Tucker was right.
Mother found me.
She probably saw the online post too.
I was so stupid.
So. Stupid.
I was wiping down the counter to the bar in the back of the diner when the door opened mid-afternoon. I recognized her hair and flowered dress right off and ducked down next to the sink.
Harry had been replacing a keg when he saw me hit the floor. “What’s going on, Lil’ Ava?”
I pointed up.
Harry stood and grunted. “I see the resemblance.”
I tried to keep my breathing steady as footsteps approached the bar.
My mother’s voice was strong and sharp. “I’m looking for Ava Roberts.”
I squished myself between the ice vat and an empty keg, pulling a damp towel onto my head for goodmeasure.
Harry glanced down, then leaned over the bar, his big belly hanging over his black jeans.
“Nobody named Ava here.”
“She answered a job ad for your restaurant.”
So, Mother could use the internet. I knew now that the machine in the box in her room had been a computer. She must have fired it up after I ran away.
“I might recollect someone by that name posting,” Harry said easily. “But she never showed.”
A silence ensued. I peeked up at Harry and his gaze was boring into her, his elbows braced on the bar.
“Might I have a look around, then?” Mother asked.
Shoot. If she moved to the side, she’d be able to see me. The counter didn’t fill the entire wall, so if you walked to the end, you could easily glance behind it.
“Certainly,” Harry said.
I kicked out my boot to smack his ankle. He didn’t even flinch.
I covered my face with the towel, which reeked of beer and lime juice. She couldn’t do anything to me, not really. I was an adult with a job and my own apartment. I had nothing to fear.
Still, I did. She knew secrets about me. That I had seizures. Could she make one happen? I didn’t know.
I risked another peek and saw Big Harry gesturing toward the opposite end of the counter. Charles, one of our regulars who kept a semi-permanent residence on one of the stools, stumbled off his chair.
He headed over to the juke box and dropped in several coins. A corny country song came on, and he moved out of my sight.
Harry winked down at me.
“Can I have this dance?” Charles asked, and I knew thesudden gasp was my mother. “Come on, darling. It’s my favorite song.”
Rapid footsteps headed in the direction of the door. The light brightened, then dimmed again.
“Is she gone?” I asked.
