Say what you would about Jed, he was a perfect gentleman with the customers.
WIth his short hair and broad shoulders and raspy deep voice and biceps that looked all set to burst out of his white oxford shirt, Robbie couldn't help but envision him among the clique of jocks he'd loved to hate in high school. Judging by the stories Jed had shared over the endless rounds of gin rummy in the staff lounge, he probably really had been among that crowd.
But if he couldn't avoid looking the part, he knew how to keep it under wraps for the guests who were enjoying an early spring breakfast at their remote resort that morning. Robbie, who'd kept his prejudices under wraps well enough to get along fine with Jed, was once again impressed as he watched his colleague flit about effortlessly between tables. Always with a smile and keeping his voice just loud enough for the right guests to hear him, he charmed women and men alike with his service. On the other side of the vast dining room, Robbie - who had himself inspired no complaints in the two months and change - did his best to look as confident as he was sure Jed felt.
Approaching a newly seated party of four, Robbie remembered to smile. "Good morning," he said. "Would you like some coffee to start?"
"Yes, please, with a lot of milk," said the older of the two women, in an unmistakable French accent.
"And we have a question about the menu," added the younger of the men - her son? - in the same accent. "We are French, and I see 'French toast' here. What is that? Is it what we just call toast?"
Now Robbie's smile was genuine. "French toast?" he asked. "Okay, please don't laugh," he said, having elicited that response with his French in the past. "French toast,
c'est le pain perdu. Et c'est très bien ici
."
The guests didn't laugh, although Robbie did find himself promptly bombarded with more questions he could barely understand. Fortunately, he was unaware of Mary Beth approaching the table from behind with the latest coffee pot. So he wasn't aware of the show he was putting on for his crush as he stumbled through his answers to their questions. And then he was delightfully aware that his beautiful colleague had heard him when she arrived to pour the coffee. "Coffee for everyone?" she asked.
"Yes please," they responded in unison, and one by one they gave Robbie their orders in French. Robbie repeated them once he had everything written down, and was greeted with a chorus of "
D'accord
" while Mary Beth, looking resplendent as ever in the prairie dress all the female staffers had to wear, flashed Robbie that smile he'd been fighting so hard to resist for two months now.
That had already been a losing battle, never more than last night when they'd been the only two of the gang who hadn't wanted to go out for a drink, and had talked like best friends for hours. Robbie had been reminding himself constantly all morning, that kind of bonding was perfectly normal for women and he shouldn't fool himself thinking it was anything special for Mary Beth, who seemed able to carry on a pleasant conversation with anyone. But there'd been no mistaking the thrill he'd felt when she'd touched his hand as they were saying good night, and there was no denying he'd felt it again now. Trying to fight it felt downright quixotic as he remembered the look in her eyes for the remaining hour of his shift. Did her chestnut curls look even more adorable than usual, or was that just his imagination? Didn't she make everyone, men and women alike, feel wonderful? Hadn't he moved all the way out here for a reason? And it went without saying that Mary Beth must have a boyfriend back in Chicago.
Then again, she'd never said anything about wanting to go back to Chicago anytime soon. But then there was Jed, not to mention Chad and Barry.
Robbie just about had his guard back up by the end of his shift. Almost, but there was that adoring grin again when he stepped into the kitchen. "Robbie, I didn't know you spoke French!" Mary Beth exclaimed. "And you do it beautifully!"
"Didn't know that either, man," Jed said.
"He majored in it!" said Dawn, who with her boyfriend Geoff had been on duty setting up the ballroom. "Isn't that right, Robbie?"
"That's right," Robbie said, plopping down next to Dawn. "I thought I'd mentioned that at least once."
"Couldn't find a teaching job, was it?" asked Chad, who had staked out the seat next to Mary Beth. Barry, never far from Chad, was on her other side.
"No, man, he wanted to come out here to wait on all these rich bastards," Barry said. "Just like the rest of us, eh, Robbie?"
Robbie laughed but didn't answer. None of his colleagues needed to know the truth of why he'd come out here; he figured they all had their own secret reasons, too. It was just the sort of place one would come to in order to escape a traumatic recent past.
"The quiet one is always full of surprises!" Mary Beth remarked. "You know, Robbie and I talked for ages last night while the rest of you were off at the pub, and he never mentioned this?"
"True," Robbie confessed. "It just didn't come up."
"Wait a minute," Jed said, silencing the rest of the table the way he always seemed to do so effortlessly. "That blonde gal in the blue dress with the wild hat on your side of the room, she's French?"
"Yes," Robbie said. "From Lille, and I guess the whole family are driving across the country. They're just here for three days. They told me all about it when I brought their food."
"Man, you've got to teach me, how do I tell her, 'You have beautiful eyes' in French?" Jed asked, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Let me record it so I can practice it before lunch."
"Here we go again," said Geoff. "Jed, women don't like that sort of thing. At all."
"That's right," Dawn added. She looked at Mary Beth for confirmation, but Mary Beth just chuckled, as frustratingly diplomatic as ever.
"Just 'cause you don't like it doesn't mean she won't," Jed said. "And Geoff, the French aren't politically correct like you, all right?" He held out his phone. "Robbie, please?"
"Jed, they're right, women don't like that kind of come-on," Robbie protested.
"They do when the guy looks like Jed," grumbled Barry, who with Chad had long since resigned themselves to also-ran status with any woman Jed took a shine to.
"Even if you're right, it's no skin off your nose, man," Jed said. "Besides, Mary Beth knows I'm right, doesn't the right line from the right guy get you a little wet?"
"Jed!" Dawn jumped up and turned to leave - an all too common occurrence when Jed, Barry and Chad got rolling.
"Guys, that
