“I can’t talk about my work. Not ever.”
“Where did you grow up?”
“New Hampshire.”
She nods.
“Where are your parents?”
“Dead.” She opens her mouth, but I put my hand to her lips to silence her. “Let’s eat, baby. There will be time for questions later.”
Chapter 29
Eden
He rubs the back of my neck, and I rest my head on his shoulder. Being with him is the craziest and most out-of-character thing I’ve ever done, but today has been one of the best days of my life.
After breakfast, we walked around the small beach town hand in hand. It wasn’t warm enough to swim, and I doubt my new boyfriend is the frolic in the ocean with your bare feet type of man.
It’s late now, and after we got back, he cooked me dinner while telling me that he used to be a short-order cook years ago.
“I should go home. I have work tomorrow.”
“You can go to work from here,” he says.
“I don’t have scrubs, and I have to return my mom’s car.”
“I promise when you wake up, you’ll have scrubs, and I’ll follow you to your house, and you can drop off the car.”
And that’s what we do. We go to bed soon after, and we make love twice before I fall asleep in his naked, sweaty arms.
Cori and Selene wave furiously from across the parking lot of Seven Heaven. I’m surprised to see Selene, but as a social worker, her work hours are unpredictable. Cori does whatever the hell she wants.
“Come on,” I whisper. “I have to get back to work. I have back-to-back appointments this afternoon.”
I open the door, and as expected, the place is full of people during the lunch hour.
“Oh, fuck. There’s a wait,” I say when I see the throng of people waiting by the front of the diner.
Ms. Hazel rings someone up, but when she sees me, one of her eyebrows arches. It’s subtle, but I notice it.
Leaving the register, she walks to me and my friends. I don’t know why she did that. There’s a line waiting to pay, and she usually wants to get people out as soon as possible. However, she ignores them and pulls me into a hug. She doesn’t hug my friends, but that’s not unusual. I worked for her, so we have a closer relationship.
She takes us to a big, secluded booth in the back. It’s the same one she kicked us out of all those weeks ago.
“My,” is all she says. She shakes her salt-and-pepper hair. “I’ll be taking care of you three myself today. Do you already know what you want?”
I look at my friends, who are as confused by Ms. Hazel as I am.
Pressed for time, I order a turkey club, and my friends order burgers and fries. She leaves, and before I can catch up on my weekend with Cori and Selene, someone brings us drinks that we didn’t ask for.
Once we’re alone again, I reach behind me and pull the lever down.
“Okay,” I begin, “what I’m about to say stays here.” I look at Selene when I say that.
“Will you let it go already? That was twelve years ago. I’m not gonna tattle on you.” She sighs.
After looking around and ensuring we have privacy, I gesture for them to come closer. We lean in, and I tell them about my weekend and who I spent it with. They don’t say a word while I speak, which is unusual because we’ve never had any problems interrupting each other.
