Page 95 of Escape

TWENTY-FIVE

Josie

“Go home and put your feet up.”

My coworker, Jessica, came to a stop at the door, where she lifted her hand, waved, and insisted, “Oh, you know I’m going to do exactly that.”

“See you later!” I called out.

“Later, Josie. Tell Kerri I’ll see her tomorrow.”

“I will.”

A moment later, Jessica walked out the door and left. It was minutes before I expected the lunch rush would hit, and Kerri and I were covering that today. Ever since I’d returned to work—something I was so grateful to be doing again—there had been plenty of shifts to go around. I’d been worried that after being gone for so long that they wouldn’t want to give up the shifts so easily, but it seemed to be working out well for everyone.

Being just a few weeks away from the end of her pregnancy, Jessica found that sleeping at night had become more and more difficult. Since she was up early, she opted for the early morning shifts at the diner when Betty’s opened at six. She and Kerri had taken that shift this morning. Since I’d arrived mid-morning, I’d be working through the lunch and dinner rushes today, and I was excited about it.

Coming back to this had turned out to be far more rewarding than I had originally anticipated. I knew I wanted to get back to working—I couldn’t sit around waiting to do whatever Huck had planned for us every day, no matter how much fun I had with him—but being a waitress hadn’t been my dream job.

So, I expected some excitement about returning to work; I just didn’t expect the level of fulfillment I was currently feeling.

The way this felt now was different than it had been before Kurt had put me in the hospital. Maybe it was that I finally had the freedom to make my own choices about what to do with my money. I could now save up for my own place and finally start putting the money aside to get the education I needed to become an obstetric sonographer.

For now, at least I could do something enjoyable for a job around people who were pleasant while I worked toward getting the future I wanted.

“Hey, Josie, before it gets too busy in here and I forget, I wanted to talk to you about something,” Kerri said, interrupting my thoughts.

“Sure. What’s going on?” I asked.

“We have Jessica’s baby shower planned in just over two weeks. I wanted to remind you, in case you forgot with everything you’ve been going through.”

Until she’d said it, I’d somehow forgotten about the baby shower. Sure, I remembered Jessica was pregnant the moment I saw her, but the party they wanted to have for her had sort of slipped my mind.

“Oh, thanks for mentioning it to me. I would have totally missed it if you hadn’t said anything. I can’t believe I forgot about it.”

“Don’t worry about it. You still have time to prepare for it,” she assured me. “And it’s going to be so much fun, something I think we can all use a little bit of right now.”

She wasn’t wrong about that. Granted, ever since I’d left the hospital and went to Huck’s place, things had been great. Even in the most trying times of my recovery at the very beginning, life was still infinitely better than it had been at any point before then. I guessed that was to be expected when I was no longer fearing for my safety and physical or emotional well-being.

Smiling at her, I said, “I could use a little extra fun.”

The bell from the kitchen had sounded, indicating an order was up. Kerri and I looked in that direction, and she said, “That’s me.”

As she walked off, I stood there and felt a wave of warmth move through me. I was going to be able to make and keep real friendships. Sure, these were my coworkers, but they were nice and friendly, and I hadn’t been able to lean into anything like that for years. I’d been closed off from everyone for so long, knowing I wanted those connections, but understanding Kurt would never allow me to have them. I did what I could to remain friendly enough on the surface, but I had to find a way to convince myself internally to be indifferent to the idea of actual friends.

Although I hadn’t said anything to Huck yet about what the girls from work were planning, I didn’t worry that he’d tell me not to go. If anything, I was sure he’d encourage it.

The moment my thoughts drifted to him, I was surprised to see him pull open the door and walk into Betty’s. His eyes found mine almost immediately, a smile growing on his handsome face. I barely had a chance to take that in before I realized he wasn’t alone. Four additional guys who were just as physically fit—though not nearly as handsome despite their good looks—had stepped in behind him. There was also a pregnant woman who seemed to be with them, considering one of the men had his arm wrapped around her, holding her close.

I quickly became unstuck and moved in their direction. Coming to a stop in front of Huck, I smiled. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting to see you here this afternoon.”

Huck glanced at the men and woman he’d entered with before returning his attention to me. “Yeah, we decided at the last minute to come in for lunch. I didn’t think you’d mind.”

Shaking my head as I pulled out six menus, I insisted, “Not at all. You can follow me.”

After getting the group seated and the menus passed out, I focused my gaze on Huck. He didn’t hesitate to make introductions, pointing to each person as he went around the table. “Josie, these are some of my friends from work. This is Greyson, Jake, Kane, Brixton, and Liv.” Huck reached for my hand, giving my fingertips a gentle squeeze as he continued, “Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Josie.”

My heart started racing, and my belly dipped at hearing Huck introduce me to his friends as his girlfriend. I wondered if he knew what he’d done to me by saying it, because he looked up at me with a glimmer in his eyes.