108
Lucy
I turned around trying to find where the song was coming from or who they could be singing to as laughter started to come from inside and more voices joined.
“Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear David! Happy Birthday to you!”
Sarah and Duke started clapping loudly, but I couldn’t see David. It seemed like he was still inside the building. Then, he came around the corner and everything in me went still. My stomach clenched with a feeling I couldn’t name. My mouth went dry.
Was that really David?
As David walked onto the deck, a wave of excitement and anticipation rippled through the restaurant. The staff and customers burst into song, their voices blending together in a lively rendition of "Happy Birthday." It was a celebration in full swing, and all eyes were on him.
Including mine.
Was that really David?
I couldn't help but stare, my breath catching in my throat as my gaze swept over him. He was shirtless in trunks the color of sunset. Every muscle in his chest seemed to be chiseled, sculpted like a statue. A paper crown was on his head and a sash was across his chest. My mouth was dry.
He stopped by a table and crouched down to hug a little girl who grinned up at him and put a necklace of seashells around his neck.
I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but I couldn’t stop staring. He looked so confident. His smile was infectious as he talked to the little girl and her parents. The laughter that echoed around him filled the air.
He brought so much light to the area.
“Liking the view?” Duke asked.
My face heated, and I tried to tear my gaze away. I felt ridiculous and hot. I grabbed my drink as Sarah stood.
“Over here, birthday boy!”
I took a long drink of whatever was in front of me, trying to fight down my embarrassment. It was ridiculous. I had seen David hundreds of times before.
“I see you all made it here.” I turned to look at him as he approached the table.
Our eyes met. In that moment, time seemed to stand still, and it was as if we were the only two people in the world. I felt a jolt of electricity surge through me. My heart started pounding in my chest. I was going to say something, then a pair of people were coming up behind him. As David turned, they dumped a large bucket of what looked like ice water on him.
David let out a yell of surprise and turned to the pair of young men who were trying to escape. The water dripped down his chest, glistening in the sun. His hair started to curl and wave against his forehead. The heat that was building in me came back quickly.
Luckily, David was too busy catching the two culprits and holding them hostage with his arms around their necks.
“You think you’re funny, you little brats!”
“We’re older than you!”
They tussled and tried to get free before they tried to lift David, but David did something with his legs and tackled them both to the ground.
“Boys!” An older woman called, coming out of the restaurant. He looked around and shook her head. “Honestly…”
David got up but before he could get away, another pair of men, both of them significantly older came behind him and lifted him.
“Hey!”
“Yeah, yeah,” they said, laughing. “No getting out of this.”
“Jenny!” David cried as the other two grabbed his legs and they started to carry him down the deck. Sarah got up to follow and I followed behind them.
“Sorry, David,” Jenny, the older woman, said with a laugh. “It is tradition.”
David tried to pull away. “Traitor!”
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
She smiled. “Just fine. They’re just tossing him in the ocean.”
I blinked and then heard a loud splash and laughter. “Happy Birthday!”
I went towards where they were and found the edge of the deck ended abruptly. Beneath it was a deep, crystal-clear pool of water. David surfaced, glowering up at the four men.
“I hate you all.”
“We love you too, little D’.” One of them said. “Stop sulking and come out.”
The other young man turned and looked at me. “Well, hello… I don’t think we’ve met.”
“Lay off,” David said, swimming to the edge and lifting himself onto the deck. “She’s way too good for the likes of you.”
He wrinkled his nose. “You do seem like a good girl. You came from the city and didn’t bring a femme fatale? I’m disappointed.”
David snorted and stood up, pushing his wet hair out of his face. Though he seemed a little cool from the water, I felt the air heating around him.
“I’m sure you’ll live,” David said and smiled at me. “Sorry for all the noise. They have a funny view of traditions.”
I shook my head. “It’s okay. Really. I was just… worried.”
He smiled. “I’m fine… The sunglasses suit you.”
“T-Thanks. Uhm… we haven’t ordered food yet if you’re going to join us?”
David nodded. “Sounds good—”
“Oh, don’t be like that!” Jenny cried. “You all can join our table. If we’d known you were friends of David’s we would have had you join us.”
David grimaced. “I don’t know about that.”
Jenny beamed at him and took me by the arm. “I’m Jenny. I’ve known David since he was a little boy trying to figure out how to string seashells together. Those are my boys, Henry and Julian. Come on, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the family!”
David waved over Amy and Duke as Sarah was pulling into conversation with Henry and Julian. From the look on her face, she seemed very happy.
Jenny introduced us to the rest of her family. Her father, Blake, pulled Duke down to sit with them and the little girl named Ginny. We brought our drinks over and let them order more food. David settled into the seat across from me as Amy slid in next to me.
“We’re so glad to be meeting David’s friends. He never brings anyone with him,” Blake said. “Try not to let him get you into too much trouble.”
David’s jaw dropped. “I’ve never gotten into trouble. That was Julian.”
“Maybe,” Julian said popping something fried in his mouth. “But I’m not the one riding dolphins like horses and getting in trouble with the conservationists.”
“You rode a dolphin?” Amy asked, her eyes wide in shock.
David scowled at Julian. “I wouldn’t have been anywhere near a dolphin if someone hadn’t decide to throw me in when the tide was the roughest.”
Julian flushed. “Well… we got a good story out of it.”
“No fighting at the table,” Jenny said, pushing a basket of fries towards me. The waiter came with a huge tray balanced on her shoulder and started setting more dishes down. I didn’t know what most of it was, but David smiled at me.
“Seafood, the freshest and the best,” David said and started to point around at the dishes. “Oysters, fried and baked, shrimp, scallops…Those are crab cakes, and you can’t go wrong with proper dipping sauces.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
I tried a little bit of everything, but my favorite were the crab cakes. David smirked and pushed the rest of them my way before I could get nervous about eating the last one. David raised his hand to wave over the waiter.
“I think we’ll need another order of crabcakes and if we could get a refill on the oysters too, that’s be great.”
The woman pinched his cheek. “Of course, Birthday Boy.”
I ate way more than I remember ever eating and laughed so much my sides hurt.
“David, we have to take Lucy sandcastle building!” Amy said. “She’s never built a sandcastle before!”
David nodded, finishing off an oyster. “I’m sure Ginny has all the appropriate tools for the job.”
“I do!” Ginny said, waving her hands above her head. “I’m the best at building sandcastles!”
She looked at David. “You promise to help me find a good seashell?”
He smiled and ruffled her hair. “I promise. I know your brothers are useless.”
“Hey!”
David laughed and looked across the table at me. “I’ll leave you in Ginny’s capable hands. She won the sand castle competition last year.”
I smiled and looked over at her. “Congratulations. What’d you win?”
“A new sandcastle tool set,” she said. “It’s way bigger than the last one. We had to bring it in bag!”
Ginny went on about putting it to good use now that she could be sure that she’d get a good seashell.
As we finished off the rest of the food and the air started to heat up more, a bit of the nervousness started to ease.
“Ready to learn the fundamentals?”
I looked up, blinking at David and then looking around as everyone else was getting up from the table. I hadn’t noticed that someone had paid the bill already. I got up and Ginny rushed around the table to take my hand.
“Come on!”
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