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Chapter 5
Arden
Saturdayafternoon,it’sjust me and Janelle covering the slow hours at the restaurant between lunch and dinner, when we get hit with another brief rush of people looking for an afternoon drink. Since most of them are casually drinking and chatting, we still have plenty of time to wipe down tables and prepare for the dinner shift. Sometimes I enjoy the downtime at the restaurant, but other times—like today—it simply leaves me with too much time to obsess over the niggly little details of life.
While I’m up at the bar pulling together another round of drinks, I feel my phone buzzing for the second time in fifteen minutes. I’d ignored it while I was with the customers, figuring I’d take a break and check my messages when I was done. Since I’m behind the bar, I quickly pull it out to look at the name.
“Shit,” I mumble. Then, I catch Janelle’s arm as she passes. “My sitter is calling, and I should take it.”
“Sure,” she points to my tray of drinks. “Table three?”
“Yep, thanks.” I duck into the kitchen and tap the screen before it goes to voicemail again. “Is everything okay?”
“Holden’s fine. I’m fine.” But she sounds frantic. “My parents were just in a pretty bad accident and they’re... I’m... They’re in Nashville and my aunt is heading straight there.”
Every time I try to get a word in, she continues rambling on. “Leigh, if you need to go, we can figure things out. Are you good to drive? Can you drop Holden off here?”
“Yeah, yeah. Are you sure? I can get a ride with my aunt. I’m sure she’d be happy to bring us over to Paddy’s first. Are you sure? I’m so sorry I have to bail.”
“Leigh,” I say her name more firmly. “We’ll figure things out. Just do what you need to do.”
I hear her breathing slow. “Okay, I’ll let my aunt know. I’m on her way, so we’ll probably be there in the next fifteen minutes.”
I hold my phone to my chest for a few seconds after we disconnect. There’s no sign the avalanche of the next two months is going to end anytime soon. Sometimes I feel like my bad luck is contagious, and then I remind myself that’s illogical. This is just life. Good and bad, although I wish mine would balance out every once in a while.
Janelle pops her head through the door. “Is Holden okay?”
“Yeah, he’s fine—”
“Good. The dining room is thinning out, but I almost forgot we have that big party coming in about twenty minutes, if you could get the little room set up for ten people. They need two booster seats and a highchair.”
Here comes another ten pounds of snow on my shoulders. “Yeah, well, Holden is fine, but my sitter needs to head up to Nashville. Her parents were in an accident, and she’s going to drop Holden off here.”
Her face goes slack, and she looks off to the side. “Okay. Get the room set up. We’ll need silverware rolled since we haven’t had time for that, so you can do that in the party room and keep him with you.”
I see the wheels continue spinning in her head, but then her face relaxes, and she cocks her head. “Yeah, it’ll be fine.”
While I’m pulling tables together, Leigh arrives with Holden.
Holden waves his arms in the air and runs toward me, his backpack and loose blonde curls bouncing with each step. “Mommy.”
“Hey, buddy.” I pick him up and give him a tight hug. “I’m going to need you to be really good, because I have to keep working, okay?”
Leigh hands me a larger tote. “I grabbed some extra things for him to do. I’m so sorry.”
“Stop apologizing. I hope everything’s okay.”
I get Holden set up at a small table in the corner with some of his toys and the art supplies that Leigh brought for him, and then finish setting up the table. Once everything is ready to go, I sit down at the table with Holden and begin rolling silverware until I hear someone clear their throat behind me.
“Sorr—” When I turn, I lock eyes with Dash who’s standing in the doorway.
“I hadn’t heard they’d relaxed child labor laws.”
Holden perks up and lets out a squeal as he runs across the room toward him.
Dash crouches down and greets him with a pat on the head. He looks up at me and nods. “This is a surprise.”
“Yeah well, um, the sitter had a family emergency and there’s a big party coming in, so—”
Dash straightens, flashes me a smile, and takes a seat at the set of tables. Well, that explains Janelle’s sudden change of attitude earlier.
“You’re with the party?” I can’t work out whether I’m relieved or annoyed.
“Yeah, unfortunately Talon and Bax insist on my having a social life or something.”
“Want to color with me?” Holden asks.
“I think Dash is here to eat, honey.” I try to direct Holden back to the smaller table, but he latches onto the chair next to Dash.
“Talon’s bringing his kids, actually.” Dash gestures toward the booster seats. “If he wants to hang out over here, and you don’t mind, he’s fine to join us.”
I hedge. That would be easier than trying to chase him around, but there’s also something unsettling about my son hanging out with a man I vowed not to trust to preserve my own sanity. But Dash already has Holden’s full attention. “Okay, if you can keep an eye on him, I buy you a drink.”
“Deal, I'll have water.”
“Water?” I ask.
