Dangerous: A Seaside Cove Romance (3 page)

"Oh!" Rachel sat up as soon as a commercial started. "I almost forgot to tell you, the reason I'm here!"

"Not to celebrate my last semester at school?" Claire asked, feigning surprise. "Or because of a screaming baby?"

"No, of course I was here for those reasons. But, you know how we agreed you were going to get back out there? I met a guy who is perfect for you."

"Oh God." Claire placed a throw pillow over her face. "Please tell me you are joking. I thought we were just messing around. I don't have time for a boyfriend."

"Okay, you guys don't have to fall in love, but you could stand to get laid." Rachel pulled the pillow off Claire's face, only to smack her with it. "When was the last time you had sex?"

"It's been... a while."

"What is a while?" 

"A while."

"Oh no, tell me it isn't true. You haven't had sex since your divorce." Rachel sounded so mortified Claire almost laughed.

"I have not had sex with anyone since Robert," Claire said. Not a total lie. Robert showed up at her house six months after their divorce finalized, making promises and asking for Claire's forgiveness. Claire had a momentary lapse in judgment.

"Okay, great! Well, I gave Ben your number, and he's gonna call you to arrange something for next weekend."

"What? Why?" Claire groaned. "I can't meet someone on the phone, you know I have a horrible phone personality."

"You'll love him. He's a lawyer; he's not about bullshit. And guess what? He's running for mayor."

"A politician? That sounds horrible."

"Most importantly, he's hot."

"If he's so great, why don't you date him?" Claire asked, but Rachel ignored the question.

Claire wished the couch would open and swallow her whole. She hated first dates. No more first dates, was that not the number one perk of getting married? She cringed, thinking of all that nervous anticipation.

Rachel still talked, listing Ben's pros and cons, but Claire zoned out. She already felt nervous anticipation to see someone, and it was not a smooth talking lawyer. It was a rough man with a beard and tattoos.

Eli slid another mug of beer down the counter. Saturday night was always their busiest night, this one no different. A live country rock band played in the corner stage; a new addition Molly had talked them into.

"Don't look now, but we're gonna have to open the extra lounge," Jack said, walking by Eli to hand a waitress a few glasses of beer. Jack wore his typical jeans and a flannel shirt with his sleeves rolled up. His height mirrored Eli's, but their physical similarities ended there. Jack's hair was long enough to fall in his eyes, he kept a five o'clock shadow and never a beard.

Eli followed the direction of Jack's head nod, surprised to see a crowd of at least thirty people in nice suits and fancy dresses entering the brewery. 

A young couple, about Eli's age, stood at the front of the group. She looked as though she had been crying, and the man standing next to her wrapped his arms around her. He whispered something in her ear and she laughed.

A man in his early sixties with gray hair and a brown, and likely very expensive, suit broke away from the crowd and stepped up to the counter. He addressed Eli and Jack, nervousness obvious in his voice.

"I hope you have room. It's my daughter's wedding rehearsal dinner at the country club, and just when we got there, a pipe burst, flooding the floors." He held out his hand to shake Jack's, and Eli saw he had a bill folded up in the palm of his hand. "I'm Michael, if you could do anything to accommodate us."

"I'm the owner Jack, and my manager, Eli. We actually have another lounge," Jack said, indicating the closed door on the other side of the room, and slipping the bill into his pocket. "If you guys can hang out here for a moment, we can get it ready for you."

"Oh, thank you," the man said, relief in his voice as he walked back to give his family the good news.

"Can we handle it tonight? We're swamped as it is," Eli said, waving his hand at the full dining room.

"We'll have to call around, ask if anyone else can come in." Jack pulled the bills out of his pocket. "Do you see this?"

Jack held out a one hundred-dollar bill.

"He didn't even know if you were going to get them seats when he gave you that," Eli said, a little stunned. It always amazed him how people could be so careless with their money.

"Who am I to tell him how to spend his money? I'll put in it in the tip jar at the end of the night," Jack said, stuffing the bill back into his pocket. He picked up the phone under the cash register. "Molly, babe, we need all hands on deck."

Eli grabbed Lucas, the busboy, and they made their way into the lounge, taking chairs off of tables and setting out sets of silverware. Molly showed up in the room a few minutes later. She twisted her auburn hair into a bun on the back of her head and tucked her white shirt into her black pants. She seemed different that night.

"Hey, you grew," Eli said, tousling the top of her head as she walked by him.

"Heels," she said, picking up her leg, and showing off her boots. "I'm tired of having to drag the stool around with me everywhere."

Molly went to work rewriting the drink specials on the chalkboard lined wall.

"Do you have menus?" Eli asked.

Molly shook her head." Frank might want to offer a limited menu."

"I'll go to the kitchen in a minute and ask. Is anyone coming in?" Eli asked her, as he stepped back and swept a glance over the room, checking for imperfections. They still needed to open the blinds.

"No. Everyone is busy or not answering their phones. But Rachel's coming in," Molly said. Eli never understood how Molly and Rachel had become such close friends, they seemed so different.

"What good is Rachel going to be?" Eli scoffed as he pulled on the blind cord. The view before him was breathtaking, straight down the mountain and into the ocean, stars filling the night sky.

"She used to waitress in high school; she'll be good," Molly said, putting the finishing touches on the board. "Plus, she's a knockout; she can keep the men's minds off the fact we're understaffed and slow."

Eli snorted.

"Rachel tells me you met Claire at school the other night," Molly said in a singsong voice. "She's as perfect as I said, right?"

Jack joined them and walked around the room making a quick inspection of the setup.

"Good time on setup, guys," Jack said. Eli heard Jack's excitement.

Jack's dream had been to open a brewery upstate with a few old friends from his fishing boat days. But when he and Molly got back together, he stayed in town. With Eli's help, Jack got the woman and the career of his dreams. 

"Great, I'll check on the kitchen," Eli said, walking out of the lounge.

"She's a sweetie isn't she?" Molly asked, close on his heels.

"She's nice, yes," Eli said. "Molly, we're swamped. We don't have time to talk about-"

Molly shrugged and pointed at Jack and the hostess escorting the party into the lounge.

"They have it covered. Are you going to ask her out?" Molly bounced with excitement.

"She's nice, but that doesn't change the fact that she's a mom and that means serious. I don't do serious." Eli stood toe to toe with Molly.

Molly did not get a chance to build a rebuttal because a woman in a floor length bright green dress stopped Molly in her tracks. "Molly! My dear, I have not seen you since Jeremy's mother passed away."

The woman spread her arms and pulled Molly in for a hug. Once Molly disappeared in the sea of green fabrics, Eli hurried away. He had spent most of the past two days pushing thoughts of Claire, who randomly appeared in his head at all hours of the day, far away. He had a weak moment in the stairwell when he thought, just for a moment... but during the drive home, he remembered all the reasons it was a bad idea.

Claire had kids. His mother had fallen in love with another man, and she left Eli behind with his father. They never saw her again. Eli was not naive enough to entertain Claire falling in love with him, but he would never involve himself with a woman with children. It would not just be her heart broken when he inevitably left or she pushed him aside.

Eli pushed the door open to the kitchen; the smell of steaks on the grill hit him, making his stomach growl.

"Do you guys need extra help in here?" he asked Frank, the head cook.

"Not unless you know something I don't?" Frank asked gruffly, plating a steak. He was tall, and sometimes Eli laughed at the ridiculousness of a man so tall stooping over the stainless steel countertops in the kitchen.

"Fifty people just walked in," Eli said, not thrilled to give Frank the news.

Frank dropped his spatula on the counter. "Aren't we already at capacity?"

"In the dining room; this party is using the lounge." Eli pinched his brow.

"I need to think." Frank recovered, picking up his spatula and twirling the handle through his fingers. He stared into space; the kitchen seemed to obey his need for silence. Even the steaks seemed to sizzle quieter. "I need at least one more person in here. New customers get the limited menu, but the fancy one. Lounge gets buffet style. Make them feel like they have a choice, but get them to order menu B."

Eli nodded, grabbing the stack of buffet menus from a cabinet by the door, just as Molly poked her head in the doorway. "Rachel wants to know if she should bring Claire."

Eli almost dropped the menus at the sound of Claire's name. "Why would I want Rachel to bring Claire?"

But Molly was talking to Frank, not Eli. Why would Frank want Claire to come? Did he even know her?

"Claire?" Frank looked as confused as Eli, but only for a second. "Claire Bennett! Yes, she is exactly who I need."

"Great." Molly put the phone to her ear. "Frank says yes."

"Eli," Frank said, flipping a burger a few inches into the air and it landed pink side down, "still the same on the menus, but they can choose between A and B now."

"Menu A and B, sure. But why is Claire coming in?"  Eli asked. But Frank did not seem to hear him; he was already barking orders to the rest of the kitchen staff.

Eli stepped back into the dining room, making his way to the counter and back to his main post next to Jack at the bar. As he filled drinks, he his mind stayed on Claire. Why did they want her to come?

He forgot about Claire soon when drink orders started appearing in front of them on the screen. Instead, he turned his mind where it would relax. Numbers.

"You know what I think when I see all these people?" Eli said. 

"They're going to tap the bar?" Jack said, and Eli thought his friend almost sounded worried. 

"No man. Profits. They could have gone anywhere else, but they came here." Eli grinned. "The brewery is going to-"

"Eli Dunlan." It had been years since he last talked to him, Eli recognized the voice at once. His good mood drained away. Ben Tomlin. He looked exactly the same as the last time Eli saw him, fresh faced, every hair in place, pressed suit. Fake smile. A button clung to his lapel that said 'Tomlin for Mayor'.

Eli nodded. "Ben. Can I get you anything?"

"I'll take a top shelf whiskey," Ben said, not taking his eyes off Eli.

Eli filled the drink, setting the glass in front of Ben.

"My family's in the back room, my cousin is the bride." Ben flicked a pretzel crumb off the counter. Eli picked up the bottle, remembering the last time he saw Ben. It was at his father's funeral. If Eli hated him then, the anger had only grown in the years since. "Nice place you got here."

"I just work here." Eli glanced at the order screen and mixed a few screwdrivers. He was aware of Jack, filling pitcher after pitcher of beer, all the while half listening to their conversation.

"Not what I heard," Ben said, taking a sip. "Rumor is you bought half of this place."

"Not all rumors carry weight," Eli said, placing the drinks on a tray for the waitress to carry to the other room.

"How have you been, Eli?" Ben asked, sliding cash to Eli.

"Can't complain. You?" Eli said, crossing his arms over his chest. He ignored the bill on the counter. 

"It's a blessed life." Ben thumped his finger on the button on his chest. "I'm running for mayor." Ben waited for Eli to say something, and when it was obvious he was not going to, Ben picked up his glass and took a sip. "You've cleaned up. Got your shit together I see?"

"I've always had my shit together." Eli gripped the counter, rooting him to the ground and keeping his fist out of Ben's face.

"Not from what I remember. From what I remember, that little operation your father and you had going on," Ben lowered his voice, "well, shit was rough but money was never tight, was it?"

All the words Eli wanted to say rumbled up through his chest. Jack must have sensed that Eli hit his boiling point because he was at Eli's side. "Frank needs you in the back."

Eli turned and walked away before he second-guessed himself. He pushed open the door, stepped out of the way and leaned on the wall, taking a deep breath.

He should have known he would run into Ben eventually, especially working at the brewery. Part of him pretended like that part of his life was over. Completely finished.

Demons would not stay in the past where they belonged. Ben had a bigger part in Eli's family business than Eli ever did. Hell, Eli had not learned everything until it was too late. Not that Eli had been innocent. He should have forced his dad to stop the whole thing the moment he found out what was happening.

"What's going on there, man? You look like you're about ready to kill someone," Frank said.

Eli pushed off the wall to leave, no sense in hiding out all night. Just then the door swung open and in walked Claire.

She wore tight jeans, a plain white t-shirt, and her long black hair pulled into a thick braid hanging down her back. All the stress of the evening, his anger at Ben, everything he had felt just seconds earlier, fell away.

"Frank, can I help out tonight?" she asked. She spoke louder than she had at school. Her voice was strong and confident, and heard over the clatter of the kitchen.

"I've never been as happy to see a Bennett as I am right now," Frank said, tossing Claire an apron. "Hairnets are in the back. Eli, have you met Claire?"

Claire was in the middle of tying the strings of the apron at her waist and stopped, facing Eli. Her face was stony, still. She did not seem irritated at him anymore, nor did she look dumbstruck like Eli.

"Claire," Eli said, after a second of thinking he would just stare at her without speaking until she walked away.

"Hi, Eli. Didn't think I'd see you again this soon," Claire said, a smile cracking on her face.

"Have you ever worked in a kitchen?" Eli asked.

"Claire was a short-order cook in the Air Force, and exactly the speed I need tonight in the kitchen." Frank pointed again towards the back where the hand-washing station was.

"No shit?" Eli said, surprised for the millionth time that evening. "The Air Force."

"Air Force, yes. Short-order cook?" Claire shrugged. "Amongst a million other things."