CHAPTER ONE
CLARA
“It’s time to focus.Here’s the info for today’s job.”
Brenda’s authoritative tone rang sharply against the metal walls of the catering van.I was stuffed into the back of the cargo van along with my new coworkers and Brenda, my new drill sergeant—er, boss.I’d only been working for this catering company three days, but I could already tell she had it out for me.She turned a severe look on the three of us servers in turn, but her gaze lingered on me.
“This is a really high-profile event so we can’t afford any rookie mistakes,” she added.
Brenda launched into a rapid-fire rundown of today’s lunch event in the gleaming tower behind us.Wall Street.Billionaires.Ribbon cutting.The details began to dissolve almost as soon as she said them because my phone began vibrating in my pocket.
My fingers curled with the need to check who was calling.I stared hard at Brenda as she continued, not even hearing her words as the vibrating phone in my apron pocket sizzled against my attention.I couldn’t look now, because I knew she’d get into a snit about it.
I focused on my breathing, trying to look like I was paying attention, ignoring the buzzing in my pocket until it finally stopped.
Everything’s fine.Probably just a spam call.
Then it started buzzing again.
Calling twice in a row wasn’t a good sign, which made me even more concerned that the call was coming from the one place I didn’t want to hear from: my baby girl’s daycare center.
Brenda consulted her clipboard with the gravity of a surgeon reviewing medical charts."These people tip well if you're charming and invisible.They are undoubtedly one ofthebiggest clients in the city.Screw this up, and you won't work in catering again in Manhattan."
Brenda pinned us all with a look that suggestedYou got it, dumbasses?
“Ready to make that money,” I offered weakly.My coworkers smiled grimly in return.
"Clara, you're on drink service and table clearing.Smile pretty, move fast, and for the love of God, don't drop anything expensive."Brenda's gaze lingered on me."This client specifically requested our most...presentable staff."
Heat flushed my cheeks.Four years ago, I’d had a decent position with the city planning department, en route to a career I could be proud of.
Now I was a single mom bouncing between any short-term job I could find because it only took a few sick-kid pickups at daycare before the employer decided they couldn’t rely on me.
It felt like it had been so much longer than four years.My downward slide into barely making ends meet was kicked off by Preston’s cheating, our relationship implosion, and a surprise pregnancy.
I’d also experienced a one-night-stand that had rocked my world, but that was firmly in the category of things I didn’t think about anymore.
I couldn’t think about that man with the icy blue eyes—Nash Nightingale—because he was a representation of the life I desperately wanted but could never—would never—have.I’d grasped him, and then lost everything.
Brenda strode toward the building, and we followed her with carts loaded with food.I mentally rehearsed how to be charming and invisible while my thoughts spiraled around what I might find on my cell phone.
My phone buzzed against my hip.Again.Three calls in a row.It had to be the daycare.I resisted the urge to check it as we approached the gleaming building that stretched toward the clouds like a middle finger to anyone who'd ever struggled to make rent.Glass and steel gleamed in the late-morning April sun as we rolled our carts through the service entrance.My hand was on my cell phone in my apron pocket as we rode the freight elevator to the thirty-eighth floor.While Brenda and Sadie chatted about nothing in particular, I snuck a glance at the phone’s screen.
Four missed calls.
All from Little Sprouts Daycare.
Anxiety slithered through me.When the elevator doors opened, I snapped my head up, already formulating a plan of how I’d sneak away to see what the emergency was.Now that I knew it was the daycare, I couldn’t waste any more time.
“I forgot one of the trays in the van,” I blurted, realizing as I said it that it was actually true.“I’ll go back down and get it.”
Brenda nodded, though she still looked suspicious.“Grab the extra aprons too.I have a feeling one of you is going to spill something.Probably you.”
I pressed the elevator button, letting the doors close on her jaded, angular face.Once I was alone, the breath whooshed out of me.I needed this job desperately, but I was already dreading working long-term with a bitch like Brenda.
Once the freight elevator hit the ground floor, I was already calling Little Sprouts.They picked up on the second ring.
"Hi, it’s Clara Whitehall, Mia’s mother.I noticed some missed calls—is everything okay?”
