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“Oh my goodness. You are the best.”
He almost thought she was going to put her arms around him, but she didn’t. Instead, she held them both out for the plate.
“Okay. I’m going to take this out and tell him it’s on the house. Thank you.” She grinned at him. “You’re the best!”
She twirled on her foot, grabbed the coffee cup, and carried the cheesecake and coffee out. He pressed his lips together and went back to making the burger, flipping the grilled cheese sandwich at exactly the right moment.
He could hear the shrill laughter again, could tell that she wasn’t really laughing at what he was saying, she was laughing because she thought he expected her to, and she wanted to make him happy.
Lord, why am I pining over someone who doesn’t care for me and never will?
He put the top on the hamburger, stuck a toothpick in it, grabbed the grilled cheese from the griddle, set it on the plate, and cut it into diagonals.
There was no answer from the Lord. Maybe he shouldn’t expect one. Of course he knew the Lord loved him, because God was love, and God loved everyone, but a man reaped what he sowed, and in his prior life, he’d sowed a lot of things that he really didn’t want to have to reap.
After all, once upon a time, he’d been a lawyer just like the fancy one sitting at the table. James Connolly.
He threw the veggie patty in the oven for James, got the veggies out of the freezer, put them in the microwave, then grabbed the little girl’s sandwiches and her mac and cheese and her Coke and walked back out to her table.
She was still sitting there, looking out the window. Still and quiet. Unnaturally so.
He figured it would be pointless to try to talk to Chi until the fancy lawyer left, but he made a point to try to remind himself to say something to her. There was something going on with this little girl, and they should probably try to figure it out.
Although, as he set the food down in front of her, and she thanked him for that and for the Coke, he thought that maybe he’d keep it to himself for a little bit. And just keep an eye on her.
“Where are your parents?” he asked.
“They work during the day. They leave money for me so I can go eat when I want to. It gives me a break from having SpaghettiOs at home.”
“You’re old enough to be by yourself?”
“My parents think so,” the girl said, giving him a lifted brow.
He could read the dismissal on her face. “Can I get you anything else?”
“No thanks,” she said, without looking up again.
She dug into her food, her mouth full with cheeks bulging before he walked away. Chi’s laughter trailed again, and his heart squeezed, but he went back to the kitchen, determined to make her lawyer the meal he wanted, exactly the way he wanted. If anything happened between him and Chi, and Chi didn’t get what she wanted, he didn’t want Chi to come back on him.
He thought it was the right idea, and maybe he’d get a chance to tell that to Chi, but he wasn’t going to deliberately sabotage anything. That wouldn’t win him any points.
After all, he could be wrong.
