"Yep. They're almost a part of the family now. Coral keeps trying to set up Brandon with her co-workers. She's a nurse, after their breakfast she'll go in for a twelve hour shift. She works the night shift."
Watching that table and hearing the fondness in Heather's voice, I felt slapped in the face. That was what a family was. They cared for each other. Her dad came out of his office with the two year old in his arms. His mother followed behind, cooing and smiling as Jason flailed his arms over Manny's shoulders at her. Another chuckle came from Heather as her dad sat at their table. The other two flocked to his lap, and soon all three of them were crawling all over him.
They weren't blood, but they were family.
"You okay?"
I jerked from my thoughts, but caught the glass before it went flying from my hands. A full face flush was coming. I ducked down and grabbed another glass to dry. "I'm good. Do you need me to grab some more glasses to shine?"
I was aware of the skeptical look she gave me but ignored it. When she remarked, "I supposed you could polish some of the silverware—" I had that tray in my hands before she could finish her sentence and scurried to a far table. It hurt to watch that loving family.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Brandon arrived and went behind the bar so Heather and I could help Lily and Anne, the other two servers from the diner. After the third hour of full tables with more people still streaming in, I asked Heather if it was always like this and she nodded with a rueful grin on her face. "Why do you think I get so pissed at Brandon for banging my friends? They quit after he breaks up with them. I can't keep losing anymore girls."
"Watch out!" Lily called as she hurried towards us and collapsed a bin full of dishes on the counter. "Whoa. I almost dropped that. Manny would have my hide."
Heather snorted, "Yeah, right. My dad? He can't even bring himself to squash a ladybug. Your job's safe if you break a few dishes." When the door opened and a bunch of guys walked in, she groaned but started towards them.
Lily grinned as she turned to watch her beside me. "She's right, you know."
"About?"
"About her dad. He's a softie, that's why so much of the other stuff falls on Heather and Brandon's shoulders. They do the firing and hiring. If anyone would fire me, it'd be Heather."
When the guys folded around a table in the back corner, Heather stood with pad in hand. All of them stopped and scanned her up and down. She shifted her weight to one side so her hip stuck out and lifted her chin up. They looked up with cocky smirks already starting, but those fell away as soon as they caught whatever expression she wore. A few cleared their throats before snatching up the menus she plopped on the table.
I chuckled. She had stopped their flirting in its tracks. Heather was not someone I wanted to mess with.
"So what's your deal?"
"Huh?" I looked over. I had expected Lily to leave the dishes and hurry away again, but she had been watching me as I watched Heather. "What do you mean?"
She shrugged. "Heather likes you, a lot. If another girl had shown up two hours late on her second day, she would've been sent away at the door."
"Oh." I shifted around and reached for the bin of dishes. I could wash them, anything to get away from this line of questioning. I liked Lily and Anne from the night before. Both were on the heavy side with friendly smiles, but I grew uneasy at the keenness in her eyes now. It hadn't been there the night before. "It's nothing. My mom went to the hospital today. I was late because of that—"
"Oh my gosh!" Her hand clamped on my arm.
Startled, I let go of the bin, and it landed with a thump back on the counter. "No, it's okay. I mean, it was a shock, but my mom will be fine. I think it was—"
"Logan Kade just walked in here," she hissed. Her hand tightened on my arm. I gritted my teeth against the pain from her hold but processed her words. Sure enough. Logan waltzed through the front door as if he owned the place. His eyes were narrowed, but the same cocksure smirk was there as he scanned the room. When he saw me, he paused in question, but I shook my head so he nodded and turned to the bar. He lifted a hand in the air. "Yo."
"Kade!" Brandon boomed from the bar. "Get your ass over here, man!"
The two bumped fists together when Logan claimed a stool at the bar. The two acted like long-lost best friends. It wasn't long before they were having shots. After an hour, the enjoyment of each other's presence wasn't fading. I was mystified. Logan never sought me out. He seemed content to swap stories with Brandon, who I was reminded had played football with Logan and Mason a year ago. That startled me as well. Heather's brother owned and ran the bar, but he had only graduated high school a year ago. That was a lot of responsibility, but he seemed to handle it fine, like Heather did with running the diner.
Just then, she slapped a hand on the counter beside me. "I need a smoke break. You game?"
"Game?"
She jerked her head through the back door. "Come with? You're up for a break soon, aren't you? Lily and Anne can handle our tables for awhile."