“Sure.” Whatever that means.

“You have no idea what that is, do you.”

“Nope.”

“Plain pancakes then?”

“Yep.”

She smiles. “Will do.” She grabs the menus and saunters away, as if she knows what he’s just admitted to.

“Please. Don’t,” Arden says quietly.

Cletus chuckles. “You don’t think she’s got you figured out?”

“No. You think?”

“Well, look at you. Giving her a ride to work on the weekends. I’ll bet you check on her every night at that dumpy convenience store, don’t you?”

“Nothing that you didn’t used to do.” And, if it weren’t for Arden scaring the life out of him, he would still be doing it.

Cletus ignores the jab. “Spending every waking minute with her. And when you’re not, you’re at my house keeping busy, until you can spend your next waking minutes with her.”

It’s obvious. So obvious. But does she really know? And what if she does? “Should I just come out and tell her?” And what’s with asking an old man for love advice?

Cletus moves the giant celery stalk out of the way before taking a big swallow of his Bloody Mary. He contemplates. “I don’t think so. I think you should just show her. That’s always the best route.”

“But don’t girls like it when you say it?” He wouldn’t know. He’s never told a girl he loved her before. He’s never had to. He’s never wanted to. Girls have always been easy creatures to decipher, up until this point. Compliment them on their hair or lip gloss, spend a little money on them—and when all else fails, kiss them senseless.

But Carly is a whole different species of girl. She’s the bloodhound of false compliments, she hates wasting money, and the only thing he’s sure of is that she’s the one who kisses him senseless.

As far as being a guy goes, he’s completely failing.

Cletus must perceive his desperation. “Boy, get it together. I may not know much about what a woman of today’s world wants or needs. But I do know women in general don’t like a groveling mess, that’s for dang sure.”

Arden sits up straighter. “I’m not a mess.”

“You need a mirror then?”

“You started this conversation.”

“Shut up, son. Here she comes.”

Carly motions for Arden to scoot over so she can sit next to him in the booth. After the conversation he just had with his uncle, it feels like he’s sitting next to an open flame. “I got your order in before our lovely bridesmaids,” she brags. “Their bill is easily going to be five hundred bucks. You think I should auto-gratuity them, or take my chances?”

“With a smile like that?” Cletus says. “I think you’ve got a clean thirty percent off ’em. I say take your chances.”

Graciousness radiates from her. “I think I will.”

Arden clears his throat. “You having a good day?”

She nods. “Great one. I had a family in earlier who was vacationing from Argentina. We spoke Spanish the whole time. It was nice.” She gives him a wistful look. Like someone homesick.

He wants her to look like that when she thinks of him.

“Well, I’ve got to check on my tables,” she says, sliding back out of the booth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect to be this busy when you came.”

“Don’t apologize,” Arden says hurriedly. “It’s a good thing.”

“Yeah,” Carly agrees.

After they eat, Arden and Cletus wait around for Carly to clean up her tables. Cletus proved right about the bridal shower; they ended up leaving her forty percent of the bill after everything was said and done. Carly practically glowed while she vacuumed her section of the restaurant; she made more today than she ever had.

After rolling her silverware, Carly is ready to go. She walks out with Cletus and Arden.

“I think I’m going to take a cab,” Cletus announces.

“What?” Carly says. “No. We’re going to the pier, remember?”

Cletus gives Arden a knowing look. “It’s been a while since I’ve been out of the house. And I’ve got some errands to run and a lot on my mind. You two go ahead without me.”

It’s as good a blessing as Arden is going to get from his uncle.

And he’ll take it.

Twenty-One

I’m more than a little startled to find Julio sitting on the couch waiting for me when I get home. I’m pretty sure he should be at work tonight. And I’m pretty sure I’m busted. “Where have you been?” he asks, a frown tugging at his mouth. Julio would be handsome, I think, if he wasn’t so serious all the time. He’s got a strong jawline and big brown eyes. He’s clean shaven. He’s everything he should be. Including angry that I’m late getting home.

My stomach drops. Did he hear Arden’s truck when he dropped me off? “I was at work?”

“All day?”

I shake my head. “No. I walked around Destin Commons for a little while to clear my head.” Complete and total lie. I spent the day fishing with Arden off Okaloosa Pier. We caught a baby shark and set it free. Then I buried him in the sand underneath the pier.

Julio purses his lips. “You shouldn’t walk around alone. It’s dangerous.”

Nice. He has no problem letting me ride my bike back and forth from the Breeze Mart in the dead of night, yet, to walk around a populated-by-mostly-rich-people area like Destin Commons is unacceptable. “I know” is all I say. To lighten the mood, I open up my apron and hand him my earnings from the café, rolled up with a rubber band for his jar-stuffing convenience. “It’s three hundred forty dollars,” I explain, not un-proudly.