Chapter Fourteen
The chirp of an incoming message woke Jenna. She blinked her eyes open and looked around, wondering what time it was. She’d slept far later than usual from the amount of light in the room.
**Roadkill: Good morning, darlin’. Hope you slept well.
She frowned at the screen. She’d though the darlin’ last night had been a slip, or maybe something to put her at ease so she’d keep talking. She’d liked it, but had assumed it hadn’t been meant for her. Now, as she stared at her screen, she had to wonder if she’d been wrong.
**Jenna: Slept okay. Thanks for thinking of me. What are your plans for today?
She hit send and forced herself to get out of bed. She needed coffee, breakfast, and a shower. She still had her last shift at the Driftwood this afternoon and as much as she hated the job, she wouldn’t be late.
Jenna stood in front of the stove, flipping pancakes on the griddle and keeping an eye on the bacon in the skillet while she sipped her coffee. Watching bubbles form she let her mind drift, not focusing on any one thing, but letting it all play out however it wanted as she worked.
“Mornin’,” Lacey muttered as she shuffled into the kitchen. She went to the fridge, pulled out a carton of orange juice, and took several long swallows from the carton before closing it up and putting it back.
Jenna cringed. She hated when Lacey did that, and had told her a million times but her sister’s come back was that she was the only one who drank it, so what did it matter if she drank out of the carton. It wasn’t a fight she wanted to have this morning.
“Morning, little bit. Did you sleep well?” Jenna did her best to sound chipper and happy, despite still feeling like she needed a good night’s sleep.
“I slept. You’re making pancakes?” Lacey moved up beside Jenna and looked down at the food, then back to her, an excited light in her eyes. “What’s the occasion?”
Jenna’s chest ached. That things had been so tight, and she’d been so busy that something as simple as pancakes on a Sunday morning was a treat.
“No occasion. I’m hoping this will become our new normal.” She wrapped an arm around her sister and pulled in for a quick hug. “I hope we’ve finally gotten the break I’ve been working for. We’ll be able to spend time together, but things won’t be so tight.”
“What if it’s not?”
Jenna lifted one shoulder and let it fall as if that question wasn’t one that had haunted her most of the night.
“Then we’ll figure it out. We always do.
If this doesn’t work out, I’ll find something else.
But let’s not worry about that. I really liked Papa Smurf, and I think you will too.
Can you wash and dry the laundry while I’m at work?
We’ll fold it together this evening so we can start the week with everything clean. ”
She nodded.
“Is any of this ready?” She nodded to the food.
“Yep. Bacon’s here.” She motioned to the paper plate where she was putting the bacon. “And the rest of the pancakes are in the microwave. Help yourself.”
Jenna drained her coffee and poured more from the pot, then pulled the last of the bacon from the skillet and put the final pancakes on a plate for herself.
“What’s Riley doing this weekend?” Jenna asked as she sat on this side of the bar, facing her sister.
“Some family thing. She doesn’t even have signal, so I can’t let her know I’ll be riding the bus with her. Can I start that tomorrow?”
“I don’t know, Lace. I need to call and talk to them tomorrow. They may make me come in and sign something. If they do, then I’ll do it when I come to pick you up, if not, then you can ride the bus. I’ll text you when I know, so you can be ready for either.”
Lacey nodded as she continued to shovel in food as if she hadn’t been fed weeks instead of a few hours.
Jenna finished eating, put her plate in the trash and her fork in the sink.
“If you’ll take care of putting away the food, I’ll do the dishes after I get off tonight,” Jenna said.
She knew she should wash them now and get them out of the way but if she didn’t get in the shower now, she’d be late for work and she had to be on time, even if she would be quitting at the end of her shift.