“Cass, you’re rambling,” Ronan snaps, cutting her off. I’m glad he did it, but at the same time I’m also irked that he was so harsh with her. Cassidy is annoying in a harmless way. Ronan is purposefully aggressive and agitating.
“I have a wall unit AC in the bedroom,” I reply to her. “But I don’t run it much because it drips and customers walking in the back door could get wet.”
There. So now she knows I live in the apartment above this place. It can’t hurt, right? I mean her mother would find out for her stupid blog one way or another, even if Cassidy isn’t playing investigative reporter right now. Terra is back and she slips behind the counter to clear Mr. Hobbs’ now empty chowder bowl as he stands up. “I’ll ring up Mr. Hobbs and I’ll meet you in the back. Can you get Javi? Mary should be here any minute.”
I wipe the now-clean blender and as I put it back on the base, Cassidy speaks again. “Before you go, can I have some mayo so I can steal some of my brother’s fries?”
I don’t respond with words. I just grab a couple of packets of mayo out of the take-out condiment baskets and turn around and hand them to her. I force a smile. “Thanks, sweetheart.”
Cassidy grins at me and she might as well have cartoon hearts for irises. I fully intend to ignore it, but Ronan isn’t going to let me. I take one step back but before I can turn around and retreat through the swinging door that leads to the kitchen, Ronan says, “You’re wasting your energy Cass. You don’t have the right anatomy for Declan, remember?”
“Ronan,” Cassidy hisses her brother’s name in disapproval.
“What? I can’t speak the truth?” Ronan asks, annoyed and I know I should turn around and leave. I shouldn’t engage because this will surely only get worse, but for some reason I don’t move. I’m stuck there with nothing but countertop between us, staring at Ronan Green’s bitter face. “You like dick now, right?”
Terra, who is standing in front of the cash register a few feet away, with Mr. Hobbs on the other side, gasps. Loudly. I’m still too frozen to do anything, my body fighting with the idea of either reaching across the counter and slugging him or staring through him, until he just hopefully gets up and leaves. The couple tables within earshot have fallen silent. All eyes are on us. Terra lifts her hand and opens her mouth. I know whatever she’s about to say is likely not fit for our customers’ ears and I turn my head to stop her but Mr. Hobbs gently touches her arm, silencing her tirade before it begins.
He turns towards Ronan and blinks his watery eyes and then, in a calm cool voice, says, “Don’t worry. He doesn’t want yours, Ronan. He was raised better than that.”
Terra gasps again, but this time with a grin on her face. Then she hands Mr. Hobbs back his ten-dollar bill. “You just earned yourself a free meal, Mr. Hobbs.”
“Rubbish.” He shakes his head. “I don’t need a reward for being a good person.”
He insists on paying and Terra begrudgingly lets him. Ronan shoves his plate of fries towards his sister and reaches for his Coke, sighing like he’s somehow been wronged. “Look, I ain’t homophobic. Just stating a fact. I mean, fuck. You’re the one that told everyone.”
“I told my family,” I corrected him, my voice a growl. “But like everything else in this town, word got out. Kind of like how we all know Courtney left you because you cheated on her and now she’s run off to Florida with Uber Jay. At least I’m not the reason everyone in this town has to walk places now.”
Ronan jumps off the barstool but I’m already through the swinging door. I barely hear Cassidy warn him to sit down and Terra tell him to chill out or get out. Javi looks up from the cook top where he’s stirring a huge pot of chowder. “You okay?”
I nod sharply. “Terra needs you out there.”
“Yeah.” He starts to untie his apron. “Ollie is covering the kitchen. And I’ll run back and forth if there’s a rush.”
“Shouldn’t be,” I reply.
“You sure you’re okay?” Javi tilts his head. I forget how well he knows me. When I married his sister Nova, he was still a minor and he lived with us. He was a good kid but he was hurting at the time, because their dad had been deported, and he was on the brink of becoming a problem child. Luckily, he let Nova and I parent him. He learned to listen and trust. So lying to him now isn’t fair.
“Ronan is out there and he was a bit of a… well, his typical self,” I admit. “And I let him get to me.”
Javi nods slowly. He’s got very little resemblance to Nova. His hair is darker, his eyes are lighter. His nose is kind of crooked and his chin is more pronounced. But they have the same laugh and the same deep seeded need to help others. “Well, rumor has it that he’s applying for a vacancy at a different fire station. Maybe if we’re lucky, it’ll be on the other side of the state.”
“Don’t get my hopes up,” I mutter, and Javi squeezes my shoulder as he passes.
Ma pokes her head out of the break room and her face lights up when she sees me. “Hi sweetie! You look skinny. Have you been eating?”
“You saw me yesterday,” I remind her. “You see me almost every day. I look the same as I always do.”
“Mrs. Butterfield said she saw you run by her house at five in the morning the other day,” Ma says, her long hair loose instead of in its standard ponytail because she’s not working today. “If you’re running again, you know you need to up your carbs and protein. You used to have those shakes when you were on the track team, remember? The ones Abbott got you into. Do you want me to buy you some of that powder again?”
I walk over and kiss the top of her head. “Ma, I don’t need you to buy me food or protein powder or anything. I’m eating. I promise.”
“If you say so.” She sighs like she’s forcing herself to believe me and it’s an effort. But she smiles up at me with so much love. Ma is the best human being I know. Not faultless, but still the closest thing to an angel I’ve ever known. I bend to kiss the top of her head and she gives me a tiny, tight hug.
“Can we get this show on the road?” Logan calls out. “Chloe and I have a date with River. We’re finally letting him watch the newerStar Warsmovies and he’s going to pout if we’re late.”
I walk in and Chloe waves at me from her position next to Logan at the long wooden table. She’s smiling softly. She’s shy by nature and I still think she doesn’t feel she should be included in these family meetings. After all, she isn’t technically an employee. But she is family now and that’s even more important. Dad is lying on the couch, eyes closed, but he says, “Hey Deck.”
Finn is sitting at the table across from Logan and Chloe with an extra-large milkshake in front of him. “I don’t care how skinny anyone thinks you are, I’m not sharing my shake.”
