“Nice to meet you both. Thanks again for the banana.” I raised it like a salute. “I’ll get out of your way now.”
“Wait!” she blurted.
I paused, eyebrows raised.
“You could…” Her brown eyes darted to Amos like she knew he wasn’t going to like this and back again. “You could stay. I mean, you’re hungry, right? We’vealready fed the cowboys and ranch hands, so now we’re making our own breakfast before we get started on the guests’.”
“Really?” I looked at Amos, who I suspected was the boss of the kitchen.
He grunted, arms still crossed. “You stay? You help.Thenyou can eat.”
“Amos!” Cecily hissed. “You can’t make Lennon cook. She’s a guest—” she broke off, biting her lip, then squinted at me curiously. “Youarea guest, aren’t you? No offense, but you don’t look like a ranch hand.”
I nodded, relieved she didn’t recognize me but feeling silly for thinking she would. “I’m here through July.”
“So what?” Amos said. “All the guests help out at the ranch. It’s part of their healing process. Helps them discover a new purpose or something. Anyway, we’re down a hand. Miguel is out for the week visiting family.”
“I don’t mind helping,” I said quickly. “What are we making?”
“Scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits,” Amos barked. “I’m on eggs and bacon. You can help Cecily with the biscuits.”
My stomach sank. Cooking and baking were two different skills, in my mind. I never used a recipe when I cooked, preferring to season food to my taste. Baking required precision. But I forced a smile. “Sure.” I pulled my hair back into a braid, fastened it with the blackband I always kept on my wrist, and moved to the sink. “Let me wash my hands first. Do you have a recipe?”
Cecily nodded at the sheet of paper pinned to the wall. “Right there, but I’ve got it memorized.”
I looked it over as I dried my hands. Fractions. Those were the worst. Always moving around and making no sense. So fucking sneaky. “How about you tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it? That way I’m not running back and forth from the prep station to the recipe. Go slowly, okay?”
She shrugged. “Sure. No problem.”
I smiled at her. “I love your hair, by the way. It’s my favorite color.”
“Really?” She rubbed her hairline with her forearm. “I was about to change it to red. I like to cycle through the rainbow. But I guess I’ll keep it purple while you’re here.”
My smile widened and I bumped her hip with mine. “Cecily, I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
5
LENNON
Havingnothing to do had the odd effect of making me want to dosomething. After making breakfast for two dozen ranch hands, the staff, and the guests, I’d headed back to my cabin for a little rest and relaxation.
Five minutes into my audiobook, I was itching for something to keep my hands busy.
I didn’t know how to do nothing. Even my vacations were work. Benny’s rent-free apartment was the closest I ever came to a steady paycheck, and I never once forgot that. When every cent you made was dependent on making people want to be around you, turning it off even for a moment meant eating nothing but cereal for a month. I was alwayson.
Hustling was second nature to me. I’d been doing itsince Terri Allen had knocked on our door looking for a babysitter.
“Your mama home?” she’d asked, peering over my shoulder. I knew she saw Mom’s bare feet dangling over the couch armrest when her shoulders rolled forward. “She sleepin’?”
I nodded, and Terri’s face fell. Then she straightened, her expression canny as she sized up my nine-year-old self. “What are you up to this evening?”
“Making sure Mom doesn’t burn the house down,” I said honestly. Mom didn’t do drugs, but she drank, and she had a disconcerting habit of leaving things burning and then passing out. The stove, a cigarette, a candle. I’d learned to keep a full watering can under the sink for emergencies.
“She been sleepin’ long?” Terri asked.
“Only about ten minutes.”
Terri smoothed her hands over the white button-down and pleated black pants that the diner made her wear. “She’ll be down for a while. It wouldn’t be much trouble for you to watch them both, would it? I got an extra shift at the diner, and I can’t say no. You’re a good kid, Lennie. Mia loves you.”
