Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 60864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“Hey, Derek,” Ally said.
“Hey,” I said. “Good show you picked.”
“Oh, yeah. Noah liked it a lot, and I figured I could catch up to where he was while we were working. Hope you didn’t mind.”
“No, it’s fine,” I said. “Nice change of pace from Alton Brown, I guess.”
She laughed and looked around, seemingly seeing if we were sufficiently alone.
“So, has Jodi said anything about what is bugging her? She seems really out of it tonight,” she said.
“I think she’s going to be okay,” I said. “She talked a little bit about what was going on. The stuff with her family.”
Ally was nodding, indicating that she had heard at least some of that before.
“She mentioned seeing her brother, I think?” Ally said.
“If you heard that part, then you probably know about as much as me.”
Ally pursed her lips on one side of her mouth.
“I just hope she’s alright. I can’t imagine how wild it is to be running from your entire family like that,” she said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I think she just needs a few days of calm to feel safe again. She’s still doing great at her job, so there’s that. No tables complained.”
“I spoke to Charlotte. She said she’s great. Just that she seemed like she was distracted tonight.”
“But no screwups?” I asked.
“None. I wanted to say though, we do have that spare room. If she needs it, she can come on over.”
“The one you guys filled up with stuff from your old place?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “But it’s got a bed in it. I can move some of that stuff to the garage, make it a livable space.”
“Well, you should go ahead and offer. I know it’s probably weird staying at her male boss’s house. Then again, I don’t have any kids making noise, so…”
Ally slapped my shoulder playfully.
“Hush, you,” she said.
I laughed softly under my breath as she walked away, presumably to find Jodi.
I went back to cleaning the station and then relieved the line cooks. The dessert menu for the evening was something I could handle on my own, and if I needed help, Ally was more than capable of picking up the slack. The cooks took off gratefully, apparently quite sick of the show that had been on and ready to begin their night of carousing and drinking. Ten years ago, I would have been right there with them. Hell, a year ago I would have. Having the responsibility of running the family restaurant had done a fair amount to mature me in ways I had never expected.
Slowly, the night kind of petered out with only two dessert orders before close. I checked with Charlotte and made sure the orders were done and went about cleaning the stations for the night. Ally was nowhere to be found, but Jodi was still on the floor, taking care of the last of the customers and vacillating between there and the bar to count out her earnings.
I went back to shut off the lights in the back, and by the time I made it back to the floor, the customers were gone, and the only people left in the building were Charlotte and Jodi. Ally walked by Jodi and said something, then headed for the door. I nodded to myself and sighed. That must have been it. She must have left to go call Noah and get him to empty out the room so Jodi could come over.
Charlotte headed for the office, and I said good night as I made my way to the door. She had a key for the building, and I trusted her to lock up, but Cam was apparently in his office too, and I knew he checked all the doors before he left if he stayed late.
As I got out to my car, I opened the front door and noticed Jodi still had her purse in the passenger’s seat. I tried to decide if I should bring it in to her or if I should just head home. Surely, she would need the stuff that she’d left in my office if she was going over to Ally and Noah’s. I could probably just go there, pack everything up for her, and put it in the car with the purse and bring it over.
I was still trying to figure out what I should do when I saw the door open and Jodi come out. She was searching the parking lot, and when she made eye contact with me, she started heading over to my truck.
“So,” she said as she got within speaking distance, “are you sick of me already?”
I blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out why she would say that.
“Excuse me?”
“Pawning me off to Ally?” she asked, seeming to be less upset at me than just upset in general. I hated the look in her eyes. The idea that I might have done that to her.