Page 1 of The Beachside Cafe 3
ONE
Jaymee Lent laid back, stretched out on the full-length deck chair, relishing in the warmth of the sun on her face. The motion of the boat rocked her gently. It was a sensation she never got tired of. Doug, her soon-to-be ex-husband, hadn’t wanted a boat but was willing to go on a cruise every other year, so Jaymee had taken it upon herself to go sailing whenever she felt like it, usually taking her daughter, Cheyenne, with her.
Cheyenne wasn’t on this boat ride, though. Doug had been missing for a month now and Jaymee had decided to investigate his disappearance herself, with the help of Cameron Smith, an investor in Jaymee’s oceanside restaurant called Saltwater Café.
Just before she left Grand Bay for her weekend mini-vacation with Cameron, Jaymee had signed the papers for her divorce. If Doug was ever found, she expected him to sign. She would divorce him whether he was found or not.
In the last four weeks, Jaymee had discovered some things about her husband that made it impossible for her to remain married to him. Twenty-one years down the tubes.
It hadn’t been a happy marriage at the end anyway. It was run-of-the-mill, a boring couple in their forties who had no interest in each other at all. She’d thought Doug was trying to rekindle something in their marriage when he told her his plan to buy a building for her to use for the oceanside café she’d dreamed of for so long.
He’d gotten investors, one of which was Cameron Smith, and let her have free reign over everything, from design, to furniture, to appliances. It was all hers. She’d thought her life was perfect. A husband who wanted to fall in love again, her own dream business, a successful daughter… It had all seemed perfect.
And then Doug disappeared. Cameron came into the picture, an investor and a private investigator. During their searches, they discovered Doug was not the upstanding character he made himself out to be. In fact, he was a blackmailer. He had six people on his blackmail list, five men and one woman.
Cameron and Jaymee had eliminated one person from the list, Martin Granger, as a suspect in Doug’s disappearance. They discovered during their interview with him that he had an alibi. Their personal assessments of him were similar – he just wasn’t that kind of man.
Cameron had surprised Jaymee Friday afternoon when he met her outside her lawyer’s office. He’d taken her there and waited in the deli across the road while she did her divorce stuff. He was more than happy to take her there and wait. It may have only been a month, but Cameron’s feelings for Jaymee had grown stronger every day until he felt he was hopelessly in love with her.
And he hadn’t held back when telling her. He practically accosted her that day when she came out of the office. He’d bought a bouquet of brightly colored flowers – she’d expressed her admiration for them in the grocery store one day – and told her they’d been working too hard. He wanted a vacation. Just a weekend. And he wanted her to come with him.
Of course she had to say yes. Who turned down vacations? Especially on a private mini-yacht?
Jaymee smiled.
It was Cameron’s boat and they were free to do whatever they wanted the whole weekend.
She turned her head and shielded her eyes when she heard the door to the lower deck open and Cameron’s footsteps on the stairs. He emerged from the lower deck, a cocktail in each hand. He smiled wide, his perfect skin glowing, his white teeth flashing.
“There you are,” he said. “I’ve brought you something cool and refreshing to drink. I call it the Sunset. You’ve got to try it.”
He gave her a uniquely shaped glass containing an orange and red mixture with several squares of ice floating in it along with a cherry.
“This looks delicious.” She lifted it up and scanned the colors as they mixed and floated inside. She got the sense there was orange juice involved in this drink. “It looks like a sunset, too, with the orange and red and yellow colors.”
Cameron nodded. “Yep, that’s why I call it that. Go ahead and taste it.”
She put the glass to her lips and took a sip. It was a delightful taste. She let it roll over her tongue and down her throat. She closed her eyes briefly and smiled. “Oh, this is delicious. I taste the orange juice. It’s so mild. But I can taste alcohol. What is it? Vodka? Rum?”
Cameron’s grin remained as if permanent. The look of delight on his face pleased Jaymee. She loved seeing that look in his eyes, like he was overjoyed just seeing her, just being happy in her presence. It filled her heart to feel so loved. She really didn’t think Doug had ever looked at her like Cameron did. Not even when they were dating 21 years ago.
“It’s Vodka. It’s basically a Screwdriver with a splash of grenadine and some ice.”
Jaymee took another sip, once again enjoying the taste on her tongue. “I like it a lot. I think I’ll be drinking more of these.”
Cameron nodded. “That’s great. I’m glad you like it.” He took a healthy swallow from his own glass. “I get teased by my guy friends over this drink, you know.”
“Oh?” Jaymee lifted her eyebrows, letting her eyes drink in the deliciousness of his face the way her tongue did with the drink. “Why’s that?”
“I developed it for my grandmother. I mean, when I was in my early twenties, I was dabbling in cocktail development. I was working as a bartender at a high-end restaurant and making bank. But I wanted my own signature drink. And my grandma used to help me try things out. This is a simple drink to make and easy to remember and it just has a little extra flavor to it. The grenadine kind of dampens down the hit of the OJ, right?”
Jaymee thought about it for a few seconds and nodded. “Yes. You’re right.”
“Because orange juice packs a pretty good punch, if you think about it,” Cameron continued. “And Screwdrivers were a bit strong for Grandma. So I threw in the grenadine one day and viola! My grandmother’s favorite drink until she died ten years ago.”
“What a great story!” Jaymee said, giving him a warm smile. “You were close to your grandmother?”
Cameron was already seated on a deck chair next to Jaymee’s. He nodded as he turned to stretch his long legs over the bottom half of the chair. She couldn’t help running her eyes down his body, noticing how in shape he was. Her insides twisted with desire. She looked back up to his face, hoping she wasn’t blushing furiously.
