“See ya,” called DJ as Taylor slowly pulled away, even using her turn signal as she slowed for the corner. The policeman nodded as if he was impressed.
Then DJ started walking home—for the second time today. As if she hadn’t had enough exercise! And, if she thought she’d been hungry earlier today, now she was running on fumes. Not only that, but at this rate, she would probably be late for dinner, and she didn’t even have her cell phone to call her grandmother. And she could’ve gotten a bite in town—something full of carbs and fats—but she didn’t even have her bag. If DJ didn’t know better, she’d think that Taylor had planned this whole thing. Maybe she had. Maybe this was just a big setup. Taylor probably had connections with the local cops and had orchestrated that they would arrive just as—then DJ jumped as the sound of a beeping horn startled her back into reality.
“Hey, DJ,” called Conner from the driver’s seat of a red pickup on the other side of the street. “Need a lift?”
She frowned as she considered this. She really wanted a ride—would love a ride—with anyone but Conner Alberts.
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”
“Please,” he begged. “I really want to talk to you, DJ.”
She looked at his old Chevy pickup and, despite herself, smiled. It was actually a really cute rig in a funky old-fashioned way, and she’d thought it was sweet that Conner and his dad had been working to restore it. Also, her feet were seriously tired now.
“Okay,” she said with an air of reluctance. “Just this once.” Then she checked for cars, dashed across the street, and hopped in. “The only reason I agreed to this is because I’m starving and if I’d walked home I’d be late for dinner.”
“You’re starving?” he said hopefully.
“Yeah, I sort of missed lunch.”
“Let me take you to dinner, DJ.”
She considered this. All she’d have to look forward to at Carter House would be healthy, nutritious, low-carb, low-cal, low-fat, low-taste kinds of foods. Still, having dinner with Conner…after what he’d said to her?
“Come on,” he urged. “Please, DJ, that’s the least I can do, okay?”
DJ could tell that her stomach was going to win this one. “Okay, but I’m really starving, Conner. And I don’t have my bag, so it has to be your treat.”
“No problem.”
“But I might need something like a T-bone steak,” she warned.
“You can have steak and lobster if you like.”
She laughed. “And I don’t have my cell phone either. I’ll need to call my grandmother.”
He handed her his. “No excuses.”
So she called, and thankfully it was Inez who answered. “Please, inform Mrs. Carter that I won’t be home for dinner,” she said politely.
“Will do,” said Inez, like she was in a hurry. “But as soon as you get in, you better go see your grandmother, Desiree. She’s been looking for you.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, you better talk to her as soon as you get home.”
“Great,” said DJ in a slightly dejected tone. “Thanks, Inez.” Then she closed the phone and handed it back to Conner.
“Trouble on the home front?”
“Maybe…” She sighed and tried to think of what she’d done wrong today. Or at least what she’d done wrong that her grandmother was aware of.
“Oh.” He nodded, but his expression was still curious. “So, where do you want to go? You name it, and I’ll take you there.”
Part of her was tempted to request an expensive restaurant—in an effort to punish him—but what she really wanted was something simple and good. “How about the Hammerhead?”
“Really?” He turned and looked at her. “You really like that place?”
“Yeah,” she said with irritation. “Are you too good for it now?”
He laughed. “No, I would think that maybe you were.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing…” He pressed his lips tightly together and turned at the next corner, heading back toward the docks.
“Okay, I admit it,” she said. “I’m really grouchy. And I’m really aggravated at you, Conner Alberts.”
He nodded. “Yes, yes…it’s good to vent. Go ahead.”
“I can’t believe what you said to me—all that crap about me being the one who, who—well, I can’t even say it. But it just really ticks me off!”
“Understandably.”
“And I cannot believe you thought that. That is totally absurd.”
“Okay…okay…” He nodded again. “Do you want to discuss this before we eat? Or are you so ravenous that you won’t be able to think straight?”
“Both.”
He laughed as he pulled into the graveled parking area by the Hammerhead Café. “At least you’re honest.”
“At least,” she mimicked as they got out.
“By the way, I’m curious…how is it that you got stranded in town with no phone and no bag?”
“Taylor.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope, I’m not,” she said as she sat down at the same picnic table they’d used the last time they’d been there.
“This I gotta hear.”
“Can we order first?” DJ picked up the menu and scanned it.
“No problem.” He waved through the window of the café to get the attention of a waitress, and she came out and asked if they knew what they wanted.
“I do,” said DJ eagerly. “Fish and chips with coleslaw and a root beer float, for starters.”
“You want the small portion fish and—”
“No way,” said DJ. “I want the full-sized deal.”
“I want the same,” said Conner.
“Everything?”
“Yep.” He handed her the menus and she left.
“Mr. Congeniality,” teased DJ.
“No, it’s what I really wanted.” He smiled. “See, we still have a few things in common.”
She frowned and wondered what he meant by still?
“Okay, I have to hear how it can possibly be Taylor’s fault that you got stranded downtown.” He chuckled. “I can tell this is gonna be good.”
So she quickly retold the Vespa story, the joy ride, the cop stop, and how he wouldn’t let her ride back without a helmet. “To be honest, I actually started to think that Taylor might’ve planned the whole thing as a setup.” She sort of laughed as the waitress set down their floats. “But that’s pretty paranoid.”
“I don’t know,” he said as he stuck in a straw. “Taylor is a real piece of work…and she does seem to still have it out for you.”
“But that could be changing,” admitted DJ. Then she told him about how Taylor had been almost friendly during PE. “Although, I was on my guard,” she said. “I figured she was about to jerk the rug out from under me.”
“She might be…”
DJ frowned. “What makes you say that?”
“Well, for one thing, I don’t trust her.”
DJ shook her finger at him now. “Yeah, that’s another thing, Conner. If you feel like that about Taylor, why were you dancing the night away with her at the beach-house party?”
“To avoid dancing with you.”
DJ had no response to this.
“It’s a long story…you want to hear it or not?”
“I’m not sure…”
“Okay, how about if I give you the condensed version?”
“Go for it.” She took a long sip of her float and imagined how good those fish and chips were going to taste.
“You knew that I liked you…I think I made that clear. The thing is I liked you the way you were, DJ. I liked that you were just a regular girl, that you were into sports, and you seemed comfortable being you. And then you took me by surprise when you did that whole makeover biz. I felt like I’d been tricked—like a bait and switch.”