“Welcome to the family,” Delia said.
“So…I’ve got the job?” Elena asked, her eyes wet.
“You even have to ask?” Delia laughed. “Now turn around so I can get this on you.”
Elena took off her own apron from home, turned, and lifted her hair. But instead of Delia helping her, Camden’s hands draped the apron over her head, tied the straps around her waist, and then pulled her in close for a hug. He turned her, tipped her chin up, and kissed her deeply to whistles and catcalls.
“Congratulations, Gorgeous. Knew you’d kick ass at the gig, but didn’t realize you’d also kick Julia’s ass. Just glad I got to watch.”
Elena pushed playfully against his shoulder. “Don’t you have a job to do?”
He tapped his ear, where earlier, Elena had watched him insert the tiniest earbud ever. “Doin’ it right now. But I do need to get back out there before the kids’ photoshoot.”
By the smile on his face, Elena knew the night had gone well for Camden so far, but she asked anyway. “All good?”
“We’ll talk at home, Babe.” He kissed her again. “Proud of you. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
He snagged a couple dumplings off a platter and stuffed them into his mouth as he went to get Roger.
Elena and her crew cleaned and packed up the remaining food while sounds of the clapping and cheering crowd drifted in from the courtyard. She thought the night must have gone well for Camden and thanked God for that. Maybe nothing would come of all this after all.
“Elena,” Claudia said as she came in after collecting the last platter full of dirty wine glasses from the crowd. “Some guy wants to talk to you. Says it’s photo time for the kids?”
“Oh yeah. Be right there.” Elena wiped her hands on a towel and headed for the courtyard.
Ugh. Lawrence was waiting right there. But at least Senator Rock Higley stood next to him, so maybe he wouldn’t try anything. Both men smiled at Elena as if she were an actual human being and not a window to look through. She glanced around, hoping to see Camden, or any other Watchdog employee for that matter.
“There she is, the unsung champion of the evening,” Lawrence said, extending his arms as if to hug Elena. She folded her arms across her chest. He went on as if nothing was wrong, taking Senator Higley by the upper arm. “This is the lady you asked to see, Senator. I’d like to introduce Elena Martinez. Ms. Martinez, this is Senator Rock Higley. He’s been raving about your food and asked to see the chef.”
“Ms. Martinez, it’s a pleasure. Not a lot of food agrees with me these days, but yours was top-notch.”What an odd statement. He held out his hand and she shook it. His grip wasn’t as strong as she expected. Up close, he looked pale, too. Was he ill?
“Thank you, Senator, but it was really a group effort.”
“Don’t let her fool you, she was in charge of every step,” Camden’s voice sounded from behind her.
Oh, sweet relief. Camden put a protective hand on her shoulder. Lawrence’s smile faltered before he snapped it back into place.
“I’m sure she was,” the senator responded, smiling. “Elena, if you can give me a business card, I’ll pass it on to my assistant for our next event.”
Her eyes widened, and she patted her apron pockets despite knowing she didn’t have any cards. “Oh, that’s wonderful! I’m afraid I don’t have any with me, but you can reach me at Delia’s.” She pointed to the restaurant’s name on her apron.
He laughed. “Perfect.”
Lawrence cleared his throat. “They’re lining up the kids for the photos and I wanted to make sure you were right up front.” He glanced from Elena to Camden and back. “Both of you, I suppose.”
“Great, thanks.”Though I think I’d rather stick chopsticks in my eyes than stand anywhere near you. The four of them navigated through the crowd as a line of kids made their way onto the lighted stage. Lawrence stopped them at the corner edge of the stage where they had a good view. Elena breathed a sigh of relief when the man continued on to the very middle of the front row. At least he was away from her so her skin could stop crawling. She heard Camden murmur something and turned to look back at him. He subtly tapped his ear—oh, he was talking to a teammate, not her. She smiled and turned back to the stage.
Tina was right in front, and she looked downright upset. Great, she had a crappy time and she and Camden would hear about it.
Rock put an arm around her shoulders, taking her by surprise. She glanced back to see what Camden thought about that, but he’d disappeared. Senator Higley leaned in and asked, “Is that your daughter?”
“Yes, that’s Tina.”
“The two of you look so much alike. Such a pretty girl.”
“Thanks.” She tried to smile at the compliment, but she hated this false familiarity. When Tina looked her direction though, she gave her daughter a genuinely encouraging smile. Pepita looked so uncomfortable up there in the lights with the other kids. Maybe if they went to find this mermaid sundial right away after the photo, they could soften her mood before she had a tantrum.
