Page 18 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes

Candace nodded. Because she was close, Daisy also caught her eyeroll. “There was some building code issue, but I hear your mom at the permit office greased things along. ”

The kid missed the obvious disdain in Candace’s tone as he high-fived with the other thrill seekers beside him.

Talk of particular rides prompted the group to share their favorite pier activities, from the teacups to the new ghost bayou attraction.

Even Candace admitted to loving the carnival games, and she readily shared the tricks to beating them.

Daisy was lost in her thoughts, thinking how cute Candace’s button-nosed profile was, when she felt all eyes turn to her. “Um…”

Across their group’s baby bonfire, Demi looked comfortable under her boyfriend’s arm. She clarified, “Everyone else said their favorite thing about the pier. Don’t hold out on us!”

Make something up!

Daisy tried, but her mind went blank. She could not think of a single ride. When a painfully long time had passed, she managed to admit, “I don’t know what my favorite ride is. I’ve never been.”

The groups’ incredulity seared Daisy hotter than the flames in front of her. She took a swig of her drink even though it was long empty.

“Never…?” Candace’s small voice was equal parts wondrous and pity-filled. “But you’re right across the boardwalk.”

All Daisy could do was shrug.

“Wow,” one of the boys quipped, “your parents must not love you.”

A metaphorical lead balloon socked Daisy right in the gut. The rest of the group exchanged wide-eyed shock, apart from the oblivious boy who’d spoken.

“What?” He asked, and one of his friends leaned in to explain.

“Bro… the people from that freak bridge accident. That’s their kid.”

“Oh—shit, yo… Sorry. That’s messed up.”

Daisy could not look at him. She could not look at the others as they echoed his sympathy in mumbled discomfort.

She knew that she had to do something, say the words from the grief-script she’d found herself forced to repeat over and over.

She felt trapped, suffocated despite the crisp May evening air.

Without realizing it, she got to her feet.

“Um,” she droned out. “I’m out of beer.”

Pivoting, Daisy all but bolted from the group—from the party entirely. She earned more than a few dirty looks as she barreled through the crowd. Mumbled sorries were the best she could do.

It was only as she made it to the dune line, almost back to the streets and her solitude, that Daisy realized she was being followed. Hearing the sound of sand shuffling behind her, she whirled.

The other person came to an abrupt stop. So abruptly that they crashed into Daisy because of how close they’d been.

They were in a darkened corridor between the beach bonfires and the street lights of Wonderwood’s civilization.

It might have been impossible to tell her pursuer’s identity.

Even so, the airy gasp she let loose as Daisy steadied her, the scent of lilac and, most tellingly, the way Daisy’s heart started hammering at their skin contact, gave Candace away.

“Are you alright?”

Daisy tried to play it cool. She released Candace and stepped back.

“You’re the one who nearly face-planted a dune. I’m good.”

“You said you were getting more beer.”

“I never said I was getting more. I said I was out.”

Daisy could not see Candace’s frown, but she could feel it.

“Are you leaving?”

Was that disappointment in her voice? Why did she follow Daisy?

“He’s an ass,” Candace blurted out when Daisy did not—could not—respond. “Dumb as a bunch of rocks. No, a single rock, and not even a cool one. Just a big, dumb boulder. I told him to get lost.”

“You didn’t have to do that. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t know. ”

“Well, now he does, and he can go be stupid somewhere else. If you want to come back, no one will say a word.”

Daisy considered it. She was happy that Candace wanted her back. That she’d stood up for her. Still, she’d had enough and she said as much.

In a sugary sweet tone that made Daisy’s knees wobble, Candace pleaded, “But the fireworks are going to start soon.”

Somehow, Daisy managed to feign indifference. “I can see them from here.”

“I suppose that’s true. Alright, then. I’ll watch them here too.”

“What…?”

Candace huffed, but it was somehow a gentle sound. “I want to watch them from here now. Is that a problem?”

“N-no.”

Daisy sat at the foot of a dune that was at least triple her height, letting her back rest against the hard-packed sand, and Candace followed suit. An awkward silence settled between them while a million different thoughts flitted through Daisy’s racing mind.

What was this? Why did Candace want to stay with her? It was pity, right? That was what it had to be. But this didn’t feel like pity. There was something here, a charged current running between them. Like magnetism, if Daisy could just move even the slightest bit, she might—

“We could climb the dune to get a better view?”

Daisy’s daydream vanished. She automatically answered, “Can’t. It’s illegal.”

Silently, Daisy cursed her inner nature-nerd.

However, she could not stop. In what could only be considered word-vomit, she explained the importance of sand dunes to the shore ecosystem, both for the creatures of the beach and for their function as a natural storm barrier for raised water levels.

Thankfully, the interest in Candace’s response seemed genuine.

“Oh, wow! I had no idea how important they are. My uncle calls them wasted real estate, but he’s wrong about most things.”

“Really wrong. If a hurricane hit and these dunes weren’t here, Wonderwood would be in trouble. Er, sorry. I don’t mean to be boring.”

“It’s not! Boring, I mean. I’m sorry for being clueless. Very shoobie of me. You’ve lived here all your life, though. Right?”

“Yep. Wonderwood local here. I’m half sand, half bagel, all dork. And you’re not a shoobie. The Pier Princess is royalty around here.”

They both laughed. In Candace’s though, Daisy heard some discomfort.

“You don’t like that name,” Daisy thought aloud. “Or nicknames in general.”

“No. Not really, if I’m being honest. Growing up, my parents never called me anything other than my name. Now, people forget what it is half the time.”

Daisy didn’t know anything about Candace’s parents. She wanted to so badly, but she could not bring herself to ask. As if she felt the question regardless, Candace went on.

“My mom… she died when I was little. An aneurysm.”

“I’m sorry.”

It was strange. All the sympathy Daisy had gotten since her parents’ deaths over the last year, all the ‘I’m sorrys’ she hated to hear, but that was her automatic response now. She wanted to ask Candace if it ever got easier, but held back as the other girl continued.

“I don’t remember her all that well. My dad went from being the best dad in the world to a complete wreck of a person. Then he met his new wife. She wanted nothing to do with me, so they sent me to my grandparents on my mom’s side.”

“What a cold witch.”

Daisy’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough that she thought she could see the slightest shrug of the girl’s shoulders.

“You can’t make someone want you. That just makes everything harder. My grandparents tried, at least. But they were too old to take care of me.”

“So that’s how you ended up here with your uncle.”

“Mm-hm,” Candace confirmed with a sigh. “He’s my mother’s brother. I’ve been stuck with him in Wonderwood, where they call me anything but my actual name. Shoobie fits, though, because I’ve never really felt at home here. I can’t wait until I get out.”

Daisy knew Candace could not see her, but she shook her head with awe. She had no idea. All this time, the happy-go-lucky girl who had been the center of town gossip and adoration since her arrival six years ago was living through so much difficulty.

Memory of that anxious, beguiling girl she met one hot summer day came to Daisy. How sad she seemed, how out of place she was. She came to Wonderwood as an outsider and had only ever been welcomed on its terms.

All at once, Daisy snapped out of her thoughts and scoffed. “You know what? Shoobie is a dumb name, anyway. You’re Candace Freaking Perry, and no matter where you are, nothing and no one is gonna hold you back.”

“Thanks, Daisy.”

Since the darkness hid Candace’s face, Daisy could not read her expression. There was something there, though. The sand beneath them vibrated with tension.

A moment passed. Back at the bonfire, the sounds of partying carried over in an odd juxtaposition to their heavy silence. As if she the felt need to fill it, Candace admitted, “I’ve seen you around, you know.”

“You have? I mean, I guess with the pier right across the boardwalk, it’s a given.”

“No, not just at the cafe.” The sound of sand shifting alerted Daisy to Candace’s movement.

The inky darkness of her figure turned, almost craning over Daisy’s reclined form.

“You hang out around under the convention hall. And near the westside jetty. I’ve seen you with your sketchbook, scribbling away.

Demi says your art projects are always the best in class. But I don’t know much about you.”

It was more than Daisy expected. Her pulse pounded in her veins at the thought that Candace ever noticed her as anything apart from the girl behind the bagel counter.

“You want to?”

The words tumbled out of Daisy’s mouth like marbles, clattering between them and rolling along. She felt so stupid . And needy. And—

“I do.”

It came out in a rush. Daisy told Candace about herself, from working at Bagel Bombs!

to the driftwood art she made for class.

She explained more nature facts, going off on a rant about how the people speeding on Route 9 endangered the nesting turtles.

Candace giggled at Daisy’s passion, but offered to bring up the issue to some bigwig on the town council.