Sam took the hint and nodded. “So, Ryker and I are going to the fall fair next Saturday. I was wondering if you and Hector wanted to join us?”
“Like a double date?”
He smiled mischievously. “Interesting choice of words. Last I’d heard, you two were just friends. Is there a relationship status update between you and Hector that I should know about?”
“Can’t say that I have anything to report,” I said mysteriously. I should really confirm with Hector before telling people, so for now, I’d keep my mouth shut despite wanting to shout it from the rooftop. But myloopy smile probably gave me away. Sam laughed and patted me on the back.
“See if you can’t lure your man away from the kitchen for a morning, huh? A double date sounds fun. And hey, call me if you want to talk. About anything.”
I nodded and waved as he walked back to his table, where his gramps and Junior were waiting for him.
“A double date, huh?” Becca’s voice sounded from right behind me.
“Holy moly!” I screeched and almost whacked her in the face with how quickly I turned her way. It seemed everyone was insistent on giving me a heart attack today. “Warn a man, will you?”
Becca ignored me and swung an arm around my shoulder. “I’ve seen you smitten with him for so long that I can instantly tell something is different now. But fine, you two want to keep it under wraps? I can keep my mouth shut. But just so you know, I’ll be the first to celebrate once you start telling people. Iwillbe one of the first people you tell, right? I must get employee privileges or something.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a true Kither Spring-er or whatever the hell you call yourselves?”
“Born and raised,” she said, puffing up her chest. “And we like to call ourselvesKitherians. Or at least I do. It sounds so much cooler than the alternative, don’t ya think?”
She shot me a wink, then was on her way. I smiledas I shook my head. Becca was a handful, but she made her support of us very clear. Which was very much appreciated.
My crush on the older man had been an open secret around these parts, and people had voiced their concerns to me mostly about our age difference. And there were those who still had the misguided belief that Hector wasn’t the sweetheart that he was, and tried to warn me off with rumors that had circled around him since childhood.
I never listened to them, of course, but what all of that had taught me was that there were still many people in town who greatly misunderstood Hector.
They never saw past his rough exterior and the rumors that surrounded him to get to know the giant, sweet man that he was. And that freaking broke my heart for him.
It made me want to prove that much more that he deserved the love and happiness he thought he’d never have.
Chapter Ten
HECTOR
“Hey, Rhett. How are you doing?” I said after clicking on the video call.
“Good! We’re in San Francisco this week, so it’s a little chilly tonight. I’m missing the Kither Springs winters,” he answered with a laugh.
I pushed my glasses higher up my nose. I didn’t wear them often, but I liked being able to see Rhett more clearly on the tiny screen during our calls.
Rhett smiled at the action. I smiled too and felt a little nostalgia. It’d been a while since I’d last seen him in person. Rhett was a kid from town who grew up in the foster system here. I hadn’t had much interaction with him, or most kids in town for that matter, until I found him hanging around the diner late one night when he was sixteen.
He’d snuck out past curfew, wandering around and rubbing his stomach like he’d been starving. He’d lookedso sad and defeated that I wanted to do something for him, but I knew my reputation around town and didn’t want to spook him by offering to help. Angelina had gone to bed early that night, so I couldn’t have her deliver him something to eat.
It just so happened that I hadn’t finished the dishes for that night, so I approached and asked if he wanted to wash the dishes for a meal. He’d accepted. He’d been shocked when I’d offered him a job as a part-time dishwasher at the diner, but he’d quickly agreed.
The foster home he’d been living in at the time had probably signed off on it, thinking he was better off at a job than wandering the streets late at night, or maybe they just wanted to wash their hands of him.
Angelina had been pissed when I’d made the decision without asking her, which I’d understood. It wasn’t like the place had been doing especially well back then. Since The Diner was one of the few sit-down eating establishments in town, we got enough customers to keep us afloat, but not enough to warrant an employee.
But even if I had to give myself a smaller paycheck and be on the other end of Angelina’sberating, I hadn’t regretted the decision to hire Rhett one bit. Even after just a few months of working with the boy, I saw a lot of myself in him.
We were both put in a world that had never cared for us, but I didn’t want his story to end up like mine. I wanted him to know that—even if it was just me—there was one person in this world who cared for him.
If Angelina hadn’t adamantly rejected it, I would have adopted him as my very own, even if he was going to be an adult in a couple years. I understood her reasoning for not wanting children. She had her own trauma she dealt with, and I knew what I’d signed up for when I’d agreed to be with her.
Even without the legal papers, I’d like to think Rhett knew I thought of him like a son. The years we had together, I tried teaching him everything he needed to know to survive. The first being how to feed himself.
