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She handed the boy the money. “Keep the change, Robby,” she told him as she took the food.
“Wow, thanks, Miss Mackay. And tell your family I said hey. Natches was in the pizza house last week right at closing. He had to sweet-talk the owner into opening the kitchen long enough to bake his wife one of those pizzas she’s been craving. ”
Another forced smile, a little laugh. “Chaya likes her pizza. ”
“Yeah. And always right at or right after closing. ” Robby grinned. “They always give Natches grief, but he talks them into it. ”
“He
can be a charmer,” Janey agreed.
“Night, then, Miss Mackay. ” Robby nodded his shaggy head. “Take care. ”
“Good night, Robby. ”
She closed the door and locked it. She paused for a second, then turned, tossed the food to the table, and faced Alex.
“There’s your damned food. What you don’t want, put in the fridge. You can eat it tomorrow night. I’m going to bed. ”
And he let her go. She felt his eyes on her, felt the hunger behind her, but he let her go. Only Fat Cat followed, meowing softly as he jumped up on her bed and stared at her as though questioning why she wasn’t watching the news. Why she was crying.
And yes, there were tears. For just a moment. As she sat at the edge of the bed, risked Fat Cat’s displeasure, and pulled him into her arms.
His fur caught her tears, but the ragged sobs were contained inside her chest. Where they had always been contained, all her life.
The man she had always fantasized about had touched her, and he was ashamed of her. Now just how was that for hell?
FIVE
“Faisal, Desmond needs more cilantro for the dinner course this evening. I need you to run to the grocery and pick up whatever you can find. ” Janey caught Natches’s adopted son as he entered the restaurant several days later.
The young man, dressed in black slacks and a white shirt for waiting tables, moved to her quickly, his black eyes and desert-dark skin a sharp contrast to the white shirt.
“Janey, Mary Lee just called in sick,” Hoyt called out from the register counter. “I’m calling Tabitha back in if she can make it. ”
Janey shoved the cash into Faisal’s hands. “Do that, Hoyt,” she called out before turning back to Faisal.
“Jane, Natches says I am to stay here. I’m not to take my eyes from you,” Faisal told her softly, concern reflecting in his dark eyes. “He will be upset if I go to the grocery. ”
“I’ll be more upset if you don’t go,” she told him impatiently. “Look at this place, Faisal. Who would be crazy enough to try to attack me in this chaos?”
Waitresses were moving around preparing the tables and waiting stations. There was pandemonium, as usual, just an hour from opening.
“I need that cilantro and I need you to go after it now, before Desmond has a meltdown in the back. If that happens, I’m going to tell him it’s your fault. ”
Indecision and a flicker of wariness flitted through Faisal’s dark gaze. Everyone was scared of Desmond’s wrath, even Janey.
“Go. ” She pushed at his shoulders. “Natches will never know. Cross my heart. ”
He went reluctantly, casting a worried look over his shoulder as he headed out. Janey smoothed her hands down her pencil-slim skirt and moved quickly to help the waitresses prepare for the first rush of customers. Once the dining room was prepared and the doors opened, it was a madhouse of keeping service and quality at perfected levels while ignoring the jibes and comments of many of the customers.
“Hoyt, we’re going to need more flowers from the florist. ” She moved quickly to the register and wrote the sticky note before taping it into the memo program of the register computer. “We’ll be in sorry shape if we don’t have them first thing. ”
The assortment of small flowers in a tiny vase at each table was a personal touch that she knew would be missed if they weren’t there.
“I can pick them up on my way in. ” Hoyt nodded, making a note in his PDA as well. “I should have the
morning clear. The nurse will be with Mother in the morning. ”
