For perhaps the first time since her hiring, Dani didn’t look forward to going to work the next morning. She’d never been so emotionally wiped out, having slept very little, if at all. Still, she forced herself to get up and get moving. While Mondays usually were slow, the aquarium expected heavy crowds because of the buzz about Trident and Evan’s documentary.
She made herself smile and say thank you when some visitors told her they’d seen news coverage of the premiere and thought she and Evan had looked perfect together. But each time she heard that, her heart broke a little more.
When she finally had time for lunch, Dani resisted the impulse to call him. She was so disappointed in him that she was afraid she’d burst into tears or rip into him, and neither reaction would get her through the rest of the day.
Instead, she found Shelby and asked if they could go outside and talk. As they sat in Dani’s car with the air conditioner running, she described what happened the night before. She looked so miserable that her friend hugged her.
“I’m not naive; I expected it to hurt the first time,” Dani said. “But ecstasy is supposed to overtake the pain at some point, isn’t it? I kept waiting for that to happen, but it never did. It felt like he was scraping me raw. And then he made it a million times worse by acting like a colossal idiot. He knows what I had to overcome just to trust him enough to have sex.”
Shelby squeezed her hand. “My first time was pretty much a disaster, too. In fact, the result was about the same, except my guy didn’t walk out on me. But I still felt like a total failure, and he didn’t help matters by being insensitive.”
Dani nodded as tears gathered in her eyes.
“Women like us wait so long to give ourselves to the right man,” Shelby continued, “and we expect it to be magical. And then it isn’t, and we go nuts second-guessing ourselves.”
“That’s exactly how I feel,” Dani said. “Maybe I’m not meant to be normal.”
“There’s not a thing wrong with you. You conquered your fear of intimacy and gave Evan a chance. Okay, it didn’t go well, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. The next time will be better, and so will the time after that.”
“I’m not sure there’s going to be a next time.”
“Anybody can see you two belong together. If Evan’s half the man I think he is, he’ll figure out how to make it up to you. My guy made amends, and I ended up marrying him.”
“Evan said he’d call, but what if I don’t hear from him?” Dani’s tone was close to a whine.
“Then you confront him. Don’t let him get away with shutting you out. Now, go back inside and get some food in your stomach or you won’t make it until six o’clock. I’ll bet you didn’t have breakfast.”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
They went into the break room and found a carton of yogurt in one of the vending machines. Dani ate most of it and shared a bag of salt and vinegar chips with Shelby. Salty and sour was Dani’s preference in comfort food.
They parted company outside the habitat of Tully and Tillie, rescued West Indian manatees whose injuries from boat strikes made them poor candidates for release. Shelby kissed Dani’s cheek and told her to call that evening if she needed to talk again.
* * * *
When Shelby’s shift was over several hours later, she headed to her vehicle and saw Evan stick an envelope under the driver’s side windshield wiper on Dani’s car. Shelby detoured over to him and suggested he deliver his message in person.
“Dani’s hurting horribly right now, and you’d better fix it. What the hell were you thinking?”
“So she told you what happened.” He barely looked Shelby in the eye.
“Dani needed someone to talk to, and she trusts me. You can, too.”
“No offense, but I’m not discussing my sex life with you.”
“That’s not what I meant, Evan. I’m letting you know that anything she tells me in confidence goes no further.”
“Oh, well. That’s good to know.”
“I hope you two can work this out because she really cares about you, despite the thoughtless way you acted, and I suspect you feel the same way about her.”
“I do. I…I think I’m falling in love with her.”
“You think you are?”
“You’re not cutting me any slack, are you, Shelby?”
“Do you deserve any?”
He sighed. “No. I’m a complete moron. I’d have a difficult time forgiving me if I were in her shoes. But I don’t want to lose her.”
“Then tell her that.”
“That’s what the card’s for.”
“Men!” Shelby shook her head. “It’ll take a lot more than that.”
“Believe me, I know, but it’s a start.”
“Are you sure you want to leave it out here for anybody to find?”
“Good point. Any way I can convince you to take it to her?
“Evan, that’s not—”
“Look, she’s in there trying to work, and the last thing she needs is me making it more difficult for her. We have to sit down and talk, but not here.”
Shelby held out her hand for the envelope. “I’m cutting you some slack. Don’t make me regret it.”
“I won’t. Thank you. I’m glad you’re Dani’s friend.”
“So am I.”
* * * *
Shelby found Dani showing a family from Germany how to use an interactive learning station about Florida swamps. When she finished, Shelby called her aside and handed her the envelope.
“I ran into Evan in the parking lot, and he asked me to deliver this to you.”
“Why didn’t he give it to me himself? I really need to talk to him.”
“He wants to talk to you, too, but he didn’t want to disrupt your workday.”
“That makes sense, I guess.” As Dani opened the envelope, Shelby started to walk away.
“Don’t you want to see what’s in here?”
“I figured you’d want privacy.”
“Stay a minute. Please.” Dani pulled out the card, studied the front, then the inside and, her mood lifting a little, handed it to Shelby.
On the front was a simple cartoon of a man with a dialogue balloon that read, “I am not a jerk.” On the inside it read, “Even though I acted like one.” Under his signature Evan had written, I’m so sorry I hurt you. Please give me another chance. Call me and we’ll talk.
“I’ll call him when I get off work.”
Shelby squeezed her shoulder. “If I don’t hear from you tonight, I’ll assume you guys worked things out.”
“Okay. Wish me luck.”
“I don’t think you’ll need it, but good luck.”
* * * *
Evan ducked into the GSA gift shop before heading home and bought Dani a plush toy dolphin, baby blue with multicolored swirls, plus an earring and necklace set, and several posters featuring his photos. Then he stopped at a drugstore near his condo to pick up a floral bouquet.
Around seven-thirty that evening, Dani called and agreed to let him come over. When she opened the door and saw him loaded down with gifts and wearing a sheepish smile, warm feelings washed away some of her anger. Still, she wasn’t about to let him off the hook without making him work for it, so she gave him a stern look.
“Think bribing me with presents will work?”
“I can take all this stuff back.”
“Too late. It’s mine now.”
Evan leaned in for a kiss, but she turned and headed to the couch. He set the gifts on the dinette table, then sat next to her and took her hand. She tugged it away and scooted over to put distance between them.
“I’m grateful you agreed to see me,” he began.
“You’re lucky I don’t hold grudges.”
“You’d have every right to. You had faith in me, and I let you down. I’m ashamed of how I acted. Tell me how I can make it up to you.”
“You can start by explaining why you walked out. I desperately needed you to stay and reassure me everything would be okay. I didn’t think you were capable of being so cruel, Evan.”
He had the good sense to look remorseful. “This is no excuse, but I was just so frustrated and was afraid I’d make even more of a mess of things if I stayed.”
“Frustrated? With me?”
“With the situation. But mostly with myself. I screwed up, and I’m sorry. It’ll never happen again. Forgive me?”
She sat there in silence for a bit, keeping him in suspense. Her steady gaze obviously made him nervous because his foot twitched and he shifted in his seat. Good. Let him sweat. She was being a little mean, but he had it coming.
He raked his hand through his hair. “I can’t stand this. Say something, Dani.”
“Are you anxious? Does your stomach hurt?”
He nodded.
“Not such a great feeling, is it?”
“No, but if you need me to suffer, I get it.”
She sighed. “I’m willing to forgive, but I’m not sure I can forget just now.”
“Fair enough. I’m damn lucky you’re not booting me out.”
Her expression softened. “Have you eaten dinner?”
“No.”
“Are you hungry?”
“I’m getting there.”
“Me, too. You want to go get something?”
“Sure.”
She glanced at the dinette table. “Before we do, let’s see what else you brought me.”