“Stuff like what?” Juliet asked.
“Branding? Stylizing spaces? Fashion? Social media? You sold your image for years and years, and I sort of know what work’s involved in that. You know what people like. What’s more, you’re from the city. You know what city people want when they come out to Bluebell Cove,” Celia said.
Juliet gaped at her older sister. “You told Theo I could help with his restaurant?”
“He’s desperate,” Celia said. “He needs to put together a business plan by the end of the week. I told him to reach out to you, but I guess I was right. He hasn’t called?”
“He wouldn’t call,” Juliet muttered. “I mean, that’s not Theo’s way.” Especially not after everything that happened between us.
Celia and Ivy exchanged panicked looks. Celia looked as though she was worried that all the “success” they’d just had with Juliet would melt away.
But then Juliet exhaled. “I called him once years ago. I’m embarrassed to say. But I was about to marry Alvin. I felt so brokenhearted about everything. About Theo. About Callie. About my family. I got drunk off champagne and called Theo and told him I’d rather eat his food than anyone else’s food in the world. And then, we hung up, and I got married.” She raised her shoulders. “Life is weird.”
“It’s the strangest thing of all,” Celia agreed, raising her glass of wine.
16
It wasn’t till around ten that night that Danica emerged from her bedroom. She walked like a zombie, down the hall, into the bathroom, then back out again. Juliet was in the living room, watching television quietly, craning to hear what was going on with Danica. But finally, with the wave of her hand and maybe some desperation on her face, she managed to nab Danica’s attention. she managed to lure her into the living room, where she set Danica’s birthday cake on the coffee table and lined it with candles. The candlelight glowed on Danica’s tear-soaked face. But Danica closed her eyes firmly to make a wish, then blew out every single one of her candles.
“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” Juliet whispered, smiling.
It was hard to believe it had been fifteen years since Juliet had given birth to her one and only daughter.
Juliet told herself not to make a big deal about the strange day they’d had. She removed the candles, then went to get two forks, and they ate the cake directly from the big platter without bothering to slice it into pieces. Danica got icing on her lips, but she didn’t seem self-conscious. Probably, she was really hungry after sitting alone in her room all day.
“Do you want those tacos now? I prepped everything,” Juliet said.
Danica shook her head and took another bite of cake. There was forgiveness in the air, but Juliet guessed that Danica was too stubborn to say anything about it. Still, it was wonderful to have her daughter out here on the sofa, eating cake with her.
“What’s that?” Danica asked, pointing her fork at Juliet’s laptop, which showed the beginnings of Juliet’s ideas for a new menu and branding for The Dockside. She’d also begun to put together a business plan for Theo, something that Theo could send to Calvin Parish. She knew how much he hated stuff like that. He’d always been too disorganized for school. Even in elementary school, she and Callie had done many of his assignments. It was only because of them that he’d passed anything, most of all Algebra II.
“An old friend of mine has a restaurant here in Bluebell Cove,” she explained. “It’s struggling, and I thought I’d maybe help him with social media and branding. Things like that.”
Danica took another bite of cake. “What’s the internet presence like?”
“It’s basically nonexistent,” Juliet said.
Danica raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I mean, it’s the 2020s. You can’t just open a business and expect people to come! Not without a social media strategy.”
“That’s Theo, though,” Juliet said. “He’s a romantic like that. He wants everything to be pure.”
Danica set down her fork. She looked contemplative. “How do you know him?”
“He was my first friend,” Juliet said.
“Was he friends with Callie, too?”
Juliet was surprised that her daughter remembered Callie’s name. More than that, Juliet was surprised that she’d ever said Callie’s name aloud to Danica. It had been during that drive from New York City to Maine, when she’d thought that she and Danica could “bond.” But now, now that Danica showed some interest, did she really want her to know?
“We were all really good friends back in high school,” Juliet said softly.
“But he’s still here,” Callie said.
“He’s still here,” Juliet affirmed.
“And he’s struggling,” Danica said.
“I think everyone’s struggling a little bit,” Juliet said. “It’s a difficult time.”
