Chapter 5
Quincy
For some reason, today’s lunch shift at Henry’s had been chaotic and crowded.
Even though it was technically the town’s slow season, Henry’s didn’t appear to be affected by any downturn in business. Which was good, of course. Though filming for the Small Town Smorgasbord episode hadn’t begun yet, word got around. People were excited to support the Henrys.
I was happy for them, especially Cash, who’d made getting on the show his sole goal for months on end.
No one could deny how good the food was here.
I was happy for myself too, because a full house meant more tips for me.
If the job sometimes didn’t spark me, I just played a game with myself where I tried to predict what familiar faces would show up during my shift. There were always several. Always.
By two thirty, only one of my lunch tables remained occupied, and I was betting no one else would come in before the break when we closed between lunch and dinner service.
I had to work through it, prepping for the dinner shift, but it was a rest from hustling to and from tables and balancing trays, which was not my strong point.
So far today, I hadn’t dropped anything, so that was a win.
I was bussing a table when I noticed Cash’s fiancée, Ava, coming back in the door with her writing partner, Knox. Our host, Elijah, had left early, and the rest of us were covering the host stand, so I headed over to greet them.
“You’re back,” I said to Ava, smiling. I didn’t know her well yet, but what I knew I really liked.
She was so easygoing, the opposite of Cash.
I liked him too, but I knew my record of breaking dishes bothered him, and I couldn’t really blame him.
It bothered me too, but it was what it was. I tried hard not to be a klutz.
“We’ve had a wrinkle crop up,” Ava said, then glanced behind her.
“Oh!” I said, noticing Knox had an adorable baby with him. “Who does this precious girl belong to?”
“Question of the hour,” Knox muttered, or at least I thought that’s what he said.
I knew him even less than I knew Ava. I’d waited on his table a few times, and he was always friendly and a good tipper, but we didn’t chat much outside of his order and the requisite small talk.
He was older, maybe early forties, but he was one of those men who looked good enough you didn’t really care about his age.
After the morning’s news—that he was the half-brother of the Henrys—it all made sense.
God apparently didn’t make ugly Henrys…or Breckenridges, for that matter.
“We…” Ava looked around me, toward the dining section on the other side of the bar. “Could we get that corner table by the window? Tucked out of the way?”
“Of course,” I said. It was in my section, so I’d been wrong about no one else coming, but I didn’t mind. Particularly if it meant I could coo over that sweet baby.
I picked up menus, then lost my grip on one of them. I bent over to retrieve it and asked, “Do you need a high chair?”
Ava and Knox paused and looked at each other, then looked at me.
“I have no idea, honestly,” Ava finally said. “I don’t think she’s old enough to sit in one. We’ll just let her sleep in her carrier for as long as possible.”
I led them to the table, puzzled by Ava’s lack of familiarity with the baby. Puzzled by so much. “Are you two babysitting?” I couldn’t hold the question in.
There was a tense pause before Ava said, “No.” She and Knox exchanged a look. “It’s going to get out,” she said quietly.
Knox set the carrier on the floor to the right of one of the chairs, out of the way and out of sight of most of the restaurant. He lowered himself to the chair and seemed defeated.
“Quincy won’t talk,” Ava said.
Bursting with curiosity, I studied him. When he finally turned his gaze on me, I was taken aback by the intensity in his expression. I hadn’t noticed how gorgeous his blue eyes were before.
“Someone left this baby in my driver’s seat while I ran inside my house,” he said. “So if it seems like I don’t have any idea what to do with a baby, that’s accurate.”
My eyes popped wide open, and I craned my head to look beyond him at the bundle in the carrier. “Oooh,” I gushed sympathetically, either for the baby or for him or…probably both. “My goodness.” I went around his chair and bent down to look at her. “Who would do such a thing?”
“We’re trying to figure out what to do,” Ava explained.
“I bet,” I said, forgetting my job completely as I gazed at the sleeping baby with angelic features. “It’s like a movie plot.”
Cash made his way from the kitchen on the opposite end of the building, toward the table, wearing his whites and looking stormy.
I straightened. “Oops. I guess I should get your drink orders.”
Before anyone could tell me what they wanted, Cash came up to the table with a scowl.
“Cash,” Knox said.
Cash’s response was a growl. “You left your coffee in the kitchen,” he said to Ava, setting a half-full mug down in front of her.
“Thanks, handsome,” Ava said, smiling. “Be nice.”
“You two planning to eat something?” Cash asked gruffly, ignoring me, which was fine. He could be intimidating when he was grouchy. Lately, since he and Ava had gotten involved, he’d been happier, but maybe his unfriendliness had something to do with Knox’s revelation that they were related.
“Um…” Ava angled her head to look at the baby on the other side of Knox.
“Who the hell is that?” Cash said.
Ava touched his arm with affection, and it seemed to have a calming effect on Cash. “Do you have five minutes to sit down?”
I hovered in the background, feeling like an intruder, but I still needed to get Knox’s drink order and find out whether they wanted food.
Cash glanced at the other dining sections behind him, scowled again. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you if you sit down,” Ava said.
“Fine.”
“Can I get you something to drink while you talk?” I managed to slip in.
Looking sidetracked, understandably, Knox said, “Water’s fine.”
“Anything else for you, Ava?”
“I’m good,” she answered.
“Thanks, Quincy,” Cash said, and I went to grab a single glass plus the coffee carafe.
When I approached their table, I overheard Cash saying, “How’s that for irony? The guy who sprung a family secret on us last night has a surprise baby dropped on him today.”
“Which means you should be more sympathetic,” Ava said.
Knox let out a half laugh. “Fair enough. Maybe it’s karma. Doesn’t really matter what it is. I need to make a game plan.”
“Any ideas what he should do?” Ava asked.
“Get Seth out here. He might know something. I sure as hell don’t,” Cash said. He leaned over to glance at the baby again, looking as if she was a dangerous predator who might pounce at any second.
I pressed my lips together against a grin. These guys were ridiculous with babies.
I set the water down in front of Knox, then held out the coffee toward Ava. “Refill?”
“Please. Maybe spiked with some Bailey’s.” She muttered the last part, telling me she wasn’t quite serious.
As I filled her cup, there was a tiny sneeze from the carrier. Knox stiffened and swore quietly.
“I’ll go tell Seth what’s going on,” Cash said, jumping up as if he was afraid he’d get stuck with baby duty.
I took the coffee back to the warmer, determined to mind my business but also tuned in to whether the baby fussed.
My heart went out to her. Who, seriously, could desert that beautiful, innocent child?
Her little sleeping face was irresistible.
I wanted to squeeze those chubby cheeks and touch the tip of her perfect nose and watch her tiny mouth break into a baby laugh.
I checked in with my lunch table in a different section from Cash’s group.
They were ready for their bill, so I got that to them quickly, noticing that Seth and Cash had both joined Ava and Knox and the baby.
Seth stood along the windowed wall that faced the lake, leaving the chair next to the infant empty.
There was hushed discussion going on, none of it lighthearted.
When I began restocking the sugar packets at the empty tables, I heard the first baby squawk of discontentment from the Henrys’ table.
I glanced that way and saw four adults in varying states of panic.
As I went to the next table to add a few packets to the sweetener container, Ava stood, went tentatively around Knox, and squatted in front of the carrier.
I couldn’t see more from here, but what she didn’t do was take the baby out of the carrier.
I tried hard to stay on task, but a few cries later, I couldn’t ignore them.
“Can I pick her up? See if I can soothe her?” I asked.
“Yes,” Ava said instantly, popping up to make way for me.
“Please,” Knox said, leaning toward the baby, his expression concerned and fearful.
“We thought maybe she’d just settle back down and go to sleep,” Ava said as she returned to her place at the four-topper.
These people really didn’t know anything about babies. They’d learn soon enough, as their sister-in-law Chloe was expecting in a few months.
“She probably needs to be fed or changed.” I pulled the pink blanket away, unfastened the straps, and freed her arms.
“We don’t have any supplies,” Ava explained.
I pulled the baby into my arms. She paused her fussing and peered at me for a moment with wide, blue eyes.
“It’s okay, sweet girl. We’ll figure out what you need.” To the adults, I asked, “Do you know her name?”
“It’s Juniper,” Knox said. He was watching us closely, either to make sure he was safe from the scary baby or to learn how to handle her. I wasn’t sure which.
“You seem to have experience with babies,” Ava said.
As I stood, I pulled Juniper into my chest and hugged her. She quieted and grabbed my shirt with her fist. I pressed a kiss to her fuzzy head and said, “I practically raised my three younger siblings from birth.”
Knox exhaled in what sounded like relief. “Can you tell us what we need to get through the next few hours?”
“Sure. I’d be happy to,” I said.
“Thank God,” Cash said. “Someone who knows babies. I need to get back to the kitchen. You can sit here, Quincy.” He rose, leaned over to kiss Ava’s temple, frowned at Knox, then hurried away.
I went around the table, tracing gentle circles on Juniper’s back. Though she wasn’t crying exactly, she was fussing as if she was about to start.
“Tell you what, Quincy,” Seth said. “I’ll handle your tables so you can help Knox.”
“There’s only the one left,” I said. “Table twelve. I just dropped off their check.”
“I’ll take care of them. Let me know if I can help somehow—aside from babysitting. Good luck,” Seth said and walked away.
“Okay,” Ava said to me as she pulled up a blank note page on her phone. “I’m hoping we can get what we need at the Country Market. Although, if you need me to, I can drive into Nashville.”
I sat Juniper’s tush on the table, holding her with both my hands around her middle, and tried to distract her with goofy faces and silly sounds. She stared at me with big eyes, curious enough to stop fussing for a few seconds.
“I bet you’re hungry,” I said to her in a cooing voice, then switched to my adult tone to tell Ava and Knox, “You’ll need formula, first and foremost. There wasn’t any information with her? Like what brand she takes? Whether she’s on solids?”
“None of that. Just her name and that she’s about five months old.” Knox didn’t take his eyes off Juniper’s back, as if he’d never seen a baby close-up.
“She’ll need diapers,” I said. “Are you wet right now, sweet pea?” I touched my nose to hers. “I’d be surprised if she wasn’t, so we’ll need those ASAP too. You’ll have to guess the size, but there should be some guidance on the package.”
As I racked my brain for other necessities they’d need short-term, Juniper lost interest in my goofy faces and remembered she wasn’t happy. She ramped up into a full-on cry, and as soon as I pulled her back against me, the stink emanating from her told me why.
“Uh-oh. How soon can you get diapers?” I asked.
Ava and Knox both shot me looks of horror.
“We’ll need to get this one off her as soon as we can,” I said. “Phew. Toxic. We don’t want her to get a rash.”
Ava pushed out from the table. “I’ll go now. Give me your number in case I have questions.”
I recited it, and she headed out in a hurry.
“Are you taking her to your house?” I asked Knox, who also stood.
“Uh, I guess I am.” He swallowed, looking panicked.
As he put the carrier on top of the table, I said, “Oh, you still have the base attached. That’s the part that stays belted into the car.”
“The base?” He looked at the carrier, then stuck both hands up in surrender.
“I’m out of my element here. Is there any way I can convince you to come with me and help?
I’m totally safe, not a serial killer. Ava will vouch for me.
I’ll pay you double for whatever you miss out on by leaving your shift early.
I’ll even bribe Seth to let you go if necessary. ”
His desperation was impossible to miss.
I would’ve done it for free, but who was I to argue? The one thing I didn’t want was to be the one to ask Seth. “If you can convince Seth, I’d be happy to.”
“I’ll go track him down.”
“I’ll have her fastened in by the time you come back,” I told him.
Knox might be in a perpetual panic, but my Wednesday afternoon had taken a turn for the better. It had nothing to do with his gorgeous eyes and everything to do with his tiny, adorable “wrinkle.” This darling baby was too much to resist.