“The boots pull it all together,” I teased, pointing at their hiking boots. They grinned and blushed.
“Mick and I are leaving for southern Ohio as soon as he gets here. We’re driving down to the John Glenn Astronomy Park down in Hocking Hills. We’re going to stay a few days at a bed and breakfast down there,” they answered, their curly brown hair bouncing with their excitement.
“Look what I got my Micky!” Josie exclaimed, reaching into their pocket. I leaned close as they pulled out a small velvet box. I raised an eyebrow at them.
“Is that what I think it is?” I asked. “You finally gonna put a ring on it?”
Josie nodded excitedly. “It’s my birthday, so I figured I’d give myself the best present ever!”
“That explains why Sammie was making heart eyes at me when you asked me to cover for you!” I said.
Josie blushed. “You don’t mind, do you? I know you’ve been putting in a lot of hours to cover for me. This will be the last time I need you to cover for me. From here on out, hopefully we’ll be saving for a wedding!” They squealed and bounced up and down again, and I couldn’t help but share in the joy.
Ihadbeen putting in a lot of hours to cover for Josie, but I knew they would do the same for me in a heartbeat. Plus, there was no way anyone could resent Josie. They were too damn cute, and far too loving for anyone to deny them. Josie was a sweetheart. They were so sensitive, they had stopped one time and picked up a skunk that had been hit by a car. By the time they got it to the vet the poor thing had passed away, and Josie’s car had reeked to high heaven. All they’d had to do was bat their eyes at us, and my whole family had been cleaning their car with tomato juice.
I wasn’t worried about Josie’s unexpected proposal. I knew Mick would be onboard as well, because I happened to know they had a similar “surprise” in a box for Josie. I kept my mouth shut, though. No one liked a spoilsport.
“I better get to work, hon,” I said. “You two have fun!”
I hugged Josie again, put my earplugs in, and went to work.
Seeing Josie had been the high point of my night. Despite the adrenaline rush I got whenever we had a decent crowd, I was bone tired. I slogged my way through the evening, making drink after drink. The crowd at The Belt was nice enough, don’t get me wrong. The music was good, and I couldn’t complain much about the company. I’d made plenty of “friends” on my shifts at the club. Sammie, the owner, didn’t care, as long as we all got our work done and didn’t bring trouble into her establishment. She had met her own husband at the club years ago when she was first starting out. She believed in fate.
Tonight, though, I just wasn’t feeling it. I turned down several offers of a trip to the bathrooms, where, Sammie would be shocked—shocked, I say!—to hear that more than personal hygiene occurred, and I threw away almost a half dozen phone numbers. Who had time for relationships, after all?
I’d poured my last drinks, called cabs or Ubers for the last couple of lonely patrons, and was flipping chairs on the tops of the tables when Sammie came out of her office.
“Hey, Kaine!” She said. Or, at least I thought that was what she was saying, because I realized I still had my earplugs in. I quickly took them out and shoved them in my pocket. Sammie had her dark-brown hair pushed back from her face with a headband, but the curls framed her smile.
“Hey, Sammie! Sorry about that. I forgot I still had the plugs in,” I said.
“No problem. I’m glad I caught you! I need to talk to you about something,” she said. She walked around the side of the bar with some papers in her hands and sat down on one of the chairs I hadn’t flipped yet. She gestured to the chair next to her. “Take a seat.”
“Everything okay, boss?” I asked, pulling the chair up. Between my shift at the bar and helping out the twins earlier, I’d been on my feet for over twelve hours now. I was not passing up the opportunity to rest.
“Everything is fine,” she said. “I wanted to talk to you about your schedule.”
I groaned inwardly. That usually meant I was picking up more shifts for someone.
“I’m worried about you, Kaine,” she said.
“Sammie—” I started.
“Don’t you ‘Sammie’ me,” she snapped. She glared at me for a minute until I nodded, appropriately chastened, then her gaze softened. Her grey eyes looked at me fondly as she smoothed the papers out on the table. I realized with a glance that they were the pages from our schedule book.
“You are worn out, Kaine. How many hours a week are you working?” she asked.
“Forty—” I began, but she cut me off.
“You think I don’t know you? Iknowyou, kiddo. I’ve been to the dojo website. I see the number of classes you’re teaching there. I know what your schedule is like here. How many hours a week have you been working?” she demanded.
“Seventy…?” I began, the saw her glare.
“Seventy-five or so,” I admitted.
She shook her head and sighed at me.
“Why in the name of all that’s holy are you working so many hours?! You work more hours thanIdo!” she exclaimed.
