Page 9 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes
A beat passed. Candace took the cup, carefully, between both of her hands. In a small voice, she said, “Thanks… Daisy.”
It felt as if a bolt went through Daisy’s chest. What was happening here, and why did she want it to continue? Nerves abuzz, Daisy motioned for Candace to sit. When she did, Daisy busied herself putting things away and triedso hardto quash the desire to keep Candace talking.
Then, curse him, Norman went and did it himself.
“Good morning, miss,” he greeted. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
“It’s lovely, yes.”
“Are you in town for the horseshoe crab exhibit?”
“T-the what?”
Candace stared at the old man blankly. On anyone else, the woman’s deer-in-headlights look would have been cute to Daisy. Instead, it irked her. Or, maybe,becauseshe found it cute it irked her.
She mocked, “What a shoobie. You don’t know about the horseshoe crabs? They’re what Wonderwood is famous for—or was, before the boardwalk took all the attention.”
“I know what those nightmare-fuel sea spiders are,” Candace shot back. “I just hadn’t heard anything about an exhibit. Also, isn’t this cafe located on that attention-grabbing boardwalk?”
Almost, very nearly almost, Daisy swiped the cup Candice was drawing to her smugly upturned, peony pink lips. Rather, she found herself watching the subtle shifts as they met cups’top, imagining what they would look like pressed against…
Daisy was rescued from her daydreams as Norman continued.
“It’s a hoot! Those little critters are an important part of the ecosystem and medical science, so the wildlife center decided to do a little publicity campaign.” He rifled through the local newspaper propped on his lap and handed over a page that detailed the whole affair to Candace. To her credit, she feigned interest.
“How cute! It looks like the wildlife center went all out. I appreciate you letting me know. I’m not exactly here as a tourist, but if I have time, I’ll take a look.”
They chatted a bit longer about the upcoming summer, how the farmer’s almanac said it was going to be a stormy end of the season, and other simple things. Daisy listened with begrudging gratefulness. Although Candace would never know it, she probably made Norman’s week since he loved nothing more than chatting up fellow counter-sitters. Nowadays, though, people were too glued to their phones for idle conversation.
Could Candace have changed?Daisy wondered.Or is this all some weird rich-girl ploy?
Not too long later, Norman finished his coffee. He neatly folded his paper with a crisp $20 tucked inside (overpaying as always) and went off with a tip of his suede fedora.
Daisy waved, saying, “Thanks, Norm. See ya tomorrow.”
There were few things she could count on, but the old man perched on that stool was one of them. Daisy cleared his cup and the paper wrappings from his breakfast, keenly aware that Candace watched her all the while.
The silence was deafening. Not even the sounds of bustling vacationers, the roaring fun pier, or the ambient crashing of waves could cover Daisy’s internal scream ofSAY SOMETHING!!!Candace was the one to give in, and her tone was stilted as a first-time line-read.
“You must enjoy this. Running the cafe, I mean.”
Enjoy it?
Daisy almost laughed. The metaphorical (sometimes literal) blood and sweat she put into keeping Bagel Bombs! alive was immeasurable. Scrimping, saving, spending all her waking hours doing whatever she could to keep the place in business…
‘Enjoy’ was the last word Daisy would use to describe her circumstances. But, she wasn’t about to complain to Candace Perry.
“It’s a job. Pays the bills, mostly.”
“Ah, I see. I wasn’t sure if you would have sold it after…”
Candace trailed off, but Daisy guessed what she was about to say. It was delicate; a tragedy that the whole island, even semi-locals like Candace, knew. One rainy day accident sparked a whole public safety campaign with shiny new signs to indicate the town bridge’s status. They even made up a mascot, Slippery Sally, to make learning about car hydroplaning fun for kids. For Daisy, it changed her whole life.
“You mean,” Daisy finished, “after my parents took a swan dive into the bay?”
Candace choked on her coffee. She came close to staining her romper but managed to catch the liquid in her free hand. She shook her fingers to the side to dry them.
“I was going to say after high school. I’m so sorry. I only meant I was surprised to see you here. You were always drawing in that, what was it…? A field journal? I thought you would've become a marine biologist or write a nature comic book.”
