“Okay…” He grins. “No allergies. I love all seafood and Jake’s description of the milkshakes had my mouth watering.”
“Favorite flavor?”
“Jake recommended peanut butter.”
“Got it. Have a seat.” I smile at him. This time it’s genuine because he’s not making this even more awkward, and I have to give him props for that. Gael seems like a really great guy and I probably would have given him an actual shot if I wasn’t so head over heels for Abbott. And now that he’s going to come out, I definitely don’t want to be with anyone else.
I head to the back. Ma is sitting on her stool in front of the prep counter with her gloves on, tearing open cooked lobsters and digging out the meat with a precision and ease that comes from a lifetime of practice. Javi is at the deep fryer pulling out a bucket of French fries. I place an order for a Nor’Easter and tell him to add a dash of sriracha to the mayo and head back out to make his milkshake.
Gael is sitting in the booth with Terra, who stands up, walks over, and calls Jake’s regular order through the window into the kitchen. She hip checks me as I open the cooler and pull out the peanut butter ice cream. “So. Tell your one and only sister who this secret crush is.”
“Nope.” I say and realize that isn’t what I thought I would say in this situation. I have been planning– looking forward to – telling Terra and everyone else about Abbott. But saying no actually releases a whole bunch of tension in my shoulders I didn’t realize I was holding. I’m suddenly really happy I have another appointment with my therapist this afternoon.
“Come on! I tell you everything!”
“You didn’t tell me you had a crush on Jake when you were in high school,” I remind her. “And you didn’t tell me when you hired Chloe to revamp our entire website.”
She frowns. “Well, if you want to pull hairs, yeah okay. I keep some things from you.”
“Look, this is not the time,” I tell her and glance over my shoulder toward Gael and Jake.
She sighs. “Okay. I get it. But promise when this is serious, you’ll tell me. I’ll be happy for you, Deck. Even if it’s someone I hate. Like Ronan Green or something.”
I turn on the milkshake machine to drown out my laughter at that. She hip checks me again, this time moving me clear over, away from the machine. “Remember what we said, no more work for you. Go sit down with Mr. Friendzone. Or take this as your chance to sneak out. Whatever works.”
I let out a breath. I want to take option B and sneak out but that wouldn’t be cool. So I walk over and ask if I can join Jake and Gael. Finn is also sitting at the table with them. They all say yes, so I yank out the chair Finn has his feet on and glare at him. He knows I hate it when he treats the restaurant chairs like ottomans. He smiles guiltily and sits straighter. They’re talking about surfing and I interject when I can. I do it, but not nearly as much as my brothers and Jake. Finn and Jake in particular are obsessed with it and they have planned Jake’s bachelor party around it, booking a beachfront cottage at Gooch’s Beach which has the best swells in the state.
Terra shows up with two delicious looking peanut butter milkshakes. She even brought a metal overflow cup for Gael, which we only do for special clients. “Finn, your break is over. Get up.”
“Argh. The shift manager here is such a witch,” Finn groans and she kicks his chair.
“Oh my God, can you all stop abusing the furniture,” I plead. “These chairs are a hundred fifty dollars a pop.”
“Old Deck alert!” Jake calls out, chuckling at himself. I frown. Gael looks intrigued.
“There’s an old Deck?” he asks.
Oh great.
“Yeah. This guy used to have super short hair, and wear designer suits and iron his t-shirts,” Finn explains as he stands. “And he made spreadsheets and media plans and we used to have a bet he would change his middle name to Excel.”
“Or Quick Tax.”
“I was banking on Cloud,” Jake says, his grin is so big it’s hard not to want to slap it off his face. “Jake, check the Cloud. The schedule changes are there. Jake, the Cloud has your pay stub.”
They all laugh and I give them one of my best Fuck You smiles. “For the record, I still iron my t-shirts.”
Their laughter deepens. Terra pulls Finn away and Jake stands up. “I’m gonna change before the food gets here too. No one touch my shake. Be right back.”
He heads off to the back, where he keeps extra clothes in the break room. Alone, I turn to Gael who is trying hard not to laugh too. “Sounds like you were under-appreciated.”
“I was, sometimes,” I reply. “Other times I truly did annoy the hell out of them and cause more harm than good.”
“To the business?”
“No. To the family dynamic,” I admit. “I can be a bull in a china shop.”
“Your family doesn’t seem as delicate as china,” Gael remarks and his smile softens. “They seem like they can withstand a little shake every now and then. And maybe even need one sometimes.”
