Chapter Four
Desmond
I hadn’t planned on waiting tables that evening.
Not ever in my life. My mom said she had done enough of that for both of us.
She’d told me to take whatever job my grandfather offered me at Adan Records even though I didn’t want to.
I was sure she wouldn’t have objected to me waiting tables to serve food to the needy, especially since we’d been in their position before my grandfather found out about me.
While at the Good Neighbor House earlier in the day, I had come across a poster looking for volunteers for the community meals, one of them being that night.
With nothing planned for the evening, I decided to continue my goodwill and text the number of the person who organized the event.
I received a message in reply less than an hour later, telling me what time to show up.
After work, I headed to the food bank with no idea what task I would be given.
I hoped to be in the kitchen but was assigned to serve a table instead.
Besides, the space behind the counter already looked crowded enough with volunteers, including a cute young omega with a swoop of soft and thick brown hair flowing to one of the shaved sides of his head.
His eyes were a deeper brown, and he had a baby face, as if facial hair wasn’t something he worried about.
The instant I caught his gaze, he choked.
I considered rushing to the other side of the counter to help him, but he seemed to recover quickly on his own.
He was obviously on suppressants, but the ones he took didn’t fully block the scent of him.
Probably only prevented him from going into heat.
Serving meant I got to interact with him every time I went up to get a plate filled with food.
It also made me hope the dinner guests filled my table first, so I had plenty of opportunities to see his adorableness.
I shook my head. I was there to do my part for the community, to give back for the luck and good fortune I’d been granted in my life. Not to pick up omegas. Didn’t mean I couldn’t be friendly.
As the patrons arrived, I brought water and juice to those at the table I’d been assigned.
“Hey, you’re new here,” a burly, young man said as he hung his coat over the back of a chair. “I come to all these meals, and I’ve never seen you before.”
“Yes, I am new. My name is Desmond.” I held out my hand as I read his name tag. “It’s nice to meet you, Glen. Would you like a glass of apple juice or water to start?”
“Apple juice, please,” he said after shaking my hand, his voice loud enough to turn heads of the volunteers in the kitchen. Though they all seemed to smile when they realized who the voice belonged to.
I stepped away to get him juice, and by the time I’d returned, my table was full.
“What’s for dinner?” a middle-aged man named Stephen asked, carefully moving from the seat of his walker to a chair. He had tremors, so I waited until he was steady in his seat before I addressed the entire table.
“I’m told tonight’s menu is a vegetable pasta bake with chicken as the meat option. There’s garlic bread and salad as well.”
As they gave me their preferences, I wished I had brought a piece of paper to write it all down. Something my mom would have expected me to know from her years as a waitress. After I had the entire table’s requests, I recited them back to ensure I hadn’t forgotten anything.
“Yay, you got it the first try.” Glen patted my back and Alexa, the woman wearing headphones who sat beside him, gave me thumbs-up.
Bill walked out to the center of the dining room then.
“Welcome, everyone, to this evening’s meal.
It sure is blustery outside, so I’m glad you were able to make it.
As always, I want to thank all the volunteers and donors who make these possible each week.
” He waited until the clapping subsided before continuing.
“It was a donation from Atwood and Preston Law Firm that paid for tonight’s dinner, and Vincenzo’s Grocery Mart has also provided some baked goods and frozen foods for you to take home after the meal.
We will call up tables at that time for you to come and pick up two items. After everyone has had a chance to get something, I will announce that the rest is fair for the taking.
As for the meal, there is enough for seconds, or a dish for takeout. Just let our volunteers know.”
I caught some people eyeing the tables where the grocery items were displayed even though plastic sheets hid everything from view.
Others took out reusable containers from their bags, which I assumed were to take home a second helping of the dinner.
Once Bill had finished his speech, I headed toward the counter with the other servers to start filling and delivering plates.
Most of my table requested the vegetable version of the dinner, but without any salad.
Obviously not meat eaters from their scents, yet not one of them seemed intimidated by me being a wolf shifter.
In my past, that fact had led to some shifters purposely avoiding me.
Especially when I was a teen. Yet, no one seemed to care both times I’d set foot in the Good Neighbor House. Definitely a welcome change.
At the end of the counter, I collected the garlic bread for my first two plates, coming face-to-face with the cute omega again. “Thank you.” I smiled at him, hoping for some kind of response.
He only nodded with a stoic face, not even a hint of a smile on his lips or in his eyes.
After serving two guests at my table, I headed back to the counter for two more, hoping this time to get a response from the guy.
Just before I reached him, I searched for his name tag, which was hidden behind the strap of his apron.
Turning my head to the side, I found a k, an a, a letter I couldn’t make out, and an e.
Kale? Kaze? Kabe? None of those seemed to suit him.
“Thanks, Kage,” I said after he set the pieces on my plates for a second time.
He furrowed his brows and wrinkled his nose at me. Not the reaction I hoped for.
The next plates I filled were without the bread, giving me a chance to avoid the guy for a little longer and figure out where I’d screwed up.
The last two dishes for my table were for chicken pasta bake. I shuffled over to collect the garlic toast with some reluctance, not sure how to approach the omega.
“Kane,” he said, moving the strap of his apron aside. “My name is Kane, like a candy cane, but with a k instead of a c.”
“Oh.” I nodded in acknowledgement as I collected his offerings. “Well, thank you, Kane. I’d like to know if you’re as sweet as your name sounds.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. I wanted to stay to see if I could get anything else from him, but there was still a lineup behind me, so I had to keep moving.
I didn’t get a chance to talk to him again while serving the meal. By the time I went up to get seconds and take-home servings for my table, he’d moved to the back of the kitchen to dish out slices of pie onto plates and never looked my way.
It wasn’t until two hours later when all the guests had left and the tables had been cleared that I found him eating alone in the dining hall. With my plate of food in hand, I made my way over to him. “May I sit with you?”
He shrugged, biting off a piece of garlic toast. Not a great response, but he hadn’t told me no or ignored me.
Since he was at a square table instead of a round one, like the one I’d been assigned, I sat across from him. “So, do you come here often?”
He rolled his eyes at me. “Really? That’s all you’ve got? If you must know, I volunteer here every week. Plus, I work on the other side.”
“Really?” I wracked my brain, trying to recall if I’d seen him when I’d been there earlier. “You must have been out when I came there this afternoon to drop off a donation from Adan Records.”
He shook his head with a grim smile. “Nope. I was there.”
I thought harder, but I was sure I would remember seeing him.
With a snort, he rolled his eyes again. “I was the reindeer on camera with you. You petted me, remember?”
He said the last words loud enough for the entire dining hall to hear and a collective gasp followed.
With my hand to my forehead, I hung my head, hoping to avoid eye contact with everyone.
“I’m sorry, okay. I know there’s no excuse, but I was nervous.
I didn’t know what I was doing until my hand was in your soft fur and you grunted.
I’m sorry for violating you like that. I should have been more aware of what I was doing. ”
Another shrug. “It’s fine. I don’t know why you were nervous though. You’re probably around famous people all day.”
“Yes, but I’m not famous.” I held my fork, not quite ready to eat, feeling the need to explain myself. “They’re just like working with regular people. Only they’re the ones who are comfortable in front of a camera. Not me. It’s not something I’ve ever done before.”
“I wish I’d never been on television before,” he huffed. “I haven’t in my human form, but every December, I’m asked to shift for news stories about our Christmas Drive.”
“By humans, right?” They seemed to be fascinated by our ability to shift, not realizing how degrading it was to do it for show.
He nodded. “Yeah, but at least they’ve never petted me.”
“I’m sorry.” If I hadn’t seen the twinkle in his eye before he shoved a forkful of the pasta bake into his mouth, I would have worried he would never get over what I’d done.
“You did say my fur was soft.” He pointed his fork at me. “That means a lot from you. You’re a wolf shifter, right?”
I slowly nodded, not sure what that had to do with anything. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He tilted his head to the side. “Wolf shifters who work at Adan Records have a reputation around this neighborhood.”
My stomach clenched and I dreaded any mention of my father and all the horrible things he had done to terrorize those he considered less than him, including my mom. “I’m not like him,” I whispered, clenching my fists under the table.
“Is the food that bad? You’ve barely eaten anything?”
I glanced up, catching a soft smile from Kane. No animosity or condemnation like I expected.
Taking a quick bite, I tried to savor the cacophony of flavors in the sauce while appreciating the moistness of the chicken. “No, it’s good. Delicious.” I took another mouthful to prove I wasn’t lying.
Standing, he grabbed his plate. “I’m going to get some pie. Do you want a piece?”
“Please,” I said out of the corner of my mouth, grateful he was only leaving temporarily. I already felt awkward enough with everyone knowing I petted him. Eating on my own would have made it worse.