Chapter 6 #2
I nudge open the door to the kitchen with the tray in my hands and make my way over to the table in the corner, trying my damnedest not to trip or spill as I have twice today.
At least nothing broke, but my shirt and pants are already stained with more food than I’ve managed to eat in the last twenty-four hours.
My stomach rumbles, reminding me that I need to as soon as I take my break in a bit.
Today has been busy as hell, and now that things have started to die down a bit, I can’t wait to get off my feet for a few minutes.
I somehow manage to get their plates on the table and their drinks in front of them without another catastrophe.
I’m just returning to the kitchen with the empty tray when the bells jingle above the door and a beautiful blonde enters, followed by a stunning dark-haired woman with a baby strapped into a carrier on her front and a stack of papers in her hand.
They wave to Elaine and beeline straight for the booth Liam normally occupies whenever he’s here, chatting excitedly about something. They each slide into one side of the booth, and the dark-haired woman sets the papers down, spreading them across the table.
I make my way over to them. “Hi.”
The one with the baby strapped to her looks up with wide gray eyes and smiles broadly at me. “Oh, you must be Lucky.”
My back immediately stiffens. “Um, yeah…and you are?”
The blonde snorts. “Sorry, she’s a little direct. I’m Raven, this is Willow.”
Willow smiles and points down to the sleeping baby. “This is Niall. I’m Killian’s wife.”
“Oh. Liam’s brother…”
She nods, resting on hand on the back of the baby’s head and rubbing it gently as he sleeps in her hold. “I met your dog the other day. He is so cute. Is he here?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Health code and all that. Can’t really have the dog running around in here all day while I work.” I release a heavy sigh. “I’m having enough trouble not tripping on my own feet without having him under them.”
A little laugh bubbles from her lips. “I’m sure you’re not that bad.”
I blow my hair from my face with a huff. “Oh, I am.”
Her dark brows rise with interest. “You don’t like waitressing?”
Shit.
There I went and opened my damn mouth again inadvertently. I don’t want Elaine thinking I’m not happy here or thankful for the opportunity she gave me with this job.
I shrug. “It’s not bad; it’s that I suck at it.”
Willow exchanges a look with Raven, then surveys the diner. “Can you sit with us for a bit?”
“Umm…”
Raven scans the diner, checking out the three currently occupied tables, which are deep into their meals and don’t look like they need anything right now. “Come on. Just for a minute.”
“I don’t think I should…”
Willow twists in her seat until she faces the kitchen. “Hey, Elaine!”
Elaine pops her head out the door. “What do you need, hon?”
“For Lucky to sit with us for a little while. Can she take a break?”
My boss waves her off. “Of course. Take all the time you need.”
Willow grins at me. “There. It’s settled. Now…sit.”
Do I have a choice?
That all happened so fast that I barely followed it, but somehow, these two women wandered in and finagled getting me an unlimited break from my boss.
Raven slides over and pats the bench for me to sit next to her, and Willow points to the papers spread out between us on the table.
“So”—she waggles her eyebrows excitedly—“I’m opening a candle shop.”
“Oh, that sounds cool.”
I don’t know the first thing about candles other than they provide light and sometimes smell pretty good.
Willow continues, shifting one of the pages over for me to see a sketch of a shop someone drew a design for.
“I raise bees, and I make the candles from their wax and use only organic ingredients. I’ve been doing it for a long time.
Killian finally got me a space, and I’m hoping to open in the next month or so. ”
“That’s really awesome.” She sounds so excited about the project, and her enthusiasm is contagious, drawing a grin from me, too. “Congratulations.”
Raven clears her throat. “Why don’t you get to the point, Willow? She doesn’t have a lot of time.”
Willow glowers at the woman. “Fine. As I was about to say…” She tosses Raven another dirty look before focusing on me and smiling again.
“I haven’t hired anyone to help me yet in the store.
Because of this little one, I can’t be there all the time.
I’m setting up an area for him to sleep in the back office, but there are definitely days when I’m not going to be able to stay and he’s going to want to be at home. ”
Where is she going with this?
I must be staring at her blankly because she sits and waits for me to respond.
“Oh. Did you mean me?”
She nods vigorously, her dark hair sliding over her shoulders. “It would be running the register, helping customers find anything, and I could even show you how to make the candles, too, if you want.”
This woman is offering me a job?
The longer she and Raven examine me, the more I realize they aren’t joking.
“You’re serious.”
Willow nods again and runs a hand across the baby’s hair that looks incredibly soft.
“I know it might be kind of stupid to be starting up a business when I just got married and I have a baby, but I didn’t want to wait any longer.
I also know I can’t do it on my own. And I don’t know anyone else looking for a job right now. ”
“I have a job.”
I’m literally at my job now.
What is even happening?
Raven snorts. “A job that you just told us you suck at.”
Willow gapes at her. “Did you really say that to her?”
The woman sitting at the counter. “What? She’s the one who said it first.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to agree with her!”
“No, no.” I hold up my hand and then tug at my shirt, showing them the stains. “I do suck. This is all from today. But I don’t know that I’d be any better helping you.”
Willow dismissively waves her hand at me.
“Oh, it won’t be hard. And you can start right away.
I’m working on getting the place set up right now.
You know, hanging shelves, getting the product that I already have displayed, figuring out where I want things.
All that jazz. I could really use your help. Raven doesn’t offer much of it.”
“Hey!” Raven feigns offense —at least, I think it’s fake. “I have a job!”
Willow glowers at her again. “You have a job you can do anywhere at any time. You could help me a little too instead of just sitting in the corner typing away every day.”
I can’t help but grin at the way these two bicker.
They’re obviously best friends who are incredibly comfortable with each other to talk like this. “Have you two known each other long?”
They both look at me, then burst out laughing.
Raven casts a glance at Willow. “Sorry. I forgot you aren’t up on all the McBride Mountain history yet. We’ve been best friends since elementary school.”
“Ahh. Well that certainly explains it.”
Willow’s brow furrows slightly. “Explains what?”
“The way you two talk. It’s just…” I laugh, my chest warming with an old memory of being in one of the foster homes where I stayed long enough to form those kinds of bonds with some of the other girls. “I miss hearing people talk like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like family.”
Raven gives me a sympathetic smile. “Oh, we definitely are. Everyone in McBride Mountain kind of is.”
That’s exactly what Liam told me last night when he walked me home, and, over the last several days, I’ve been learning that this town really is like one big family.
Whenever anyone comes into the diner, they always say hi to everyone else at the tables as if they’ve known each other their entire lives.
I’ve never heard a single argument—at least, not a real one. I’ve only heard familiar bickering between husbands and wives and friends like Raven and Willow. The type of arguments that show they know each other very well and actually love each other, not that they’re mad.
This is the kind of place where strangers become friends, friends become family, and family becomes your life.
Willow raises her brows, watching me expectantly. “So, what do you think?”
I scan the restaurant where I’ve spent most of my time since I arrived in McBride Mountain. “I can’t just abandon Elaine.”
She gave me a job, a place to stay, and unwavering support when I’ve likely done more harm to her business than actually helped it.
But she is busy enough that having an extra set of hands—clumsy or not—seems to free her up to work behind the counter, handle the register, and help Matt in the kitchen. Leaving her doesn’t feel right.
Nor does taking another job when I still plan on leaving very soon.
I’ve made decent money here at the diner, and a few hundred dollars more will give me enough of a cushion to hopefully get me far enough away that my past won’t ever find me.
Willow bites her bottom lip and nods. “True. Let me take care of that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just give me five minutes.”
She pushes up from her seat, adjusting her hold on the baby in the carrier, then walks straight back into the kitchen as if she owns the place.
“Umm…” I glance at Raven, who looks unconcerned. “Should she be going back there?”
Raven laughs, shaking her head. “Willow kind of does whatever she wants. But to be fair, so do I. You should really take her up on her offer. I know Elaine, and she will definitely be able to find someone else to help her if she needs it. She’ll want you to help Willow and do something that you might enjoy better. ”
The offer is enticing.
But the thought of working with Liam’s sister-in-law also tightens my gut.
It means I might run into him more, and that’s the last thing I need when I’m trying to get out of this town, not get sucked deeper into it.