109
Lucy
Ginny looked back at David as we reached the stairs. “I’m trusting you.”
He saluted her with a grin. “I promise not to let you down, captain.”
She pulled me adown the deck’s steps towards the beach. Her mother and father followed behind us with Sarah and Amy. Duke trailed behind Henry and Julian, but David gone somewhere else. I looked back, searching for him as she slowed to a stop away form the others and far enough from where the water met the beach.
“This place is perfect!”
Jenny stuck an umbrella in the ground. “Perfect indeed. Come here, button, and let me put some more sunscreen on you.”
Ginny went to her mother as her father set up a few loungers and claimed one right next to the cooler. Julian and Henry set up their own loungers as Sarah stripped out of her cover-up.
Henry let out a low whistle. “You wouldn’t happen to need some help with sunscreen, would you?”
Sarah smiled over her shoulders. “Be generous with it.”
Henry practically scrambled towards her with a bottle of sunscreen. Duke shook his head and lifted a spray bottle.
“I’ll hit your back if you hit mine.”
I nodded and reached for the hem of my cover-up. I hesitated for a moment, but took a deep breath and pulled it off. I set it on the lounger where Sarah had placed hers as Uma came down the shoreline in a swimsuit, pulling a wagon. Julian hopped up to help her unload the other loungers, an umbrella and a cooler. Duke sprayed my back and legs. I sprayed his and we sprayed Amy as well. When we were all covered, Ginny pulled her wagon of sandcastle-building toys towards us.
She gave Duke a bucket, me a shovel, Amy a shovel and kept one for herself.
“Let’s start with the courtyard!”
Amy’s eyes lit up, and she started to dig. I followed her lead and dug wherever Ginny pointed.
We were making space for the castle entrance when Ginny called out. “David, over here!”
I looked up, and my eyes locked with David's as he walked out of the water and up the shore with a plastic bucket in his hand. Time seemed to slow as he came to a halt near me. He fixed his gaze fixed on me. A rush of warmth spread across my cheeks, and I tried not to fidget as my stomach started to tumble and my heart raced.
His gaze drifted over me slowly. His eyes grew dark as they skimmed over me then back up to my face.
“… it suits you.”
His lingering stare sent a jolt of emotions through me. I was embarrassed and nervous. I’d never had attention like this before. A part of me was excited and happy at the way he looked at me, but I felt that dying out and twisting. An uneasy gut-wrenching feeling came over me.
Tony and Matt used to look at me like that. Possessive, hungry… I remembered the way Tony’s eyes would flash before he pounced on me. The memory sent a spike of fear coursing through my veins.
David took a step back and averted his gaze before focusing on Ginny and holding the bucket up.
“I think you’ll like these.”
All at once, the tension in me rushed out, and I felt terrible. David wasn't Tony or Matt. Maybe he liked the way I looked in this bikini, but there was nothing in his gaze that said he would make me do something I didn’t want, or even ask me to do something I didn’t want.
My jaw trembled as the guilt hit me.
“Hey,” Duke said softly, leaning towards me as David crouched down to show Ginny what he’d found. “Deep breaths, okay?”
I nodded, trying to suck in the air as my eyes started to burn with tears. “I… I didn’t…”
“I know,” Duke said. “More importantly, you know that David knows, and you know.”
He placed a hand on my arm. “Don’t beat yourself up. Should I grab your cover-up for you?”
I shook my head. “I’m okay. I-I’ll be okay.”
I tried to shake it off and kept digging, tuning out everything but the sound of the waves crashing. Then, we were packing wet stand into shapes. David entered the construction area and crouched down across the castle from me.
I glanced over at him, hoping that he wouldn’t be upset, but all I saw was his kind smile.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Is there something I can do?”
I blinked and shook my head. “I’m okay. Did you… find some shells she likes?”
He smirked. “I think I’ll keep my place as her favorite for several years.”
I nodded. “That’s good.”
I looked down, feeling awkward and out of place. The wind blew warm and balmy over us and we worked mostly in quiet for a while. By the time Ginny was ready to pour water into the moat, the sun was headed towards the horizon.
“Wow,” Jenny said, coming down the shoreline. “Starting training early, hm?”
Ginny beamed. She gasped and turned to David. “Oh, do you think you can be on my next time?”
David smiled. “I’ll try.”
She looked at me. “And you too? You guys are way better than my brothers.”
“Hey!” Julian cried.
She turned back. “It’s true! You knocked over the whole east wing and we had to rebuild it in less than ten minutes!”
David laughed.
“I’d love to help!” Amy said. “I’m sure we’ll be free if it’s a weekend.”
Ginny clapped her hands. “Thank you!”
“Alright, gather around for a photo, yeah? Have you chosen your crowning piece?”
She went over to the bucket David brought and pulled out a large coral shell with aquamarine and coral pink lines.
Her father let out a low whistle. “David out did himself this time.”
Ginny placed it on the top of the highest part of the castle before shuffling in between Duke and I.
“Smile!”
I smiled up at Jenny as she aimed her phone at us and took pictures.
“Beautiful! We’ll get it framed. How about dinner, hm?” Jenny looked at us. “You’re welcome to join us of course.”
She laughed. “There’s really only one place to go, and I know they’re dying to finish up the birthday bash.”
David groaned. “They didn’t.”
“This is a big one, David. After everything…” Her eyes softened. “Let us take care of you, hm?”
He said nothing for a moment before his smile softened. “Alright… I guess I’ll let you stuff me full of cake.”
He looked at me and winked. “Some of it might even be chocolate.”
I huffed. Ginny took the shell from the castle and placed it in the wagon with all of her tools. Then, we were packing up heading back to the restaurant. The deck had been decorated with a giant Happy Birthday banner and an old couple blew noisemakers as David walked up the stairs. He went to them and hugged them tightly, letting a woman about our age put a chain of flowers around his neck.
Music started playing and we settled around one of the long tables.
“Everyone really likes David,” Amy said, munching on some fries. “It’s… good to see that he found some place that could be like home.”
“David’s the town’s Golden Child,” Blake said, sitting down beside us as an older woman pulled David up towards the bar and put a shot glass in his hand.
He laughed at whatever she said, and took the shot.
“What do you mean?”
Blake hummed. “Well, when a hurricane came through and tore up most of the town, he stayed practically every day for several months to help fix things back up.” He tapped the bench we sat on. “He practically built the deck himself and paid for a lot of the other repairs so they could open up again. We don’t have a lot of jobs outside of tourism. This restaurant and the beach is practically the lifeblood of the town”
I looked over at David as a man wrapped an arm around his shoulder and drew him close, messing up his hair.
“Okay! Okay!”
“I didn’t know that.” I smiled. “It’s… good to hear that he hasn’t changed a bit.”
Blake laughed. “I don’t think he knows how to change.”
“I’d like to propose a toast,” an older man said, coming onto the speaker. “It’s been a rough few years here, but we’ve had our fair share of blessings. I think I can speak for the whole town when I say David’s been one of the biggest.”
He lifted his glass. “To the fine young man he’s grown up to be, and heaven help the woman he picks up to spend his life with. We hope she knows how lucky she is.”
I smiled looking around the group, and my gut jumped as I swore I saw David looking right at me.
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