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"Lance Garland, you're my hero," Heather cooed, batting her eyelashes at him.
He snorted but presented Mel with the next plate. "For the queen of hotcakes, I made, well, hotcakes."
We all chuckled when he set her plate down without much flair, and then pulled it back. "But wait, there's more. Cinnamon swirl hotcakes with cinnamon maple syrup. You're the first to try these. Don't hold back on your review."
"Seriously? Don't let my daughter find out! You know she's the official taste tester of all hotcakes around here."
We all zipped our lips and threw away the key while Mel dug into the food.
"The Queen of eggnog was easy, eggnog French toast," he said with a grin when he handed Becca her plate. "And for my queen, the Lancenator."
My eyes were glued to the plate when he set it before me, and I rubbed my hands together. "You're the best, Lance Garland!"
Everyone else, already in various stages of chewing, nodded in agreement while he collected his tray and scurried back to the kitchen.
"If you have any complaints, the manager will be around later. His name is Mason!"
Mel almost choked on her swallow of pancakes, and we burst into giggles, shaking our heads at the guy who always had a way of making you feel better without even trying. At least he did for me, so it stood to reason others felt the same. I was working on the second half of my sandwich when I glanced up to see all eyes upon me.
"What?" I wiped my face in case I had something on it.
"My queen?" Heather asked with a lift of her brow.
"Figure of speech. I'm not really the queen of anything so what else was he supposed to say?"
“No, I think he said exactly what he meant,” Ivy said and everyone pointed at her in agreement. “It was obvious last night when you dragged him around the stage with you that your relationship had changed.”
“I didn't drag him around the stage,” I argued with an eye roll. “He was lending moral support.”
“If you ask me, it was like a replay of about, oh, six years ago when Ivy was the switch flipper and Shep was lending her 'moral support,'” Mel said, trying not to choke on her laughter.
“I don’t think we asked you,” I said between clenched teeth. “Besides, what am I supposed to say?”
“Say that you wouldn't mind being his queen and we'll leave you alone about it,” Addie said.
“Ha! Fat chance of that ever happening.”
Becca leaned across the table with her focus completely on me. “Last year, I was too afraid to admit that I was in love with Cameron because I thought Mel and Ivy would be mad. Are you worried they’ll be mad?”
I glanced between the five of them and let out a heavy sigh before I pushed my plate away. "No, I'm afraid, but not that Ivy will be mad."
Ivy put her arm around me. "You're afraid because of your mother."
My chin dropped to my chest, and I groaned. "I'm ashamed about Brenda, that’s true, but mostly I'm afraid I’ll never be good enough for him."
"Which is because of Brenda and Bruce." Ivy pointed out. She knew my parents before Bruce had his stroke. They were never kind to anyone, especially servers.
"I'm confused," Becca said, waving her hand in the air. "Who are Brenda and Bruce?"
I gave everyone a fast rundown on my family tree, as screwed up as the branches hung. I even admitted that Bruce wasn’t my real dad.
“Listen,” Addie said, her hand flat on the table. “No one sitting at this table didn’t have at least one crappy or nonexistent parent in their life. We all understand.”
“Agreed,” said Heather. “Mel and I, we know exactly what you’re going through. Our parents were verbally and mentally abusive all our lives, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t good enough. We have to be gentler when it comes to the way we think about ourselves.” She chuckled and shook her head, leaning back against the booth. “I know that’s a lot like the bee calling the fly buzzy, but hear me out. Mel and I both have health conditions that made us feel unworthy of a man’s love.”
Mel nodded with a grimace. “She’s right. It was a huge hang up for me with Mason.”
Heather chuckled. “And you all know the hot mess express I was the last few years. Here’s the thing, Gabe and Mason didn’t care that we weren’t perfect, because neither are they.”
