Garth’s eyes shot wide. “Damn, my cellphone, forgot about that,” he said, patting his pockets. “Forgot it on the bar.”
I sighed, running a hand through my hair to get it back in place so I didn’t look like I was just fucked in the store room by my boyfriend. Or the guy I considered my boyfriend.
I gave him a playful push. “Get out of here before my dad sees you.”
Garth smiled, blew me a kiss and unlocked the storage room door, quickly slipping out of sight. I sighed again, looked at my reflection in the same pot to make sure my hair wasn’t out of place, and followed him out.
The diner wasn’t busy this time of the day, but it was packed with our regulars. Some of them had been coming here ever since I was in high school, and I knew them all on a first name basis. It was part of why my dad had wanted me to take charge, knowing that I could handle the crowds that kept the family business alive. I felt especially self-conscious walking out of the storage room now, anxious at what looks I’d be getting from them, and especially wary of my father.
Luckily, everyone seemed a little more pre-occupied with one thing or the other and didn’t notice Garth coming out from the back with me close behind. He grabbed his phone, left a few bills on the bar and headed out without even a second glance. I watched him leave before my eyes drifted and fell on my father behind the cash register, watching me carefully. He had a look in his eyes that I knew far too well, and I thanked any God that was listening for the fact that I didn’t have to go home with him anymore.
“What do I owe you, Jenni?”
I turned to the old man sitting to my right. Samuel Logan was smiling at me, reaching for his wallet as he tapped the small plate that had cradled his regular afternoon cheese cake.
“The prices haven’t changed in ten years, Sam,” I replied with a smile.
“Seems like the only thing that hasn’t changed around here,” Samuel said, frowning toward the door. “Was that Garth Liston walking out from the back?”
Dammit, not everyone was minding their own business.
I felt my cheeks flush a bit, and Samuel quickly waved my discomfort away. “Don’t mind me,” he said. “To everyone his own.”
“It’s not what you think,” I said quickly. My father and Samuel had been friends for years, back when I was still in grade school, and his approval was almost as important to me as my father’s. Kent was a small town. People lived by their word and reputation. My word was still good, but my rep was quickly becoming as cloudy as muddy water, thanks to Garth.
“Sweetie, I’m not the one you have to convince of that,” Samuel said seriously. He nodded toward the pass-through window that opened into the kitchen. We could see my dad. He was bent over the grill frying eggs and bacon. “Your dad’s worried about you. I keep telling him that you’re an adult now and you know what you’re doing. No matter, you’ll always be his baby.”
I smiled at that, but couldn’t hide my embarrassment nonetheless.
“You do know what you’re doing, right?” Samuel asked.
I nodded. “Don’t worry about me, Sam.”
“Good enough then,” Samuel smiled, passing me the check with his usual generous tip. “Well, I’m off. My son’s probably already waiting for me.”
“Alex?” I asked, a little surprised. “Alex is coming home from Miami?”
“Yup,” Samuel smiled even more, adjusting his hat on his head. “Spending the summer with me. Brought my granddaughter Kelly with him, too.”
“Big old family reunion, huh?”
“Well, something like that,” Samuel said with a wink. “Have a good one, Jenni, and I’d steer clear of your dad for the rest of the day I was you. He doesn’t seem very happy. Seems that old grill is giving him fits again.”
I smiled and watched Samuel leave, waving to my father as he walked out the diner door.
Chapter 3: Alex
“He’s late,” I said, leaning back against the car to stretch, feeling the muscles in my back grate against each other as I breathed in the afternoon air. Just being here made me feel so much better, and being able to stretch my legs had sent the pain scurrying away. For now.
I looked back at the Victorian I had grown up in. It hadn’t changed a bit since I had left, although it could have used a fresh coat of paint, and some of the windows looked like they needed to be changed. Still, it was pretty much the home I had left behind, and a wave of nostalgia washed over me as I took it in.
Kelly, on the other hand, had found her way back to whatever was taking her attention away on her phone. She was stretched out on the hood of the car, eyes glued to the small screen in her hands, looking more like she hadn’t wanted to come here than ever before.
“You’re one to talk,” she said, fingers dancing across the touc
h screen in a way I knew I would never be able to do.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”