“So?”
“He was flirting with her.” That made them laugh harder, and Mom chuckled, too.
“Well, I can’t blame the boy for his taste.” Deb shook her head and backed out of the room.
“Me neither,” Luke winked at her.
“Sometimes I hate being short.” Maggie took deep breaths with her hand over her heart. “At least I don’t get carded anymore.”
“This is my fault,” Luke told her. “I didn’t say anything to him about our date Saturday night.” He leaned against the counter and caught his breath, then turned to help her finish putting the clean dishes away.
“You don’t talk to him?”
Luke shrugged. “I barely see the kid. He’s up all night and sleeps most of the day.”
“Maybe you should spend more time with him. You could watchJujutsu Kaisenwith him.”
Luke considered that while she loaded the dishwasher and he showed her where they kept the detergent tabs. That wasn’t a bad idea. Although getting Aaron to do anything after what was probably a humiliating experience would be difficult.
They spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the house top to bottom. Maggie wielded the vacuum with expert precision. Mom remarked the house hadn’t been this clean since her in-laws came around. Maggie had blushed and brushed the praise off.
Mom ordered pizza for dinner from Tony’s and Aaron reappeared. No one mentioned the embarrassing incident. After dinner, Maggie helped Deb upstairs, and now just the two brothers sat together in the living room.
Aaron broke the silence. “Did we get the bill for Mom’s doctor yet?”
Luke shook his head. “If we did, I haven’t seen it. It usually takes a month or so for that to get processed.”
His brother drummed his fingers against the arm of the couch. “I can help.”
“We need help at thediner, Aaron. Not whatyou’redoing.” He hadn’t heard from Gabe yet whether the sheriff would be willing to act on the evidence he’d provided, so he wanted to keep it quiet.
Aaron scowled at him. “I make more than the diner.”
“But the diner is Mom’s livelihood. If it goes under, how will she support herself when she’s healed?” Or once Luke was back to his normal life, was the unspoken question.
“I can’t cook.” Aaron spat out.
“I’m not asking you to. You could be a server.”
Aaron gripped his hair, then shook his head back and forth. “I have to … I can’t… I won’t do it.”
Luke threw his hands up in the air. “Fine.” Propping his elbow up on the arm of the couch, he leaned his head down to rub at the ache starting at his temple. He’d figure something out.
Maggie came back downstairs and sat between them on the couch. “What’s going on?”
Luke sighed. “Just trying to figure out how to make the diner successful enough to pay for more help and Mom’s medical bills.”
“Who does your social media?”
“Mom doesn’t have social media for The Busy Bee.” Aaron answered her question.
“How about I do that? We can bring in more customers and then she can hire more help.” Maggie turned to Aaron. “Surely some of your classmates would be interested in earning some money.”
Aaron snorted. “I’m out of high school.”
“I see.” Maggie tapped her plump pink lip with the pad of her finger, and Luke wished they were alone. “Well, I can still help. If your mom agrees.” She pulled out her phone and did a quick search. “We can start with social media pages, then we should get a website going. If we can draw in more business from the surrounding area, that will help.”
Luke felt another weight drop from his shoulders. He wasn’t in this alone. That realization made him wrap his arm around her, bringing her head to his lips for a quick kiss. “You’re a genius, Mags.”
