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But when I got upstairs, no one was around except for Oak. He was behind the bar changing out a beer keg. I walked over. “Oak? Do you know where Rush is?”
“Haven’t seen him since he dropped off your chair and car.”
My chair?
“He’s not here?”
“Nope.” He finished pushing the keg into its tight space and wiped his hands on a towel. “Figured you knew that. He left your car keys and that chair he bought. Said he was taking the night off.”
My stomach clenched. “Oh. Okay. Thank you.”
I sulked my way back down the stairs and went to dig my phone from my purse. I hadn’t checked it since I’d left the house. Maybe Rush had texted to let me know he wouldn’t be in tonight. Of course, deep down, I knew from the empty feeling in the pit of my stomach that there’d be no text. But that didn’t stop me from checking.
An overwhelming sadness came over me when I confirmed he hadn’t sent a text. I tried to tell myself that it didn’t mean anything. Rush just needed some time to let everything sink in. Who wouldn’t? It hadn’t truly sunk in for me yet either.
When Oak came back downstairs, I forced myself to get busy. Work would at least be a distraction. I did my usual pre-opening routine, although I set up my cellphone to vibrate when any new texts came in and then slipped it into my pocket while I went about getting everything ready for the night. Even though it never vibrated, I checked it incessantly anyway.
Oak stopped by the hostess station while I was slipping the paper with the printed daily specials into the plastic menu jackets. “Five minutes to opening, G.”
“Okay. Thanks.” When he started to walk away, a thought dawned on me. “Oak?”
He turned back. “Hmmm?”
“Where is this chair I’m sitting on supposed to go? You said Rush dropped it off. Does it belong in the office?”
“Nope. He said something about the hostesses needing a place to rest their feet.” He winked. “But I’m pretty sure there’s only one hostess whose feet Rush gives a crap about.”
Despite the sadness I felt from Rush not making contact at all today and taking the night off, which I suspected was to avoid me, I latched on to the fact that he’d taken the time to go out and buy a chair so that I could have a place to rest if I needed it. Not to mention, he’d also fixed my car to make sure I wouldn’t walk home. It was crazy to even think about, but Rush would make a really great father with all his protectiveness.
The restaurant stayed busy for the next few hours, so at least I couldn’t sit around obsessing too much over my situation. Forced smiles and friendly chitchat were basically most of my job. But by ten o’clock when things slowed down, and I’d practically killed my phone battery from constantly checking for a message that never arrived, I had no more fake smiles to give.
Oak noticed and stopped by. “You okay, G?”
“Yeah. Just a bit tired.” It wasn’t a lie. I was exhausted, both emotionally and physically.
Oak raised a single eyebrow. “Mmm-hmm. Boss looked just a bit tired when he stopped in, too.”
“Did he…say anything?”
“If you haven’t noticed, Rush is a thinker, not much of a talker.”
That comment was awarded my first genuine smile of the evening.
Oak looked over my shoulder into the dining room. “Looks like you only have one table left. They all finished?”
“Yeah. Just sipping their coffee. The waitress left them the bill, but they aren’t rushing to pay it so I can run the credit card.”
He nodded his head toward the door. “Go home. I’ll run the card. Get some rest. While you’re at it, call the man and tell him you forgive him for whatever stupid shit he did wrong.”
I wished it were that easy. “You sure you don’t mind?”
“Go home. Bossman would kick my ass if he knew I didn’t send you home when you needed to go.”
“Thanks, Oak.”I drove home in a fog. It was stupid of me, and in the future, I probably shouldn’t put myself at risk like that if I’m not feeling alert enough to drive. It wasn’t just me anymore I needed to think about. When I pulled up to my house, I killed the ignition and relaxed back into the driver’s seat. For the first time, I put my hand on my stomach. It felt surreal to acknowledge that there was a person growing inside of me.
“Hey. I’m…well, I guess I’m your mom.” I rubbed a gentle circle just below my belly button. “I feel like I should have introduced myself by now. But, I only found out you existed yesterday.” God. Has it really only been one day?
