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“Oh, brother.” I turned to the counter lined with red vinyl stools and collapsed onto one to take stock of my situation.
Most of the coffee had hit the floor and my shoes, so I guess that was something at least. I stalked down the aisle and inwardly groaned at the squeak of my rubber soles. I hustled to the carpet in front of the door and scuffed my feet. I could actually feel the coffee squishing inside my shoes.
Ugh.
My life—up to my ankles in crap coffee. Of course.
I went around behind the counter to take care of the pile of towels Sage had left. “What’s up, Seth? You don’t usually come in this late.”
“I actually have some papers for you.”
My gaze swung back to him. He nodded to the back of the diner where he always sat. “Can you take a few minutes?”
It was only then that I noticed the folder in his hand. The white Hamilton Re
alty logo scrawled across the dense green glossy folder. My stomach twisted for a whole different reason this time.
Mom’s house.
My house.
What could have been my house if it wasn’t full of shitty memories and the stench of too much antiseptic. I closed my eyes as a wave of exhaustion chased the sad. It had been three months since my mom had finally passed away after a soul-crushing bout with cancer. She’d always been fragile, but the last five years had about killed me too.
By the end, all I wanted was peace for her.
And maybe a little for myself. I only let that part out in the deepest, darkest parts of the night where sleep and waking overlapped. When the quiet was finally comforting and the hiss of the oxygen compressor wasn’t my constant companion for the first time in too many years to remember.
But then the alarm pushed me out of the quiet and into my current reality. Bills, life, the diner, plans…all jumbled together in my little planner. And the little secret pocket where I’d stashed the page of classes I wanted to take. I had sent off for a few brochures from schools in New York City, and I looked at them now and then.
It had been so long since I could think about what I wanted that I honestly wasn’t quite sure what to do. But it didn’t stop me from poring over my brochures and the college catalog online.
Too bad dreams didn’t pay the bills.
I pressed a shaking hand over my belly. “Yeah. Let me make sure I can take my fifteen.”
I hurried over to the sink. My rings clicked together as I soaped up my hands to get the coffee smell off them. “Mitch, I’m going to take my break.”
He only grunted. Typical.
“Sage, you okay?”
She waved me off. “Sure. Take it now before the biddies come in for the early bird special.”
“Truth.” I smoothed my hand over my apron and stuck my order pad in the front pocket. I double checked that I had three pens like I always did. Patrons were notorious thieves. Not sure why they wanted my cheapie Bic pens, but they were forever walking off with them.
Stop stalling.
I was tempted to roll my eyes at myself, but that took too much energy and I didn’t have much to spare. I grabbed a fruit plate and a scoop of cottage cheese to get me through the rest of the evening. Sage and I might have time for a bite after the dinner rush, but more often than not, it just rolled into dessert business and the endless coffee mug crowd.
I snagged a menu on my way down the aisle to him. Seth was sprawled in his favorite booth, his long legs encroaching on my side. I kicked his boot as I sat down and dropped the menu in front of him. “How you don’t have that memorized is beyond me.”
He straightened and placed his phone face down on the table, then propped the menu against the wall. “Just coffee this time.”
“Oh. Have an appointment?” I ate a forkful of my cottage cheese.
He sneered at my plate. “So gross.”
I forked up some more and held it in front of him. “So good.”
