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“I’ll take a beer,” one said to a chorus of laughter.

“I’m sure the little lady ain’t got no beer, this is a nice establishment. We’ll take whisky.”

They laughed louder and Clarissa molded herself into her best poker face. Going numb when dealing with problematic customers was best. “I’ll give you all a moment to look over the menu.”

“Aww see what you scoundrels did, you made the pretty lady leave.” A man with blonde hair past his shoulders reached over and smacked the one who asked for beer. “Apologies, ma’am, we’ll take a round of colas.”

“Eight sodas coming right up.” She left before they could say anything else. Retreating behind the counter, she took her time filling the cups and placing them on a tray.

Purposefully avoiding their eyes, she concentrated on her hands as she passed out drinks. She felt them. Lewdly, almost hungrily, eight sets of eyes tracked her every move.

“Are you all ready to order or do you need more time?” She thumbed her pad of paper absently. The sooner they ordered, the sooner they’d leave, and, hopefully, give her a decent tip.

“Oh, I think we’re more than ready.” The blonde one smiled at her, showing his teeth in a way that wasn’t entirely human.

Ignoring the cold chill on her skin, she pulled out a pen. “Go ahead.”

“Three meat lover omelets, extra meat, no vegetables.”

“Four quarter pounders, no veggies, no fries, extra rare.”

“Make that five.”

“Six eggs sunny side, and a heaping plate of sausage patties and one of bacon, rare.”

She wrote out the orders, trying not to think about how odd they were. It wasn’t uncommon in rural Kansas to get customers who didn’t like extra vegetables, but this was insane. Extra meat, no vegetables, in ridiculous quantities, and who ordered bacon rare?

“I’ll go put that in for you.” As Clarissa turned to leave, something caught her arm.

Blazing hot and calloused, a hand gripped her tighter than necessary. It was beginning to hurt. The fingers flexed; she bit back a wince.

The blonde one stared up at her, his eyes fierce. Licking his lips, he showed his teeth again. Were they larger than normal? No, her mind had to be playing tricks on her. He yanked her down until she was at eye level.

“And sweetheart, we all like our meat more on the rare side. We prefer it bleeding, and maybe screaming a bit,” he said.

Her stomach rolled. The hand released her and she darted to the safety of the counter—the invisible barrier between her and the customers—comforted by the foolish notion that the workers were safe as long as they were behind it. Pinning the order to the turntable with shaking hands, she told Adam about the odd requests. He arched an eyebrow, then huffed under his breath about weirdos.

“Clarissa, darling,” Jeff’s voice came over the frantic pounding of her heart. “How’s Rachel doing? She’s such a sweet lady. It just makes me so sad.”

“Thanks, Jeff,” she said. “She’s okay, she has good days and bad days. So far more good than bad.”

“Are you having a nurse come to the house?” Eugene asked.

“Not yet. She’s mostly okay on her own, for now. I’m keeping an eye on her, looking out for the little changes that would show otherwise.”

That and she was doing more of her own research. She’d been harboring doubts about the ‘diagnosis’ for years now. The more research she did, the less she believed the doctors. Not that she was going to tell anyone that; the last thing she needed was people poking around their lives and deeming her incapable of taking care of Rachel and forcibly removing her.

“My niece, Elizabeth, is a traveling nurse. She’s got her own company,” Eugene said. “Have I given you her card? Here, I keep some in my wallet.”

“You keep your niece’s business card in your wallet?” Clarissa took the card, tucking it into her pocket.

“Oh, I keep all my nieces’ and nephews’ cards!” He pulled out six more cards ranging from personal trainers, to bakers, to dog groomers.

“He’s a very proud uncle.” Jeff placed a hand on Eugene’s arm and rolled his eyes.

“After that creep walked out on my sister, I practically raised those kids. I get to be a proud uncle.”

“If I ever have a need for dog grooming or cookies, I will let you know,” Clarissa said. “But honestly, thank you. You hear so many horror stories about abuse in the system, it’s hard to know who to trust.”