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We both got out of the car and met at the door by the baby. “Should I take her out of the seat?” I asked.
Ava shook her head. “I think leave her in. She’s sleeping peacefully right now. Why disturb her? She’ll probably wake up hungry at some point—”
“Fuck. Then what’ll we do?”
With a gentle laugh, Ava said, “Language. We’ll feed her. Somehow. Someone in there has to know more than we do.”
“Most likely everyone in there knows more than I do.”
“Was there any kind of bag with her?”
I shook my head. “Just the carrier shoved into my driver’s seat and the note tucked into the blanket.”
Ava reached in and grabbed the carrier. “We need to figure out how to hook her in.”
“And how to feed her. And diaper her. And clothe her…” I swayed with a wave of dizziness and grabbed on to the car door. Thankfully it passed within two seconds.
As Ava hefted the carrier out, she grunted. “You’re heavier than you look, little lady.”
Feeling shell-shocked, I reached for the handle, noting gratefully that the baby slept on. “I’ll carry her. You get the doors.”
I followed Ava to the main entrance.
To think, when I’d woken up this morning, I’d believed my life was rife with complications. God or whoever was in charge had apparently been peering in on my existence and had thrown out a big, fathold my beer.
CHAPTER5
QUINCY
For some reason, today’s lunch shift at Henry’s had been chaotic and crowded.
Even though it was technically the town’s slow season, Henry’s didn’t appear to be affected by any downturn in business. Which was good, of course. Though filming for theSmall Town Smorgasbordepisode hadn’t begun yet, word got around. People were excited to support the Henrys.
I was happy for them, especially Cash, who’d made getting on the show his sole goal for months on end. No one could deny how good the food was here. I was happy for myself too, because a full house meant more tips for me. If the job sometimes didn’t spark me, I just played a game with myself where I tried to predict what familiar faces would show up during my shift. There were always several. Always.
By two thirty, only one of my lunch tables remained occupied, and I was betting no one else would come in before the break when we closed between lunch and dinner service. I had to work through it, prepping for the dinner shift, but it was a rest from hustling to and from tables and balancing trays, which was not my strong point. So far today, I hadn’t dropped anything, so that was a win.
I was bussing a table when I noticed Cash’s fiancée, Ava, coming back in the door with her writing partner, Knox. Our host, Elijah, had left early, and the rest of us were covering the host stand, so I headed over to greet them.
“You’re back,” I said to Ava, smiling. I didn’t know her well yet, but what I knew I really liked. She was so easygoing, the opposite of Cash. I liked him too, but I knew my record of breaking dishes bothered him, and I couldn’t really blame him. It bothered me too, but it was what it was. I tried hard not to be a klutz.
“We’ve had a wrinkle crop up,” Ava said, then glanced behind her.
“Oh!” I said, noticing Knox had an adorable baby with him. “Who does this precious girl belong to?”
“Question of the hour,” Knox muttered, or at least I thought that’s what he said.
I knew him even less than I knew Ava. I’d waited on his table a few times, and he was always friendly and a good tipper, but we didn’t chat much outside of his order and the requisite small talk. He was older, maybe early forties, but he was one of those men who looked good enough you didn’t really care about his age. After the morning’s news—that he was the half-brother of the Henrys—it all made sense. God apparently didn’t make ugly Henrys…or Breckenridges, for that matter.
“We…” Ava looked around me, toward the dining section on the other side of the bar. “Could we get that corner table by the window? Tucked out of the way?”
“Of course,” I said. It was in my section, so I’d been wrong about no one else coming, but I didn’t mind. Particularly if it meant I could coo over that sweet baby.
I picked up menus, then lost my grip on one of them. I bent over to retrieve it and asked, “Do you need a high chair?”
Ava and Knox paused and looked at each other, then looked at me.
“I have no idea, honestly,” Ava finally said. “I don’t think she’s old enough to sit in one. We’ll just let her sleep in her carrier for as long as possible.”
