The next morning, Kenzie woke up with a start as the sound of a blender was heard echoing through the entire house. Soon after that, Jeff could be heard shouting all sorts of profanity as he realized he had burnt the chocolate chip pancakes as well as the eggs. Kenzie groaned loudly and snatched the pillow out from under her head and placed it over her face as the shouting and clanging continued. It was way too early for all of this.
Eventually, Kenzie climbed out of bed and begrudgingly trudged into the kitchen only to be greeted with a cheery Jeff.
"Good Morning." He greeted as Kenzie glared at him and sat herself at the breakfast island.
"Too early." Kenzie mumbled, looking at Jeff with slight annoyance.
"Yeah well, I thought I'd make breakfast before we head out for the day." Jeff explained as he plated up the food.
"Make it or burn it?" Kenzie asked as she poked at a piece of somewhat blackened egg. Jeff let out a breath of air and waved his hand at his niece.
"It's not that bad." He replied with a playful pout. Kenzie wasn't convinced though.
"Why aren't you eating it then?" Kenzie sassed with a smirk.
Jeff simply shrugged as he took a drink of the smoothie he had made as well, but he instantly regretted it as the sour and tart flavor attacked his mouth with a vengeance which made Kenzie laugh at his reaction.
"I am so sending this to mom." Kenzie said through her laughs as she took a video of her uncle jumping around as though he was on hot coals, trying to absorb the brutal sour attack.
Jeff grunted at Kenzie in protest but he'd probably do the same thing if he was in Kenzie's position. It was pretty damn funny.
It took a minute before Jeff was able to calm himself and when he was standing still again, Kenzie handed him a cup of water so that he could rinse his mouth out.
"Thanks." Jeff said, before downing the rest of his water. Kenzie nodded and leaned against the counter.
"I'll tell you what, why don't we pick up breakfast and then eat it on the beach. My treat." Kenzie offered and Jeff smiled gratefully.
"I like the sound of that but you save your money. I'll buy it." Jeff countered and Kenzie smiled.
She appreciated all that he went through that morning trying to make breakfast for the both of them but he didn't need to. She was happy to just be spending time with him after being apart for so long.
"I'll go change and I'll meet you outside." Kenzie told Jeff, taking note of the fact that Jeff was already dressed and prepped for the day.
"Ok kiddo but please don't take too long." Jeff said as Kenzie moved away from the counter. She began walking away but then she stopped and turned back around to face Jeff again.
"Oh and don't worry about making breakfast for the rest of the summer, I'll do that." Kenzie said and before Jeff could reply, Kenzie hurried off to get ready.
=
A little while later, Kenzie and Jeff had eaten their breakfast and enjoyed catching up even more as they watched the beach dwellers go about their activities. When they had had their fill of talking and people watching, they headed towards Jeff's bait shop.
The bait shop was a quaint little building and fit in nicely with the other businesses and it was interesting to Kenzie why her uncle wanted to open it rather than the cafe he had told her about when he first moved to Boca.
He told Kenzie that he saw how many food places there were and he saw just how popular they were and decided that he wanted something quieter, so he chose a bait shop since it was mainly all the older people that wanted to fish and do something that wasn't too crazy.
"I can see that." Kenzie said as she snacked on a pack of cool ranch doritos.
"It's a lot nicer and sure beats feeling panicked at how many people are demanding service and telling you that their food is too whatever and so on." Jeff explained. Kenzie nodded and sighed.
"How many people usually come here?" She asked.
"On a good day, probably about-" He started, trying to think of a reasonable number before Kenzie interrupted him.
"You have no idea do you?" She asked. Jeff chuckled and shook his head.
"Not in the slightest Kenz." He replied.
Kenzie was about to reply when the bell above the door opened and someone called out for her uncle.
"Be right out Simon." Jeff called as he set his snacks down on the table.
"I'll be back soon. Feel free to look around some more." Jeff told Kenzie as he stood up and walked out to greet Simon who was looking at the selection of fishing hooks.
"Thanks." She replied but she wasn't sure if Jeff heard her as he had disappeared around the corner.
=
While Jeff was out the front conversing with some customers, Kenzie wandered around the shop checking it out, hoping to find something to do but it was no use, there wasn't much to do. Well, she knew she could help Jeff and restock some shelves but since she didn't really know where things went yet, she decided to return to the room in the back of the shop.
She sat back at the table and pulled out her phone from her bag and it was there that she saw a missed call from Zarah.
Kenzie took a drink of her coke and then pressed Zarah's number to call her back.
"Meet any cute guys yet?" Zarah asked dramatically as she answered the device, making Kenzie burst out laughing.
"I've not been here long enough for that and besides, I'm in a place right now that only old people come to." Kenzie replied and Zarah chuckled.
"I heard that." Jeff called from the front as he grabbed some of the items that needed restocking.
Kenzie pulled the phone from her ear and leaned back in her chair so that she could make sure Jeff heard her more clearly.
"Sorry." She remarked goofily, making Jeff grumble in response.
"How is your uncle?" Zarah asked and Kenzie shrugged.
"He's good. Pretty much unchanged." She answered and Zarah hummed.
"How's spindles?" Kenzie asked, taking a sip of her soda.
"He's alright. I gave him a couple fresh flowers and now he's cleaning himself." Zarah replied.
"That's good. Thank you for looking after him for me." Kenzie said with a smile.
"You're welcome. It's been fun." Zarah replied before her mother called for her to come downstairs.
"Bummer, gotta go." Zarah announced and Kenzie grunted in annoyance playfully.
"Fine. I'll call you if I find anyone." Kenzie told her friend suggestively and Zarah laughed.
"You're damn right you will. I want every detail bro." She said.
"Bye." Kenzie replied as she and Zarah hung up.
Kenzie smiled to herself. She was glad that her bee was doing well and she was glad that Zarah seemed to be doing well too.
The girl went to put her phone back in her bag when something in a hidden corner of the room caught her eye...surfboards. Kenzie had no idea that her uncle knew how to surf and to her, knowing that Jeff could surf added a whole new level of cool to him.
She had always wanted to learn how to surf but living hours and hours away from the beach made it a little difficult....until now that was.
"Hey, uncle Jeff?" Kenzie called as she walked to the front of the shop in search of him.
"What's up Kenz?" He called back as he restocked the last set of shelves.
"Can you teach me how to surf?" Kenzie asked, full of hope.
Jeff looked at her unsure. He didn't know if Scott and Tracy would appreciate that. He knew that Tracy had always wanted to teach Kenzie to surf and he didn't want to take that from his sister.
"I don't know Kenz. Your mom wanted to teach you." Jeff told her.
"I know but that was two years ago and she's not here." Kenzie said, whining slightly.
"Tell you what, ask your mom tonight when you call her and if she says it's ok, we'll start first thing in the morning." Jeff suggested.
"Or, we could just surprise her and you teach me anyway." Kenzie tried but Jeff wasn't budging on this and Kenzie could see that so she gave Jeff her best and biggest puppy eyes, hoping that they would work in her favor.
"Don't use those things on me." He told her but Kenzie ignored him and kept doing it in the hopes that the puppy eyes would work their magic eventually.
"Kenz, stop. I said talk to your mom first." Jeff said as he walked over to the counter with Kenzie hot on his tail.
"Please? She's not going to find out." She tried one last time but the stern look from Jeff made her stop and huff.
"Fine." Kenzie mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance.
=
Later that night, Kenzie sat on the little couch in the compact living room in her granny flat picking at the skin around her nails as her mother spoke to her about what she and Scott had done on their first day.
"Alright missy, you've been more interested in your hands which is not normally like you so tell me what's on your mind." Tracy said, feeling irritated at Kenzie's lack of attention.
Kenzie dropped her hand in her lap and sighed.
"Uncle Jeff won't teach me to surf without talking to you first." Kenzie mumbled indignantly.
"Well I appreciate him wanting us to talk about it first but I really don't have any issue with you learning. I know it's something you've been wanting for a while." Tracy told her daughter.
"I told him that but he kept going on about how you wanted to teach me yourself and that he didn't want to hurt your feelings by going behind your back with it." Kenzie replied and Tracy nodded.
"Well I did want to teach you myself but you are at the beach so why not?" Tracy said, just as Jeff knocked on Kenzie's door.
"Just a sec mom." Kenzie said and Tracy smiled.
"Yes?" Kenzie called to Jeff.
The man opened the door and walked in with a plate of food for her. Kenzie looked at him the way she did that morning when she saw the blackened food.
"Don't worry, I didn't cook." Jeff said and Kenzie raised her brows at him and reluctantly took the plate he was holding out to her, not realizing what the plate had on it.
"Oh, it's leftover pizza." Kenzie said happily.
"I may not be able to cook but I can heat things up." He replied to the teen.
"Really Jeffery, pizza?" Tracy said, listening in on Kenzie and Jeff's exchange.
"What? She just got here. We were celebrating our reunion." He told his sister sassily.
"Just make sure she gets proper food as well." Tracy replied.
"Um, does a surf and turf breakfast wrap count as proper food?" Kenzie asked, thinking of the food they had consumed for breakfast.
"Surf and turf wraps for breakfast? Do I really want to know?" Tracy asked in reply.
"Oh that reminds me, I have a video to send you. It will explain the breakfast choice." Kenzie said as she placed her plate on the coffee table so that she could send the clip to her mom.
Almost instantly, Tracy got it and watched while Kenzie waited for her reaction and Jeff cringed at the thought of how stupid he looked jumping around like an idiot standing in a prickle patch with no shoes on.
"Good grief Jeffery." Tracy said through her laughter.
"Yeah yeah." He replied with an eyeroll.
Tracy's laughter continued for a few minutes before it died down and she could speak coherently again.
"So Jeff, Kenzie told me about the surfing thing." Tracy said.
Jeff looked at Kenzie who smiled goofily at him.
"You told me to talk to her about it and I did." Kenzie told him. He couldn't argue with that, he did tell her to talk to her mom and it was now clear that she had done just that..
"Good, I'm glad, but did she tell you she tried using those puppy eyes on me after I told her no?" Jeff asked.
"Kenzie, you know better than that." Tracy reprimanded and Kenzie's shoulders dropped while her eyes looked at her lap.
"I really wanted him to say yes though." Kenzie tried to defend but Tracy wasn't having it.
"I feel like I should say no now." The mother said and Kenzie's eyes shot back to the camera in pleading.
"Oh come on, that's not fair." Kenzie whined.
Jeff and Tracy looked at each other
"Come on sis, ease up. It's not that big of a deal." He told Tracy.
"Alright, fine. You can teach her but please send her back to me in one piece." Tracy teased. Kenzie beamed at this and Jeff let out a chuckle at his niece's reaction.
"Thanks mom, you're the best." Kenzie said before she and Jeff said their goodbyes to Tracy and Scott so that they could all get some well earned rest.
=
'My trusty journal friend,
I'm going to learn to surf......I'm beyond excited!
Ok, bye.
P.S: Even though I gave him a hard time today, uncle Jeff is still the cool uncle I remember.'