Chapter Seventeen
Hazel
Two days after sleeping with Bone, I was carrying a tray of empty beer bottles across Bing’s and trying to decide if the man at table seven had actually fallen asleep or if he was just really committed to staring at the tabletop.
I slowed as I passed him. His chin was almost touching his chest. Definitely asleep.
“CL,” I called when I reached the bar.
He looked up from wiping down the counter. “What?”
“I think I lost one.”
He frowned. “Lost one what?”
“Customer.”
Kori walked up beside me with two empty glasses in her hands. “Did somebody leave without paying?”
“No. I think he passed out.”
CL immediately looked toward my section. “Table seven?”
“Yep.”
“He does that.”
I stared at him. “What do you mean, he does that?”
“Frank.”
That explained absolutely nothing. “Okay.”
“He works third shift, but a lot of the time he works a double.”
“Still not helping.”
Kori leaned against the bar. “He comes in after work, has two beers, eats a burger, and sometimes falls asleep.”
“At a table?”
“Sometimes at the bar.”
I looked over my shoulder. Frank hadn’t moved. “Does anyone wake him up?”
“Eventually,” CL said.
“When?”
CL shrugged. “When we need the table.”
I stared at him.
He stared back.
“Wisconsin is weird.”
Kori laughed. “You’ve been saying that since you got here.”
“Because you people keep proving it.”
“We’re delightful,” Kori smiled.
“You have a customer who schedules naps at a bar.”
“He tips.”
“Oh.” I nodded. “Then Frank can sleep as long as he wants.”
“That’s the spirit.”
I dumped the bottles into the bin beneath the bar.
Thursday night had been steady but nothing compared to Friday. I’d had enough tables to keep me moving without feeling like I was running a marathon every time somebody needed another beer.
I liked nights like this.
Busy enough to make money. Slow enough that I could breathe.
And talk. Mostly talk.
I’d been at Bing’s for close to two weeks, and somehow Crystal and Kori had gone from women showing me where CL kept the extra napkins to people I genuinely liked.
I’d spent enough years waitressing to know there was a difference between coworkers you got along with and people you’d actually choose to spend time with when nobody was paying you.
Crystal and Kori were quickly becoming the second kind.
Which was probably why they’d spent the last two days trying to get information out of me.
Information I wasn’t giving them.
Crystal appeared from the other end of the bar and shoved her order pad into the back pocket of her shorts. “Okay.”
I looked at her. “Okay what?”
“We have approximately thirty seconds before somebody needs something.”
Kori nodded. “Probably twenty.”
“Then I guess we should enjoy the silence.”
“No.” Crystal pointed at me. “We’re using it productively.”
I grabbed a glass of water. “That sounds terrible.”
“We need to make plans.”
“For?” I asked.
“Saturday.”
I took a drink. “What’s Saturday?”
Kori gasped. “You don’t know?”
“I just asked, so probably not,” I laughed.
“The farmers market.”
I stared at her. “The farmers market?”
“Yes.”
“We’re planning to go to the farmers market?”
“It’s important,” Kori smiled.
Crystal leaned against the bar beside her. “It’s actually pretty good.”
“See?” Kori said.
I laughed. “What exactly happens at this magical farmers market?”
“Food,” Kori said.
“Produce,” Crystal added.
“Baked stuff,” CL called.
Kori’s eyes widened. “Flowers.”
“Crafts.” Crystal clapped her hands together.
“Coffee.” Kori slapped her hand against the bar. “And there’s this woman who makes these cinnamon rolls that are approximately the size of your head.”
I looked at Crystal. “Is that true?”
“Pretty close,” she shrugged.
“Why didn’t you lead with that?” I asked. I pointed at her. “You need to work on your pitch.”
“I’m a waitress, not a marketing executive.”
“Fair.”
Crystal looked between us. “So we’re going?”
“I work Saturday,” I frowned.
“So do we,” they said in unison.
I frowned.
Kori waved me off. “Market’s in the morning. We don’t have to be here until later.”
“What time in the morning?”
“Eight?”
I recoiled. “No.”
Crystal laughed. “Nine?”
“Better.”
“Eight-thirty,” Kori negotiated. “I really want a cinnamon roll.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Then go at eight and buy me one. I will meet you there at nine.”
“No. This is supposed to be us hanging out,” Kori pouted.
That made me smile. Us hanging out.
I liked that.
“Fine,” I said.
Kori clapped. “Farmers market.”
“At nine,” I replied.
Kori tipped her head to the side. “Eight-thirty.”
“Nine,” I repeated.
“Eight forty-five,” Crystal said, meeting us in the middle.
I sighed. “Fine.”
Kori grinned.
Crystal shook her head. “You realize it’s only fifteen minutes, right?”
“I know, but I half won.” Kori winked and grabbed a tray from the bar.
“You won fifteen minutes,” I drawled.
“Still counts.”
I laughed and reached for my water again.
Crystal looked around and then leaned in. “So now we can talk about how Wednesday morning, Bone’s bike was at your house.”
My mouth dropped open. “How the hell do you know that?”
Crystal shrugged. “I might have woken up early, and decided to take a drive that took me past your house.”
“I have tables.”
Kori grabbed my hand. “You have one table, and Frank’s asleep.”
I looked toward Frank. Traitor. “I’m not talking about this.”
Kori groaned. “Why?”
“Because it’s none of your business.”
Crystal nudged Kori aside. “Was it good?”
I looked at her and she smiled innocently.
I took a slow drink of water and my eyes drifted to the side.
Kori’s eyes widened. “Oh, that face.”
“What face?” I asked, knowing exactly what I meant by not saying anything.
“That face!” Kori pointed at me.
“I don’t have a face.”
“You absolutely have a face,” Crystal chimed in.
“Everyone has a face,” CL called from farther down the bar.
“Stay out of this,” I yelled.
“Gladly,” he laughed.
Crystal started laughing.
I set my water down. “I am going to tell you both exactly one thing.”
They immediately leaned closer.
I lowered my voice. “It was good.”
“You cannot give us two words.”
“Three words,” I corrected her. “And I just did.”
“How good?” Kori tipped her chin down, and really looked at me.
“Goodbye, Kori.”
“Hazel,” she wailed.
I grabbed my tray. “We’re done.”
“You’re cruel.” Crystal called.
“I’m comfortable with that.”
I turned away.
Kori called after me. “Was he still there when you woke up?”
I stopped. Damn her.
I turned around and gave her a slight nod.
She grinned and threw her hands in the air. “He stayed!”
I pointed at her. “Farmers market. Eight forty-five. Don’t make me regret agreeing.”
Then I walked away before she could ask anything else.
I checked on my customers, dropped another check, woke Frank long enough to ask if he needed anything, and eventually made my way back toward the bar.
Crystal and Kori were thankfully busy, and couldn’t badger me more about Bone. It wasn’t like I had much more to tell them, anyway.
For all I knew, Bone was done with me.
Maybe relationships weren’t his thing.
Maybe one night was exactly what he’d wanted. That didn’t bother me. Or at least, it wasn’t going to. I’d known what I was doing when I invited him inside.
Bone hadn’t promised me anything and he hadn’t told me we were dating.
Hadn’t said he’d call.
Hell, he couldn’t call. He didn’t have my number, and I didn’t have his.
Maybe we’d see each other again, considering he lived two miles down the road and his mother was my new best friend; odds were pretty damn good.
Maybe we’d end up in bed again. I wouldn’t complain, but I wasn’t going to sit at home staring out the window waiting for the rumble of his motorcycle.
I’d done enough waiting around in my old life.
Wisconsin was supposed to be different.
New experiences.
Bone had definitely qualified as an experience. A very good one.
But he wasn’t the reason I’d moved here, and he wasn’t going to become the only thing I had here.
I glanced down the bar.
Kori was arguing with CL about something and Crystal stood at the service station laughing at them.
Saturday morning, I was going to a farmers market with my new friends.
Saturday night, we’d all be back here working.
Tomorrow, I’d probably spend part of the day trying to figure out what the hell I wanted to do with the ugly wallpaper in my spare bedroom.
I had a life to build. If Bone wanted to be part of it in some way, I’d figure that out when it happened.
Until then, I wasn’t going to pine after him. I had cinnamon rolls the size of my head to buy.