“Great, thank you,” Baker says. “I have your card. I’ll call you to confirm. Don’t forget the e-mail to Swan.”
“Granger will call her,” Dunk says. “He wanted to hire her back anyway.”
“You reach out to her,” Baker says. “With a sincere apology.” He moves toward Dunk and Dunk stutter-steps back.
“Okay, mate, I will.”
“You’d better,” Baker says. “Jacqui’s a talker…”
“I will,” Dunk says.
“Good,” Baker says. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, my ice cream is melting.”
Everyone knows that Huck tries to stay away from Jake’s at the Lumberyard because he had a brief fling with Teresa, the breakfast waitress, after LeeAnn died.
It’s therefore unfortunate that when Huck asks Irene what she wants to do to celebrate her fifty-eighth birthday, which is in the middle of July, she says, “I want the whole gang to go to breakfast at Jake’s.”
“Jake’s?” Huck says. He has to head this off at the pass. It’s not that things between him and Teresa ended badly, but they do their best to steer clear of each other. Huck doesn’t ever go up Margaret Hill Road, where she lives; he doesn’t drink at the Quiet Mon Pub, where she likes to hang out; and he no longer goes for breakfast at Jake’s, where she (famously) works seven mornings a week. “Why don’t you pick another place? How about a nice dinner for everyone at Morgan’s Mango? Or the Terrace?”
“I don’t want anything fancy or over the top,” Irene says. She gives him a stern look and he recalls that her husband hired an airplane to pull a banner on her fiftieth birthday. “And I want the kids to come. What I’d like is a long, leisurely breakfast with mimosas and Bloody Marys at Jake’s.”
“Or,” Huck says, “we could all go to the Concordia in Coral Bay. They do a terrific breakfast and it overlooks Ram Head.”
“Listen to me, Huck,” Irene says. “The morning after my first night at your house, Maia offered me a piece of toast slathered with papaya jam from Jake’s. It was the first thing on my new mental Pinterest board.”
“Your new mental what?” Huck says.
Irene shakes her head. “I want to celebrate my birthday at Jake’s. Besides, it’s an island institution and I’ve never been.”
“It’s always crowded,” Huck says. “And it gets hot up there.”
“It’s open-air,” Irene says. “And we’ll have nine people.”
“Nine?”
“I want Ayers to come, obviously,” Irene says. “And her parents, Phil and Sunny. Let’s make it ten people—I’ll see if Cash wants to bring a friend.” She puts her hands on the sides of Huck’s face and brings him in for a kiss. “They take reservations for parties over six. Do I have to call to arrange my own birthday party, or will you do it?”
“I’ll do it,” Huck says.
The day of Irene’s birthday, July 21, is hot but not beastly hot—a stroke of luck—and the sky is a deep blue. The members of the Steele party (Huck made the reservation under Irene’s name) climb the stairs to the legendary open-air breakfast-and-lunch spot, Jake’s, which is decorated with fun tropical kitsch. The faux vintage sign that greets them says DRINK COFFEE: DO STUPID THINGS FASTER, WITH MORE ENERGY! The place is packed, as Huck predicted. Brian and Michelle Zehring, who own the sleek new Midnight Express charter boat New Moon, are there with their daughters. Candi from Candi’s Delights is there with her husband, who some of us jokingly call Mr. Candi. Bridgett and Jimmy from Palm Tree Charters are having cocktails with their favorite clients, DeeDee and Michael Napp. A trio of National Park rangers are drinking coffee at the bar; James, the captain of Treasure Island, is having pancakes with his wife and daughter; Slim Man, who owns the parking lot in town, is there with his new bride. Skip, the bartender from La Tapa, is sitting next to Jacqui from the Westin time-share office at the bar counter in the front of the restaurant, which has magnificent views over Cruz Bay. (Skip and Jacqui were seated next to each other randomly, and Jacqui is worried people are going to think this is a morning-after date.)
Off to the left side is a table set for ten (though Cash did not end up bringing a friend). The Steele party has so much crossover with people already in the restaurant that when they walk in, the decibel level rises considerably. Cash and Ayers talk to James; Maia talks to Candi and Mr. Candi; Baker talks to Jacqui; and Phil and Sunny talk to Skip. Huck stops to talk to the Napps, who own a racetrack in New Jersey. As he’s hearing about life in the fast lane, he scans the restaurant for Teresa but sees only Diane, the other waitress. Is it possible that Huck has hit the jackpot and Teresa isn’t working today? Did she maybe take a summer vacation to visit her sons in…Idaho?
Eventually the members of the Steele party settle; Irene sits between Huck and Floyd.
Huck feels a hand land on his shoulder, a subtle squeeze.
“How are we all doing?” Teresa says. “I hear we have a birthday!”
Mimosas: Irene and Sunny.
Bloody Marys: Phil, Baker, Cash.
Fresh pineapple juice: Ayers and Maia.
Fresh OJ: Floyd.
Coffee and a Bloody Mary and a michelada while you’re at it: Huck.
“Looks like someone’s celebrating.” Another hand lands on Huck’s shoulder. It’s Rupert.
Rupert? In Cruz Bay? What’s happening here? Well, it turns out that Josephine is providing the live entertainment at Jake’s this morning. Rupert takes the tenth seat at their table, and when the drinks arrive, they all raise their glasses and toast Irene.
“To Mom,” Cash says. “May this year be better than last year.”
“I’ll second that,” Baker says.
“To Irene,” Sunny says. “My sister-grandmother.”
“To Grammy,” Floyd says, holding up his juice glass. “My…grammy.”
“To the Angler Cupcake,” Huck begins. He waits a beat; he has to swallow the lump in his throat. “The most remarkable woman I know. Happy, happy birthday.”
Josephine sings “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Cash checks his phone and answers a text under
