Page 101 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes
No.
She wasn’t going to let him hurt her anymore.
First, Daisy needed reinforcements. She called Demi, who picked up after three rings, sounding very distracted.
“Zee?”In the background, there were people yelling and the buzz of power tools.“Are you okay? I’m a little busy. It’s not the best time right—”
“Candace is missing,” Daisy cut to the chase. Before she could even begin to explain, Demi interrupted.
“Meet me at Zeus' Torch.We’ll find her.”
Daisy sprinted.
With the wind flying every which way, she barreled down the boardwalk like she was on stilts. It was practically deserted now, aside from a small group of people standing outside the restaurant. She recognized a couple of Demi’s cousins who had helped out during the renovation, along with Tina and her wispy, shaking frame. The group stood huddled in the downpour, anxiously looking up.
Following their gaze, Daisy noticed people—including Demi, with her big hair whipping from her bun—atop the restaurant’s roof. It appeared that they were trying to dismantle the place’s iconic neon torch, the big, custom beacon sign that had decorated the restaurant since the place opened in the ‘60s.
‘Busy’ was an understatement. Daisy might have been out of her mind with worry, but she knew better than butt in. Hanging back, she waited and watched while her foot tapped a hole into the boards.
An older woman who could have been Demi’s mother with her shared lion’s mane hair muttered to herself in a different language. The umbrella that was clutched her hands was lopsided. A sheet of rain angled down her leopard-print cardigan, but she hardly seemed to notice with her attentionso fixated above.
As she steadied the umbrella, Tina told her, “It’ll be okay,TheiaThea. They’re almost done, and then the sign will be safe!”
“I don’t care about the sign! I should have told her no! What if they—”
A roaring gale tore by, making them all stagger. Metal creaked as the newly-detached torch was nearly blown away. Together, though, Demi and her cousins weighed it down. Once the coast was clear, they rigged up a rudimentary pulley and lowered the relic down.
The woman,TheiaThea, practically melted with relief once all of her relatives were safely on the ground. She rushed them at the boarded-up restaurant front entrance, pulling each of them in for a hug. Demi, Daisy noticed, she squeezed tightest of all.
“I told you we could get it,” Demi bragged. She slicked back her sopping locks, looking triumphant.TheiaThea crossed her arms and snapped something back in Greek, sounding less than pleased. The other cousins shuffled nervously in the cramped, damp alcove.
Demi looked hurt. Wide-eyed, she argued, “Just last night you were crying,‘The torch is going out! What’re Nona and Papau going to think? It’s the end of their dream!’”
TheiaThea shook her head. “I was being dramatic. You should know better than to take me seriously!”
“Of course I take you seriously! I hate seeing you like that.”
The woman sputtered out a mix of English and Greek insults. “Reckless! Foolish!”
“Why are you upset? I was trying to help!”
“Because it’s just a thing.”
It was Daisy who spoke. She said it, watching this woman who so clearly loved her niece lose all composure at the thought of her getting hurt. InTheiaThea’s fierce love, she was reminded of her own parents. How they celebrated her, how they worried for her… In that moment, if it was what she wanted, she knew they would be okay with her letting go. The neon flame and Bagel Bombs! were objects. They were important, with sentiment and memory attached. However, they would always come second to the people who made them.
“Zee?” Demi and everyone else’s attention turned to her.
Sure of herself, Daisy nodded. “She’s upset because you put yourself at risk for a thing. You’re upset because you did it for her. It’s fucking adorable, and you should probably talk things out more when you’re not standing in the middle of a hurricane.”
A beat passed where it was hard to tell whatTheiaThea thought. Her shrewd eyes bore into Daisy as if she were reading a Terminator-style stat breakdown.
Demi explained, “Theia, this is Zee DeMarco. She’s the owner of—”
“I know who she is,” the woman answered in a flat tone. Then, like a coin flip, her entire aura brightened. She reached out (and up, thanks to her short height) to pinch Daisy’s cheek. “How could I forget such a cute face? You were probably too young to remember, but back in the day, your parents used to bring you to the restaurant for our Boardwalk Business Association meetings. You and Demitra once spilled a whole pitcher of orange soda all over table 12.”
In unison, Daisy and Demi exclaimed,“We did?!”
TheiaThea nodded, and a wistful smile tugged her bright red lips. “You two were so bad together, Demi, your parents stopped bringing you. I always liked how lively it made things.” Taking Daisy’s hand,TheiaThea added, “Rose and Robert were good people, and they loved youso much.”
