Now? They were smiling while giving me neighborly “hellos” and making polite small talk despite my lack of conversational skills. For the first time in my life, I had something akin to a community. Well, it was more like a community had formed near me, and I was on the border of it.
I knew this unexpected shift in the people around me wasn’t all due to Atlas, but it was true that these changes had started after he arrived.
It was like Atlas had shown me somegoodin this world, and that only attracted more of it into my life. Or maybe the younger man’s optimistic mindset had rubbed off on me.
I chuckled to myself.
I guess youcanteach an old dog new tricks.
Chapter Six
ATLAS
The rest of the day was spent in a distracted blur. I’d gotten a couple of orders wrong, which I felt terrible about, but the customers were all understanding.
Hector kept glancing at me between his orders. I knew his frowns were only out of concern, and I hated it. I hated feeling like I was letting him down, because despite my hopefulness, the stalker problem hadn’t gone away by itself.
I knew it was time to come clean to Hector and admit that this wasn’t something I could handle on my own. I was an idiot to have hidden it the first time the stalker broke into Hector’s home, and it would only be reckless if I continued to keep it from him. Not when the stalker had been so close without me even noticing.
Becca had clocked out hours ago, and there was only one table left, who seemed content with their owncompany. Without anything to distract me, I racked my brain trying to figure out who this stalker could be.
I grabbed a rag and started wiping down the nearest table. By the time every free surface in the dining area was sparkling, all I had was a dirty bucket of water and sore hands.
“Let’s close up and head upstairs,” Hector said and took the rag from me.
“I still need to ring out the last customer?—”
I looked toward where my last table should have been to find it empty and cleaned.
“I already took care of it.”
I frowned, but Hector was already turning away. He clicked off the sign and locked the front door. I headed to the back to grab the broom, but Hector stopped me.
“Leave it for tomorrow.”
My frown deepened. Hector was very particular about doing a full cleanup of the diner before calling it a night. It was probably why, despite the place looking a little old and worn out, everything was still in pretty good condition. The place was well taken care of.
And now here he was, compromising his routinefor me.
My hands clenched at my sides. “We’ll clean up first,” I insisted. I practically sprinted to grab the broom from the back.
Hector was still standing in the same place when I returned. I ignored his very potent gaze and focused on sweeping a corner of the diner. Whenever I was in thesame vicinity as him, I was always aware of his presence. Which meant it was extra hard to ignore him now when he was so focused on me.
Hector moved quietly to my side. “Atlas,” he murmured my name like a whisper. It took everything in me not to look at him and focus on my cleaning task. “I can do this tomorrow morning. Right now, I’d really like to talk.”
My bottom lip wobbled, and I let my gaze slip between my feet to try to regain my emotions. “I can do it. I’ll be quick.”
“Atlas…I can do it tomorrow. Let’s head upstairs.”
Hector tried to take the broom from me, but I had it in a death grip. Honestly, the wooden broom was probably the only thing keeping me upright at that moment.
It was another reminder of the things he’d given up for me. Another reminder that instead of adding to his life, I was only making things more difficult for him.
Hector tried to take the broom again, and this time, I couldn’t control myself.
“I said I would do it!” I snapped. I didn’t mean for the words to come out so harshly, but I was already drained and spread thin. I was dreading the upcoming conversation, and maybe that was another reason I was so insistent on cleaning up first.
“Is everything okay?” Hector asked. His hands still covered mine over the stupid broom, but he didn’t try to take it from me anymore. “I wish you’d tell me. I want to help.”
