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“Ah, I see how it is. We still on for a game of Euchre, Wednesday?”
“Of course. Can’t let you break my winning streak.”
Seth turns to me. “I swear he hides cards up his sleeve or something. Every time, he always manages to come back and beat me.”
A wide grin covers my cheeks as I listen to these two banter back and forth. “Well Lenard, since you’re able to bring this one,” I hike my thumb toward Seth, “down a peg or two, I’ll happily give you an extra scoop of potatoes.”
“See, I knew I liked you. You better keep this one around.” Lenard gives Seth a stern look.
Seth smiles. “That’s just because she caved and gave you extra potatoes.”
Lenard moves down the line to the next server, his smile bright but not as bright as it was while he was talking to Seth.
“Watch this,” Seth leans down to whisper in my ear, “he’ll grab two cookies and put one in his pocket.”
Sure enough, Lenard takes two cookies and deposits one into the pocket of his light flannel jacket. I turn to Seth. “How did you know?”
“He’s been doing that since the first day he came here. It’s not hurting anything, so we just let it slide. Plus, he likes to share with a little boy who comes in here with his mom.”
My gaze lingers on Lenard a little longer. I can’t imagine being in a position where my only meal for the day would come from a community kitchen.
Once we finish serving the last person in line, we begin cleaning up. Seth grabs the buffet trays and I take the utensils and go into the kitchen so Maggie and Wade can wrap up any of the leftover food and start washing the dishes. When the serving area is wiped down, we start on the dining area. Some people are still scattered at a few of the tables so we work around them. Finally, when the dining room is empty, I lean against one table as Seth passes me a bottle of water.
“I’ll be honest. I never expected this to be so much work.” I twist off the cap and swallow down a big gulp.
“It is. But just imagine if people weren’t here to help, all those people wouldn’t get a hot meal for the evening.”
“Yeah. I’m really glad you brought me here.”
Seth stares off to the far wall, deep in thought, before he speaks. “This place means a lot to my parents. To me as well. It’s a small thing I can do to make the world better. I just wish we could do more. But with the limited space and dilapidated equipment, we’re doing the best we can.”
I place my water bottle on the table and move to stand in front of Seth. Raising my hands, I gently grip his cheeks and gaze into his green orbs. “You are doing amazing things here. Don’t doubt that for one second.” His day-old stubble tickles my fingertips. I stretch up on my tippy toes and place a chaste kiss on his lips. His hands go to my hips and pull me closer.
“Seth! I need you!” Maggie yells from the kitchen.
Immediately, we both run to the kitchen. As soon as we’re through the doorway, all we see is water gushing out the side of the commercial dishwasher. A puddle of suds and water collects on the floor. Seth rushes over, his shoes splashing in the puddle as he bends down to shut off the main water supply to the dishwasher. My gaze is glued to the way his forearm muscles flex with each turn. When did forearms get so sexy? When Seth stands up, he looks around at the damage before exhaling a deep sigh.
“Seth, I’m so sorry. I hit start and everything was working fine and then suddenly water just started shooting everywhere. I pressed the stop button, but it wasn’t working.” Panic laces Maggie’s tone.
“That’s okay. It’s not your fault. The washer has given us some troubles before. Now I guess today was its last.”
“What happened in here? I leave you alone for five minutes and you flood the place.” Wade laughs and wraps his arm around Maggie’s shoulder. “Well, I’m glad to see it’s not just our house where she breaks things.”
Maggie softly slaps his chest as she leans into him. “It’s the only way I get new things.”
“The dishwasher needed replacing a long time ago. You can only put a Band-Aid on a bullet wound for so long,” Seth says.
“I’ll grab a couple of mops and we’ll get this cleaned up.” Wade turns and heads to the utility closet.
Once the floor is dry, Seth tells Wade and Maggie to go home since they have to be back tomorrow, and we’ll finish the dishes. I’m standing in front of the deep well stainless sink spraying the soap off the pans as Seth passes them to me. We work effortlessly together. Maybe we should have tried working together like this sooner. I bet we would have been way more productive instead of working against each other. A smile forms on my lips at the thought.
“What’s that smile for?” Seth tilts his head, looking at me.
“Oh, just thinking about how we actually make a good team and probably would have been more productive if we hadn’t been trying to sabotage each other.”
“I never tried to sabotage you.”
“Hiding my papers and making me late for meetings wasn’t sabotage?”
