Page 7 of Bring me Back
I was a creature of habit, and they knew it. My mouth watered just thinking of their cheeseburger.
“Coming right up.” Torres turned around on his feet.
I gulped, gathering my courage, “I also need a job. If you have one of those.”
Marian rose one eyebrow. Leaning her hip on the counter, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Did you hear it, Torres? Kid needs a job.”
Torres’ head poked out the door and he looked me up and down like he never saw me before.
“I’m a hard worker,” I told them. “Fast leaner, and I already know your menu by heart.”
“Maybe we changed,” Torres said from the door.
Marian shrugged. “Maybe we changed.”
I shook my head. “The menu is the same,” I tried my luck. “And I have waitress experience now. I used to work in a coffee shop close to campus and…”
Torres chuckled. “Never heard her talking so much. Give the girl an apron, Marian. She must really want it.”
Marian still watched me, but I saw the twinkle in her eyes. She made a motion with her finger to get me back to my side of the counter. Torres went back to the kitchen, hopefully to make my burger, as Marian asked, “Aren’t you going to help Preston with the shop?”
I sat up on a stool. “I offered. He said the Thompson kid was at it.”
Marian chuckled. “Cheap bastard, he pays pennies to the kid.”
“He told me he would not pay meat all.”
We both laughed. Dad was a good man, but boy, he didn’t mess around with the shop.
“Alright,” she breathed.
“Really?”
“Yeah, sure. Why not? I don’t want Cecilia’s spirit haunting me because I didn’t give her kid a chance.”
I swallowed and nodded. “I will be good. You won’t regret it.”
She waved away my promises. “We’ll see. Summer rush is done with…” She pursed her lips, looking me right in the eyes. “But school is back; there will be a lot of kids coming over.”
I squirmed in my seat and got her meaning. Marian knew about my past more than Dad. It was easy to notice something was wrong when I sat alone in one booth as my classmates sat together in another. Though we never talked about it, she made clear all I ever needed to do was ask for help.
Soon I was going to be around teenagers once more. I almost winced, but held back. “I’ll be fine,” I guaranteed.
I wasn’t sure if she believed me, but kept it to herself. Nodding, Marian passed me a royal blue apron from behind the counter. With a smile, I accepted it and stuffed it in my backpack.
I didn’t ask how much they’d pay; I imagined minimum wage. Frankly, even if it was less, I would have accepted because the idea of working anywhere else sounded terrifying. Marian and Torres were a security blanket. It was probably a childish way to face the world, but everything in Bluehaven made me squeamish and I needed the training wheels for a little longer.
Eventually, Torres brought my burger out, and I held back a moan when I tried the first mouthful. They asked questions about my life in the last five years. How was college?Fine.Did I make any friends?A couple. Why was I back?Shrug.
When I finished polishing off the burger and drank the rest of my milkshake, Marian shook her head.
“Sometimes it takes a minute to believe you’re Cecilia and Preston’s daughter.”
I looked up at her, frowning in question as I wiped my mouth on a napkin.
“Don’t get me wrong, you’re as beautiful as your mama, Hallie. But damn…” she shook her head. “Cecilia wouldn’t shut up. All day she babbled non stop. I met her at the bus stop, you know?” Marian told me again, “And she talked my ear off all the way home. I had no choice.”
I heard that before. Mom was an extrovert. She talked to everyone and made friends everywhere she went. Her funeral was so full, we could barely fit the people in our house. Dad was the same. He was always saying hello to everyone when we walked around town; his voice projected across rooms.