Ensoleillement

By

Landon Richardson

Disclaimer

The character of Steve McGarrett, Danny Williams, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Jenna Kaye, Catherine Rollins, Meka Hanamoa, Amy Hanamoa, Adam 'Toast' Charles, Eric 'E-train' Russo, Stan Edwards, Rachel Edwards, Grace Williams, Mary McGarrett and Lori Weston do not belong to me in any fashion. I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.

The character of Danielle 'Danni' Richardson, David Russell, Libby Russell Josh Richardson, Summer Richardson, Ronnie Chen and Kevin Matthews do however belong to me so please don't use them without asking permission first. I might have missed some people out so if you come across someone you don't recognise then they belong to me as well.

Author Note

Here's is the next chapter of Ensoleillement for you all.

In case anyone is wondering about the title it's the name of Danni's bakery in the story and is French. The word Ensoleillement (According to my vague memories of French class and google) means sunshine. So she's called her bakery 'Sunshine' but in a different language, mainly because this Danni has roots via her mother in France.

I don't envision this story will be a short one, it will probably end up being about 18-20 chapters since there is a lot I want to get done. It is however likely to be an one short, as in once it is finished I doubt I'll revisit it, though saying that one of my mottos in life is never say never.

I'd just like to take the opportunity to thank Rosie44 for always being there to soundboard all my stories, I really appreciate it and it helps me out more than you know to have someone to discuss all these never ending plot bunnies with.

I have quite a few stories in the work and although my love of the actual show has died, my love for the Danni world and everything entailed in it is still going extremely strong so I can almost guarantee that all the stories I start, will be finished. I just ask that you're a little patient with me since I obviously do all this writing in my spare time and some months I have little spare time.

Anyway please enjoy the next chapter of Ensoleillement.

Overall Summary

Danni moved to Hawaii to get away from everything and to heal after the death of her husband. What she didn't expect was Steve McGarrett bursting into her life and taking over it. Danni isn't sure she's ready for another relationship but that isn't going to stop Steve from trying to convince her otherwise, by any means necessary. (McDanni)

Chapter Summary

"It's closing time boss"

Overall Romance

Steve McGarrett/Danni Richardson (McDanni)

Chapter Romance

Steve McGarrett / Danni Richardson (McDanni)

Chapter Four

"It's closing time boss"

Danni glanced up from her task of wiping the counters down to see her employee Ronnie Chen grinning at her, her large, dark eyes twinkling with a look of relief which Danni couldn't help but relate to. The afternoon had been nonstop due to a conference of some kind being held nearby. Somehow the knowledge that they were the place to come for good coffee and even better pastries had leaked out leaving them short staffed and run off of their feet trying to keep up with all the demand and the customers.

Danni straightened slowly, dropping the clothe on the side before she stretched her arms above her head as she came up on tiptoes, her eyes lingering briefly on Ronnie's dyed blue hair before she spoke.

"Those words are magic to my ears" she stated, dropping back down and absently shaking her hands out in front of her. "You've got that test tomorrow at university right? The one which is important to your overall grade?" Danni asked, tilting her head to the side when Ronnie nodded at her, a look of sympathy coming to Danni's face when she caught the look of worry which came to Ronnie's face. The younger woman was studying to be a marine biologist and it seemed to Danni that half of the girl's life was spent with her nose in a text book, studying for it while the other half was spent working at the coffee shop to afford all the books her course required.

"Yeah, tomorrow morning at ten. I'm pretty confident that I've done enough to pass it, god knows I've studied enough but…" her voice trailed off slowly as she lifted her thumb to her mouth and began biting at the nail of it.

"Look we're nearly done here, why don't you head out early. You can get something to eat, study some more or maybe go and do some surfing. That will relax you, I mean a good night sleep before an exam is just as important as all the studying." Danni remarked with a smile at her.

"Really?" Ronnie asked, her face brightening at the prospect of escaping early before she shook her head. "I can't do that to you Danni, it's not fair on you. You've got to get home to your little munchkins, they're going to want to see you so they can smother you with kisses and hugs." Ronnie pointed out.

"It's David's turn to cook tonight so I can spare the extra fifteen minutes it's going to take to clean this place up. Go Ronnie, have fun and don't stress out too much about tomorrow okay, you're going to do great. I'll be here tomorrow on the morning shift until three so if you want to pop in afterwards to talk about it then you know where I'll be. I'll make sure I make your favourite muffins tomorrow just in case you decide to come in." Danni told the younger girl who grinned at her.

"There's no way I'm missing out if you're making those muffins. I'll head out now then but next time I'm working late and you're working late, you get to leave early while I close the shop up. I won't take no for an answer." Ronnie promised as she turned and jogged towards the back of the shop where there was the small employee room was. She emerged a moment later with her bag. "Bye Danni girl, thanks again for this I really appreciate it." Ronnie said, blowing Danni a kiss as she made her way to the door.

"Sure Ronnie, good luck tomorrow though you won't need it." Danni responded with a wave of her own to her.

"Oh I'll need it, that's for sure" The younger girl said, pulling the door open, her voice changing becoming more professional. "I'm sorry Sir, you're too late we're just closing up." She told whoever was at the door before she looked back at Danni again "Bye Danni, thanks again for this."

Danni looked up to see Ronnie disappear through the door leaving a bemused man in the doorway looking after her before he looked towards Danni. Danni swallowed, her heart skipping a beat for a moment at the sight of the handsome face from yesterday. The same one who she had found herself thinking of throughout the rest of the day.

"Hi, sorry but she's right we're closed now, you'll have to come tomorrow if you want something" Danni called out to him, frowning slightly when he moved into the room leaving the door open behind him.

"Yeah so I gathered from what the blue haired girl said." He commented ruefully sticking his hands into his pockets remaining near the door as though he didn't want her to feel uneasy. "I meant to come earlier but we had a case and it was on the other end of the island. I'm Steve by the way Steve McGarrett, we met yesterday. I don't know if you remember me? I came by during the morning."

"I remember you, you're the one who brought four of all my pastries; hopefully you liked them" Danni said with a soft smile at him.

"That might be the understatement of the century there. I had to fight my team to even get one with the way my team attacked them" Steve commented with a shake of his head.

"So your name is Steve McGarrett? Are you the same Steve McGarrett who is the head of 50 here on the island? The governor's task force?" Danni asked, tilting her head to the side, her eyes widening when he nodded at her, his blue eyes scanning her face in a way which made her heart quicken. She looked away, glancing over her shoulder at the coffee machine which she had yet to start cleaning. "Well I guess since you keep the island safe the least I can do is get you a coffee" She said with a shrug. "What do you want? Could you get the door and lock it, I don't want people to come in."

Steve smiled at her, closing the door behind him and locking it before he moved towards the counter, watching as Danni grabbed a clean mug and looked up to him with a questioning look.

"I'm good with just a black coffee" Steve commented, leaning his forearms against the counter and smiling at her.

"Just a black coffee it is then" Danni remarked, quickly preparing the drink and passing it over to Steve who took it from her with a smile, taking a seat at the counter.

"Thanks for this" He said, breathing on the hot liquid before he took a sip. "So tell me about yourself Danni, other than the fact that you own this bakery. Where did you come from originally?"

"I moved here from New Jersey with my two children a short time ago. It's different from what I'm used to but I actually like it here" Danni told him. "What about you? Have you always lived here?" She asked him curiously.

"I was born here and I lived here until I was fifteen but then I went to the mainland; moved to Maryland and remained there until a few months ago when I came back out here, the Governor gave me the taskforce and I decided to stay." Steve commented, looking away from her for a moment. Danni stayed quiet for a moment before she spoke, a hesitant note to her voice.

"I read about your father in the newspaper. I'm sorry for your loss Steve, I can't imagine what you went through. Did you catch the man responsible for it?" She asked, meeting his eyes when he looked back at her.

"I thought I had" He said, a bitter tone to his voice. "I thought that I had ended him but it turns out that a round of bullets wasn't enough and he somehow survived. We've got no idea where he is at the moment."

"That's got to be tough on you" Danni said softly, dropping her eyes as she began cleaning again.

"One of the toughest things I have to deal with. I keep thinking…" his voice trailed off as he shook his head. "It doesn't matter"

Danni made a knowing sound at the back of her throat, studying his face closely, recognising the pain and guilt in his eyes, pain and guilt which she was used to seeing in her own eyes.

"You keep thinking that if only you had gotten there in time that maybe you could have made a difference. You look back and replay everything to see whether you missed something, something which could have stopped it happening in the first place. Hundreds of questions go round your head until you feel like you're going insane with them and on top of it all there's that guilt you feel, it's suffocating, dragging you down until you wonder if you're lost for good."

"Danni" Steve said quietly, his hand twitching round the mug as though he wanted to reach out for her though she was thankful that he didn't.

She had already said too much to him.

"I've got to close up now" Danni said, cutting him off before he could say anything else to her. "We normally close at five so you should try and get here before then if you want a coffee in future."

He nodded, looking away from her before he drained the rest of his mug and passed it to her.

"I'll make sure I'll do that. Thanks for the coffee, I'll see you tomorrow Danni"

Danni nodded, watching as Steve came to his feet and moved towards the door, unlocking and pulling it open. He stopped for a moment, looking back at her before he nodded and left the shop.

Danni moved quickly round the counter and locked the door behind him before she moved back to the counter, feeling shaken by the encounter.

There was something different about Steve. The only problem was the fact that she didn't know what it was.

Author note

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