Chapter 13
Jackson
Monday morning, I needed coffee before I dealt with the bar’s beer delivery.
Fairview Coffee was packed with the usual Monday crowd. I got in line behind Pastor Williams, who pretended not to see me like he always did.
Mrs. Henderson sat in her booth by the window with Linda Chen and Susan Park. The three of them together meant the whole town would know whatever got said by lunch.
I ordered a large coffee, black, and one of those overpriced muffins.
“She’s living with Dr. Thorpe now,” Mrs. Henderson said, loud enough to cut through the espresso machine noise. “That drunk girl from the bar fight.”
One day.
Lauren had been at Kevin’s place for one day, and the whole town was already running with it.
Kevin had the house, the career, the kind of life this town trusted on sight. I had a bar barely breaking even, a father up my ass, and a liquor license hanging by a thread.
Yesterday Kevin fixed everything in five minutes. Basement apartment. Medical necessity. Done.
He always had a fix.
“Kevin Thorpe?” Linda leaned in. “Are you sure?”
“My sister saw them at the motel Saturday night,” Mrs. Henderson said. “The girl was too drunk to handle stairs. Fell right there in the lobby.”
I paid for my coffee and grabbed it.
“And now she’s at his house,” Mrs. Henderson went on. “Saw her car there myself yesterday. New York plates.”
Susan made the kind of face people make when they want the story to keep going. “He’s letting a complete stranger live with him?”
“I’m just saying,” Mrs. Henderson said, “he’s a doctor. He should know how it looks.”
I should’ve kept walking. I turned around anyway.
“She has a sprained ankle,” I said. “Kevin’s checking it twice a day. Medical thing.”
All three of them looked at me.
Mrs. Henderson smiled the way she always did when she’d just picked up fresh ammunition. “Oh, Jackson. I’m sure it’s all very innocent.”
“Yeah. It is.”
“Of course,” she said. “I’m just concerned about Kevin’s reputation.”
Right. Concerned. That was what we were calling it.
I left before I said something that would make tomorrow’s gossip even better.
I got in my truck. My phone was already blowing up.
Text from Kevin: “Mrs Henderson strike again?”
Me: “Yep. They’ve got you halfway to married by breakfast.”
Kevin: “Great.”
Me: “Lauren know yet?”
Kevin: “No. She’s at the house. I’ll tell her tonight.”
I started the truck and sat there for a second with the engine running.
It wasn’t just Kevin. Lauren’s been here one day, and they’re already chewing her up.
My dad was definitely going to hear about this. Probably already had. Bill Taylor heard everything, and he already thought the bar was ruining my life.
Now Kevin was catching shit for helping her, and I took it personally so fast it pissed me off.
I pulled into the bar lot. The beer truck was already there, driver looking pissed. My dad’s truck was parked two spots over, and he was going to make it ugly.
***
Dad spent most of an hour listing every way Lauren could cost the bar money. He hadn’t changed my mind.
I showed up at Kevin’s around two.
I didn’t knock. I used the key he’d given me years ago and walked in.
“Kevin?”
“Kitchen.”
He stood at the sink doing dishes. Lauren sat at the table with her laptop, one leg stretched out under the chair. Seeing her at Kevin’s table got under my skin way too fast.
“Hey,” I said.
She looked up. “You always walk into people’s houses like that?”
“Only the ones that gave me keys.”
Kevin dried his hands. “What’s up?”
“I need to hire Lauren.”
She closed the laptop. “What?”
I pulled out a chair and sat at the table. “I need another waitress. Haley’s drowning. Fridays and Saturdays are insane right now, and she’s not going to love training somebody new.”
“You said you’ve waited tables before, right?”
“Yeah. In LA. For like three years.”
“Then you know the deal. It’s not rocket science, but it’s work.” I leaned back. “Lunch shift tomorrow. Slow enough to learn. Busy enough to tell me if you can actually keep up.”
“And the pay?” Lauren asked.
“Week one is tips only. Trial run. You prove you can handle it, weeks two and three we negotiate hourly.”
“Tips only?” Kevin said.
“Yeah. Trial period.”
Lauren looked at Kevin, then back at me. “You trying to scare me off?”
I held her gaze. “You scare off easy?”
Her chin lifted a little. “No.”
“You want special treatment, ask Kevin,” I said. “You want the shift, take the shift.”
“When would I start?”
“Tuesday. Lunch shift. Easier to learn when it’s slower.”
Kevin set the dish towel down. “Is this because she’s staying with me?”
I looked at him. “What?”
“I don’t want her feeling pressured. She’s living in my house, you’re my best friend. If this goes wrong—”
“This is because I need help and she needs money,” I said. It came out a little too fast. “That’s it.”
“But if it doesn’t work out—”
“We deal with it.” I looked at Lauren. “You want the job or not?”
She shut the laptop all the way and looked at me like she was taking it just because I’d made it a dare.
“Yeah,” she said. “I want it.”
“Good. Show up Tuesday at ten. I’ll train you on the system and walk you through the menu. Shift starts at eleven.”
“Got it.”
Kevin crossed his arms. “What about her ankle?”
“What about it?”
“She can’t stand for six hours. It’s still healing.”
I looked at Lauren. “Your ankle good enough?”
“Yeah. I can stand long enough to make money.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
I kept my eyes on her. “Then we keep you on lunch until I know what that ankle can do.”
Kevin made a face like he wanted to argue but couldn’t.
“I’ll get her a better ankle brace,” he said. “Extra support.”
“Do that.”
Lauren smiled. “Thank you. Seriously.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Wait until Friday night.” I stood up. “Anyway, I’ve gotta go. Delivery’s coming at three.”
Kevin walked me to the door.
“You good?” I asked.
“Fine.”
“You moved fast,” Kevin said.
“Needed to.”
He looked back toward the kitchen. “That’s not all this is.”
I smiled, and I wished I hadn’t the second it showed.
“I just don’t want her feeling trapped,” Kevin said, rubbing his neck.
“She’s not trapped,” I said too quick. “It’s a job. She can walk if she wants.”
I left and got in my truck. Both hands on the wheel. Engine off. I stayed there a while.
I could still see her at Kevin’s table. Leg stretched out. Mouth getting smart with me.