Page 76 of Trust and Obey

Predictably, one of the young porters gave a shout and started clapping. The rest of the employees, bless their shriveled hearts, followed.

Flushing, I bent to pick up the biggest chunks of glass. I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I’d last bobbled and broken a dish. Not since I’d worked as a porter.

Thankfully, it had happened in the employee kitchens and not in front of one of the guests.

“Here,” said a gruff voice. Sam dropped a dry dish towel to help me sop up water. Then he bent with his own in hand to start the cleanup process.

Elle came up from my other side and silently started helping me pick up the broken glasses.

Humiliated, my eyes stinging at their quiet kindness, I said, “You guys don’t need to help me. I got this.”

“Do you?” Sam asked.

Elle shot him a quelling look. “It’s just a few glasses. They break and we get new ones.” She shrugged.

I shot a glance at her, wondering if there was more than one meaning behind her words. Her sincere gaze confirmed it.

Swallowing, I looked down again. “I’ll be fine.”

Sam snorted. “Define ‘Fine’.”

“I know you’ll be okay eventually,” Elle said. “Give it time.” With the biggest chunks of glass recovered, she stood to get the broom and a mop.

Sam, however, stayed behind. “She’s right, you know. Time heals all wounds, blah, blah, blah. One day you’ll look back on this and realize you made it out. That you’re fine.” He put a particular emphasis on the last word.

“Yeah,” I agreed dully.

Then, to my surprise, he reached over and rested a heavy hand on my shoulder. “But ten years from now, do you want to still be at this resort, lookin’ back and telling yourself that everything is just ‘fine’? Or do you want something better?”

My jaw dropped. “What do you—”

Sam had the audacity to wink at me.

By then, Elle had returned. My head spinning, I moved to take the broom from her.

* * *

The days didn’t get better. I tried. I really did, but it was as if all the passion and joy had leaked from my life.

Deacon was the first thing I thought of when I woke up, and the last thing I thought of when I went to sleep.

I didn’t drop any more glasses, but my quality of work took a dive, so I wasn’t surprised when Andy called me into the office.

“I know, I know,” I said, sliding into the seat in front of his desk. I rubbed a hand across my face. “You don’t need to say it.”

“But I will anyways,” Andy said. “Are you all right? You’re moping around this resort like a lovesick puppy.”

“I’m not that bad,” I said. I didn’t even have an assigned guest this week, which meant my workload was relatively light. I just had to pop in and give an extra hand wherever I was needed.

“You’re bringing the guests down, and the rest of the staff,” Andy said bluntly. “Even Sam noticed.”

At least it wasn’t Elle. I still winced. Sam and Andy did not like to talk to one another. Things must have gotten very bad.

I considered telling Andy that I was burned out from the job, which was true. Or I could admit I needed a vacation—also true. Maybe I could even try to play up the hero angle and tell him I was going through some weird, protracted adrenaline crash after the rescue at sea. Not true, but it might give me enough credit to give me time to get over… all of this.

Assuming I could ever get over Deacon.

In the end, I opened my mouth, and the truth came out.

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