“That’s fair.” Angelica nodded. Eva four years ago would have jumped at the opportunity, but this Eva was a preteen and growing up faster than anyone could keep up with. That much was clear. No longer were they searching for her as she ran away when things got tense. No, now they were watching to see what shenanigans she would get up to.
And just what exactly they’d have to clean up later.
“But…” Eva’s cheeks tinged red. “I do want to start running.”
“Running?” Angelica furrowed her brow. “Like distance running?”
Eva nodded.
“Why would you be interested in running?” Angelica rested her hand on top of Hope’s, threading their fingers together and holding tight. It felt good to do that in public, in front of Eva. They weren’t hiding any longer.
“It looks fun.” Eva cocked a half-grin at Angelica, and without a doubt, Angelica knew she’d melt in an instant at that smile no matter what. “I have to do a PE credit, and I thought I could do long-distance running.”
“Track,” Angelica corrected.
“Yeah, sure.” Eva was still grinning.
The thought of running hadn’t even really occurred to her. But now having that placed in her lap, it might be good to burn off the frustrations that kept coming up. She’d have to move her runs up, because she was pretty damn sure that neither Hope nor Rex would allow Eva to run with her in the middle of the night, which was her preferred time to go.
“If your parents are fine with it, sure.” Angelica squeezed Hope’s fingers. “It’d be good to get back to running.”
She hadn’t been as consistent with it since the car accident last year, but like Eva, she did want to get back into it.
“We can go tomorrow.”
“Perfect!” Eva clapped her hands together in a mirror of her mother and then jumped up and down.
“Ms. Shields?” Lyric stepped in front of her, hair mussed and dark circles under her eyes.
Angelica paused, not quite sure what to say. The concern lit her up, but she and Lyric never had a close relationship like that. Still, the way Lyric looked right now didn’t sit right with her. With the inquiry she’d just come from, though, she wasn’t goingto pry deeper into employee’s personal problems. Nope. Not at all.
“I have your room key,” Lyric said.
“Good.” She squeezed Hope’s hand again and then leaned over to give her a quick kiss. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Hope steppedinto the back of the small food truck, finally alone in there for the first time. She’d managed to get a semi-decent look yesterday, but today, she wanted to explore and open every nook and cranny that she possibly could.
Because why not?
She’d never owned a food truck, and that side of the business was something beyond her general understanding. She didn’t really see the appeal and couldn’t see it ever blending with the style of food she was known for. But she did also love grubby, greasy food.
Running her fingers over the edges of the short counter, Hope just breathed it in. Everything in here was clean, which was a good sign. It meant that they were at least following the basic rules of hygiene. She’d have to check on the food stores later on, because those were definitely not here on the truck.
She opened cabinets, pulled out drawers. Everything was perfectly clean and in place. This was either their complete norm, or they were doing this to just try and impress her because they knew she was coming and they didn’t want to get yelled at. Hope breathed a sigh.
“Up to your standards, Chef?” Kora popped her head through the back door of the food truck.
“It is.” Hope crossed her arms and quirked her lips in Kora’s direction. They’d met yesterday, and one thing Hope had picked up quickly was that Kora was a force to be reckoned with. She was short, butch, and didn’t hold much back. In fact, she reminded Hope of Cadence but with more finesse.
“Good.” Kora stepped inside. “We need to set up for the day.”
“The day?” Hope stared at her curiously. “I thought you did dinner service only.”
“Yeah, at The Montford. But we have a spot every week around Asheville where we sell lunch, and then we come back here.”
