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My brows furrow in confusion. “I’m not sure what you mean,” I state.
She giggles and hands me a fork. “You are perfect for him, I just know it.” She winks and slides back out of the kitchen into the diner.
Dante is full on laughing. “She is determined to have grandbabies,” he points out and I laugh uncomfortably.
I finish my food and eat way too much of it but it was the best I’ve ever had. Now that my stomach is full and warm, I make way into the part of the diner where everyone is seated.
Marie is in full swing practically running table to table, and I take that as my cue to jump in.
A man in a booth has his hand lifted like he is in school. I walk over to him and ask, “Can I help you with anything?”
He stares at me; his eyes and mouth are wide open. He doesn’t speak back. He has on a mechanic overall type of apparel and a name tag on the front of his shirt that reads ‘Seth’.
He still hasn’t spoken, and it starts to make me wonder if something is wrong with him. I look at Marie to see if she notices this. I start to get her when he reaches out and takes my hand.
I freeze, uncomfortable that he touched me, and slowly slip my hand out of his, swallowing hard.
He looks at me, his face no longer in shock like before at seeing me. “I will be seeing you later,” he says and he gets up, throwing some cash on the counter then running out the door.
Very strange.
I take the cash to Marie, and she puts it in the register. She gives me a look like I’m not supposed to be working but lets me help her clean up the booths and tables so that others can sit down.
I look around at Marie, the customers, and at my little apartment. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I have found a place where I’m meant to be.
Over the next couple of months, it became a routine with Marie and Dante. We’ve all become very close, but she hasn’t given up on her son coming to see her and meeting me.
I let her fawn over me. It makes her happy at the prospect of her having grandbabies one day.
Dante adores her and just smiles, shaking his head in disbelief at her antics. Seth has become a regular customer, but one I’m weary of. He watches me as I work, sometimes standing outside the glass window, staring, until I catch him.
I think he has some mental health issues, so I make sure to be extra nice to him because I don’t think he has many people on his side.
* * *
Terror
Three Months Later
* * *
I try not to roll my eyes for the thousandth time in the last couple of months because my mother has tried to set me up with her new waitress.
She has come up with every excuse in the world to get me to come to the diner to meet her.
The club has had me so busy that I haven’t had time to go and visit my mother. If I don’t go tonight, then I may end up murdered after canceling so many times. God knows that she means it.
It’s late afternoon and I promised I would meet her at the diner at eight o’clock to help shut it down and go to dinner after.
I would have never gone this long without seeing her if it wasn’t for her being with River’s dad, an ex-Navy Seal and I don’t worry about her as much.
Even if I don’t like the fucker half of the time because he can’t seem to keep his fucking hands to himself.
Hours later after I finished up at the club, I head to town and the diner. I see the first glimpse of the diner coming into view, and there is only one car in the parking lot.
I pull to a stop in front of the doors and wrench it open. “Ma, I’m here!” I grin, waiting for her to come from behind the back and tell me off.
She doesn’t but I catch a glimpse of someone’s eyes at the bottom of the small window on the swinging doors.
