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Luna rubbed her neck and turned her head from side to side to stretch it. “Exhausting, to be honest. I’m a marketing consultant. I don’t do this kind of physical labor very often.”
Gen grinned. “What, doesn’t jumping through hoops for clients count as exercise?”
“I wish! That would free up a lot more calories for eating every day. Now, I know you said you were just kidding, but are you sure I can’t get you some coffee? For real?”
Gen patted her hand. “I tell you what– you look dead on your feet. I know where the coffee is. I’ll get some for both of us.”
Luna closed her eyes, wanting to rest them just enough to take away the sandpaper graininess, but she was surprised when it seemed like no longer than a fraction of a second later that Gen nudged her hand with a cup full of hot coffee.
Luna opened her eyes. “Whoa! That was quick! I think you’d be better at this whole waitress gig than I am.”
Gen patted her hand again, which made Luna start to wonder, way back in the back of her mind, just how rough she actually looked. Gen wasn’t a natural nurturer, so for her to have given Luna such a caretaking gesture in the space of just a couple of minutes…
Yeah. Probably pretty rough.
“Sorry. I hated waking you up.” Gen’s voice was full of sympathy.
“Waking me…what?” Luna asked.
“But you were snoring. I figured it’s not exactly the impression of the ‘new management’ you’d want to put out there.”
Luna let her face fall into her hands. “Oh, lord. First of all, stop with the ‘new management’ stuff. I’m just filling in.”
“Noted.”
“But, secondly…you’re right. Not the best impression. So, thanks for saving me from myself.”
Gen let out a short bark of a laugh. “Oh my God, Luna. If only I could save you from yourself in a way that’s slightly more meaningful than cutting your booth nap short.”
Luna knew exactly what she was referring to. The same thing that it seemed like everyone was always referring to. Connor. But she didn’t want to get into it.
Mostly because she was coming around to the conclusion that they were all right and she’d been so, sssoooo wrong, and for so many years. So to accept that would’ve meant letting herself feel the full weight of all the time she’d lost, and she wasn’t about to do that here.
So, she did the next best thing. Changed the subject.
“So, Gen, I wanted to talk to you about this Christmas benefit I hear you’re planning.”
Gen’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow. You’re not only a waitressing wiz, you’re a mind reader, too. That’s what I came in here to talk to you about.”
“Awesome. Well, my grandma talked to me about potentially having the diner donate some catering. I assume she’d already talked to you about it.”
“She floated the idea, and I loved it. But with everything going on, I knew you’d be taking on the brunt of the workload. I didn’t want to count on it until I talked to you.”
“Well, me and Connor. We’d both be pitching in.”
Gen’s lip twitched. “Ah. Makes sense.”
Luna narrowed her eyes. “What?”
Gen shrugged. “Why you’re feeling so charitable.”
Luna threw a napkin at her friend and they both laughed.
“Listen, seriously, though,” Gen continued once the laughter had died down. “I was thinking that we’d go with something Christmas-y, but also really simple.”
“Like some kind of Christmas dinner casserole or something?”
Gen groaned. “And now we know why you work in marketing and not food service. No. Not Christmas Leftover Surprise or whatever thing you just mentioned.”
“Christmas dinner casserole,” Luna mumbled.
“Yeah, you’re not making it better,” Gen shot back, and Luna had to laugh. God, she’d missed this kind of rapid-fire banter. She didn’t have it with anyone else but Gen.
“Fine, then, Scrooge. What’s your idea?”
Gen just rolled her eyes. “Come to the planning meeting next week. Bring Connor. I know the diner’s doing shortened hours until things are back to normal. You can swing it. We’ll brainstorm the menu then.”
Luna sighed as she got back to her aching feet. “Fine. I’ll do it. You’re just lucky I love you so much.”
Gen grinned as she stood up and dropped a five dollar bill on the table for the coffee. “Yeah. I would be lucky, if that’s why you were doing it. And don’t get me wrong—it’s not that I’m complaining. Anything that gets me donations and volunteers, I’m good with. But I have a sneaking suspicion you’re not doing it because you love me so much. It’s more like, you’re doing it to spend more time with the person you actually love.”
