Page 94 of Theirs to Treasure

“Thank God, you’re here! Please save me from Dane and Eric. They aren’t allowed to do anything that involves icing, okay?”

“Come on, girls, I’ll introduce you to the Nordic giants,” Sam said, as he motioned them to the back. Sarah and Becca grinned. This was going to be a lot more interesting than they had anticipated.

At closing time, everyone but Elise and Bill trooped over to Hart’s Diner for dinner. Walter had been promoted from busboy to waiter, so Lola was only working half-shifts. This made her husbands happier, and her crazier. They compromised by allowing her to work as a hostess during the other half of her shift.

Lola was hostessing when they arrived and she ended up sitting with the Sweet Dreams Desserts’ team for dinner, because, as she explained, Hart’s Diner really didn’t need a hostess so she could damn well sit down with her friends for dinner.

“Eat well tonight, my friends, for tomorrow, we close,” Lola intoned.

“Getting ready for the feeding frenzy on Saturday?” Josie asked.

“You betcha. Aren’t you closing tomorrow?”

“A nice friend would have suggested that much sooner, Lola,” Josie said.

“Oh, my God, you’re right. I’m so sorry. I’ve been in my own little world. I should have thought to tell you that…” Lola trailed off, clearly distraught.

“Hey, Honey, I was just teasing. I should have thought of that all by myself. It’s no big deal. I’ll remember to do that next year. I would close early, but too many people are coming to collect their orders tomorrow.”

Lola looked again at Josie, ensuring that she wasn’t mad, and Josie smiled at her.

“What are the specials?” Eric asked. “I want two.”

Becca giggled. Josie had noticed that both Sarah and Becca had been doing a lot of giggling around the Johansen brothers all day. She’d be glad tomorrow, when it was Ian and Joshua’s turn to help out.

“So, Rob, did you expect all of this when you studied restaurant management?” Sam asked.

“There are definitely aspects of what I learned at school that I’m using here at Sweet Dreams,” he said. “It’s truly daunting how much hard work goes into managing small operations like the bakery and the diner. When I left school, I thought I could manage a restaurant three times this size, no problem. Now, I’m thinking I’d be lucky to be ready to run Hart’s in three years’ time.”

“Yeah, life is funny like that,” Sam said. “But, actually, Rob, the fact that you recognize that, puts you head and shoulders above most of your peers. You’ll do great.”

Josie watched as Rob preened, and realized how Sam was doing exactly what Becca had noticed, building a young man’s self-confidence. He would make an outstanding social worker. She squeezed his thigh under the table, and he raised his eyebrow in question. When he leaned over, she gave him a kiss on the cheek, and he smiled.

* * *

“So, what was that about in the restaurant tonight?” Sam asked, as they were settling comfortably into bed.

“Oh, when I was giving this manly thigh a squeeze?” Josie squeezed his thigh again.

“Yep, that’s it.”

“You did a nice job with Rob tonight. I’ve told him how much I appreciate him, and I think it means something to him. But your praise really made a difference to him, I could tell. I bet the men in your platoon loved you.” She looked up at him as she said that.

“Sometimes I think it was a bad thing, you know?” He looked down at her, blinking fast.

“No, Honey, I don’t know. Can you explain it to me?” She stroked his chest.

“Like Dan. He’s the one who was running to get the crowbar for Nathan. I know that some of them wouldn’t have run so fast for other lieutenants. Maybe he’d still be alive, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten shot.”

Josie’s eyes darkened in confusion and she said, “Oh, Sam, couldn’t he have been running fast because he liked Nathan?” She watched as hope and recognition blossomed in his eyes.

“My God, Chance is right. I really do look at things through the filter of my childhood. If there’s a way to make myself wrong or bad, I’m going to do it, no matter what.”

“And I’m going to tell you what you told Rob. That with that realization, you are now head and shoulders above your peers with fucked-up childhoods.” Then she gave him a wide smile. “Except for me, of course. I’m still more put together than you.”

“I love you, Ms. Decker.”

“I love you, Mr. Booth.”