“Jane wanted to come see you, and I was hungry, so it was an easy decision.” Charlie grinned broadly and leaned on the counter. “What’s good here?”
She glanced over at Will again. “Nothing’s good here. I would especially not recommend the Chicken Parmesan. It’s been sitting awhile.”
Jane started laughing and couldn’t stop. “This is why I love you, Elsie. You always tell it like it is.”
Will was about done with the whole Bennet family for the night. He knew his irritation was firmly rooted in Jeff Wickham showing up, but Elsie was right in front of him, and he needed to let off steam. “Are you saying we should go somewhere else to eat?”
Elsie turned and glared. “I don’t know. You’re pretty free with telling other people to leave. It shouldn’t be hard to figure out your own plans.”
He glared right back. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Hey, now, Will. She was making a joke. Take it easy.” Charlie motioned up at the board. “How about a large Hawaiian pizza. Will can pick off the pineapple.”
“Whatever.” Will crossed his arms and turned his back to the counter, hating being the third wheel, hating the smell of this horrible excuse for a restaurant, and hating the uselessness he felt at knowing he’d let that worm, Jeff, walk out.
The police had promised they’d take the case seriously. They said Jeff would get real jail time. But none of their promises meant anything now. Jeff had served his thirty days. A slap on the wrist if there ever was one.
“When do you get off, Elsie?” Charlie asked. “You should come hang out with us after work.”
Jane nodded vigorously.
Will didn’t turn around to see Elsie’s reaction. He already knew what it would be. But Charlie and Jane still wanted to make her the fourth to their happy party. It was so humiliating. For both of them.
Will needed to leave here. Charlie didn’t need his company. He could go home and help Gianna. Only she didn’t need him either. She’d found a new happiness, in spite of everything. The only one who couldn’t find happiness glared at him in the mirror every morning.
Charlie and Jane wandered over to an arcade game against the wall, and Will turned to watch Elsie in the back with Gerald. Whatever she was saying, she was using slow, simple words and big hand gestures. He didn’t know who he felt sorrier for, the girl stuck working with a slow cook or the slow cook constantly treated like a child.
She came back to the counter and sighed. “Make yourself comfortable. It might be a while. He usually puts the pineapple pieces on one by one, like he’s doing a puzzle.”
“It’s all right. We can wait.”
His calm response seemed to make her suspicious, and that made him laugh. “I’m sorry I was impatient the other night. Charlie was having a housewarming party and all the hors d'oeuvres were gone in the first five minutes. I volunteered to go get more food.”
She nodded in response and fiddled with a stack of paper menus. It would take more than a half-hearted apology to thaw the hard feelings she’d developed toward him. Why did he want to thaw them? That was a mystery better left unsolved.
“How’s your T-shirt business going?”
She glanced up and shrugged. “It’s fine.” She’d been so proud of it the other night, but now there was only hesitation and insecurity in her face.
“Did you draw the tree on that shirt you were wearing last night?”
She nodded. “Yeah, it’s the tree in my front yard, only, a little more colorful. I posted about it on our website, and now we get requests for other people’s trees. A lot of people want shirts with their bonsai tree on the front. I know that probably sounds dumb to you.”
“No. If there’s a market for something, you follow it. That’s business.”
The phone rang, and she walked away to take an order over the phone, occasionally sneaking glances back at him. He watched her wind the long strings from her apron around her fingers. When she turned to the side and leaned against the wall, her apron moved, revealing her grey T-shirt underneath. Assuming it was another one of her creations, he studied it and his breath caught. No way, it couldn’t be what he thought it was.
He waited until she hung up and walked back.
“So, what big plans do the three of you have tonight?” she asked, a mean sparkle in her eye. Considering all the ribbing he’d given her, it was a well-deserved jab.
“Go ahead. Tease me because your sister stole my best friend. Would it be better if I ran around frantically looking for a date to even out the numbers?”
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” she asked with a grin.
He ignored the question. It wasn’t meant to be flirtatious, only mean. “So, can I see today’s T-shirt?”
Pretending to misunderstand him, she took out her phone and pulled up her website. “We do have a T-shirt of the day, actually. Here, take a look.”
