Page 96 of Spurred On

She hated her job, hated her apartment and hated the hollow feel of her existence.

“Family is more important,” she said. And it was true.

“I can’t let you give all that up. I’ll move back.”

A familiar annoyance at her sister—who always had to be the goody-two-shoed hero—rose like bile in her throat. “No. You won’t. You have Logan to think about. And your career.” Hanna had found tremendous success with her paintings after years of rejection. It was unthinkable that she sacrifice everything she’d struggled for when all Sidney had to release was exceptional failure.

“But Sidney—”

Well, crap.Hanna’s expression was tortured.

It was time to reveal the truth.

“Hanna. I work as a bikini barista. It’s not going to kill me to give that up.”

“But you’ve spent years building your career.”

“It’s not a career.” And Wayne, the owner, didn’t see her any different than all the other girls, with the singular exception of the fact that she was the only one getting long in the tooth. All the other girls left—for something exciting—long before they achieved any kind of tenure. The only reason Sidney was the “manager” was because she was the one who regularly showed up for work. Because she had nothing else to do. No parties, no dates, no real friends. Nothing.

And she had to wear a bikini to work.

At her age.

It was practically pathetic.

“I’m ready for a change.” Another surprise, but her mouth seemed to have its own mind tonight.

Claire and Lisa exchanged a glance and when Lisa nodded, Claire said, “Well, if you’re interested, we’ve been thinking about bringing on more help at the ranch.”

Sidney stared at her. Then laughed. It was a harsh offering. “You realize I have no salable skills?”

“You can make coffee,” Claire pointed out.

“Only if I’m in a bikini.” And yeah, her tone was slightly sarcastic.

“It’s not brain surgery,” Lisa said. “As we get more bookings we need help with everything from making beds to serving meals.”

“And setting up the events,” Claire said. “Sheesh. I could use some help with that.”

“You guys are just saying that.” She loved that they would lie like this to make her feel better, but it did make her a tad uncomfortable. What with her so used to being a loner and all. This . . . belonging shit was new to her and would require some adjustment.

Claire frowned at her. “No. We’re not just saying that.” She turned her frown on Lisa. “Are we?”

“We’re absolutely overwhelmed. And to be frank, I could use a sous chef in the kitchen.”

“My cooking is hardly at chef caliber.”

Lisa shot a disparaging glance at Claire. “But you can bake a potato without having it explode, right?”

Sidney tipped her head to the side. “Why would it explode? You just poke it with a fork.”

To which Lisa sniffed and stared superciliously at Claire. “Exactly.”

“What? No one told me to poke the freaking potatoes.”

“Because everyone knows you poke the potatoes. And then there’s the little-known cooking skill called putting the lid on the blender.”

“That only happened twice.”