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Why do I get the feeling I’m being bribed with time with your mother?

Would that work? Because I’m not above playing dirty.

Five days of work for every Sunday tea. Final offer.

You drive a hard bargain, Shepherd.

Is that a yes?

It’s not a no.

A few minutes passed before he replied.

The driver will pick you up at 10.

Thirty

Later that evening, I let Ravi and Maribel have an evening alone and joined my mother for dinner. To her, my dilemma was a silly hurdle I barely needed to raise my leg to step over. It was only when I mentioned applying for work at the diner that she went full-on Audra Honeycutt.

“You ain’t workin’ at my diner,” she said from her spot across the kitchen table. She still sported her short-sleeved pink dress with the apron from her shift earlier while we munched on an assortment of purloined food items from the diner’s menu—a chicken pot pie, fried chicken with grits, and a bowl of green beans.

“Why not?” I asked.

“For one, you got a perfectly respectable job selling whiskey to people who probably don’t need it, and two, if a young, pretty thing like you starts serving the regulars, my tips’ll disappear faster than singles in a strip joint.”

I let my jaw drop. “Mom!”

“Baby, I’d usher you right on in if I thought you really needed the job, but you don’t. They offered you a whole big pile of money to keep that cushy setup you got going there, so just dive in like Scrooge McDuck.”

“There’s more to consider here⁠—”

“Like what?” She chewed her food dramatically. “That man is a coward. He’s got no weapons but words, and what did I teach you about words, baby girl?”

“Words say more about the speaker than the subject,” I chanted.

“And what did that man’s words say about him?”

I tapped the tines of my fork against the plastic plate before me, considering. Mom remained quiet, awaiting my answer. Eventually, I met her eyes. “He’s scared of me.”

A proud smile stretched her pink lips. “Your mama didn’t raise no dummy.”

Grinning down at my plate, I scooped another bite into my mouth.

“Now, let’s talk about the real issue,” she said.

I raised a confused eyebrow.

She speared me with her knowing green stare. “This thing with the Shepherd boy. Is it going to be a problem?”

The food caught in my throat, and I choked. “What thing?”

“Darlin’, when a man holds your hand the sexy way, he ain’t gunnin’ for a new bestie. If you’re lookin’ for a little fun, hey, I get it, but not only is he your boss, he’s a Shepherd. Shepherds don’t date girls like us. You know what I’m sayin’?”

I sighed. I’d had the same thought the night I thought he might kiss me.

“They fuck girls like us.” Mom smiled without her eyes, making the expression more a threat than anything. “You know, in case my point wasn’t clear.”

“I’m not an idiot, Mama. I know I’m not good enough for him.”