life changed. She was no longer the popular girl, no longer on the ballot for prom queen and instead she was made fun of constantly, thanks to Danny.
If they were sharing a moment, it had passed once Kelly remembered clearly how things ended with them. She opened her mouth to tell him how she felt all those years ago, how she still felt, and how coming back to Gray, knowing those who tormented her were still around, was one of the hardest decisions she’s ever had to make, thanks to him. Instead of saying those things, she shook her head and retreated behind her counter and through the door where she didn’t have to look at stupid Danny Weatherly anymore.
She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Her chest heaved up and down, there were signs of an impending panic attack if she didn’t get her breathing under control. Years of therapy were undone by a single visit, and it didn’t make much sense. He may have committed the act that spiraled everything out of control, but it was the people she thought of as friends who made her life a living hell. If she had an ounce of luck, he’d be gone by the time she was able to compose herself. Her phone rang and she reached for it, answering breathlessly on the first ring.
“Please tell me you met some incredibly sexy surfer and you’re having wild monkey sex in the kitchen.” The voice of Melody sang through the receiver.
“First, gross. Second, have you ever seen monkeys have sex? If so, was it really wild and out of control or are you just making that up? Third, there’s a hot surfer in my café, but no, we’re not having sex. I would never do that, especially with this man. Why didn’t you tell me Danny was in town?” Kelly whined to her best friend.
“Danny’s there?”
“Mel?”
“Because you wouldn’t have come back and call me selfish, I wanted you here. Your parents wanted you and Kori back in Gray. Now tell me, is Danny there?”
“No, he’s on the beach having wild monkey sex with some chick. Where else would he be, Mel? Of course, he’s here.” Kelly pushed the kitchen door open slightly and peered out. Sure enough, he was still sitting at the table, doing something on his phone. “What I want to know is why you didn’t tell me.”
“Honestly, Kel, I didn’t think it was an issue anymore. It’s been fifteen years. You got married and had Kori, and Danny… he moved back a few years ago and sort of keeps to himself. He doesn’t even hang out with Chad or anything so it’s not like we’re in the same circle.”
“Does he hang out with the…” Kelly sighed. She couldn’t even bring herself to mention the rest of the people she used to call friends.
“Not that I know of.”
“Danny looked shocked. He called me Taffy.” She looked out the door, only to find him gone. Part of her was relieved while the other part rejoiced with happiness that she could let her guard down. “I wasn’t prepared.”
“For what? How hot is he? Geez, Kel, can you even imagine...” Melody didn’t have to finish her sentence because Kelly was already imagining what life with Danny would’ve been like or could be like, if she were open to exploring relationships again. She was definitely off the market until Kori turned eighteen and graduated from high school. She figured that would be a good time to take an adventure, maybe to Europe and fall in love with a man named Alejandro or something equally exotic. Until then her focus was on raising Kori as a single hardworking mom.
“I’ll never get over what happened, what he did.”
“And I’m sure he never got over it either, which is why I t
hink he just does his own thing around town.”
“But the damage was done.” Kelly closed her eyes. “Why did I come back here?”
“Because we’re your family and we love you and we’re going to protect you from the big bad crazy world.”
“Does that include Danny?”
“Definitely, not.” Melody laughed. “Talk to him, Kel. Find out what he’s been up to. He might surprise you.”