Page 28 of Half Wolf Mate
“Nice to meet you, Sydney.” Benjamin’s smile was warm and genuine because it reached his eyes. He seemed nice, but looks could be deceiving.
“Enjoy your meal, Benjamin.”
I scurried away because I didn’t want him to see my agitation. I felt like he watched me too closely. And so did the man who had ordered the coffee and pie. Or maybe he was watching Benjamin. It was hard to tell. Every now and then, his gaze would zero in on Benjamin, who had his back turned to him, but then he’d find me anywhere I stood in the room.
“It’s just my imagination,” I whispered as I picked up an empty tray from a table that had been vacated. Surely, if a hunter had found me, they wouldn’t have come into the diner to chat and enjoy a meal first…I hoped. With one last suspicious look at Benjamin and the younger stranger, I stopped thinking about the possibility of them hunting me, or else I’d go crazy before my shift ended. I had just two hours to go.
***
“You can go, Syd.”
I stopped wiping a table to glance at Macy. We were the only ones in the diner. The eccentric nighttime customers usually cleared out by six a.m. We didn’t typically see much action from then until about seven.
“I have another half hour to go,” I said.
She waved a hand. “There’s no one here. Go on, you’ve been working every night for three weeks. You haven’t taken one night off.”
“Because I need the money.”
“You’ve moved into your apartment. I think it’s time you take it easy.”
I had started rearranging the salt and pepper shakers on a table, and I stopped to laugh. “I should take it easy? This, coming from the woman who works twenty-four seven.”
She rolled her eyes and shut the cash register. “The new chef is coming in tomorrow. I’ll get a break.”
I eyed Macy with concern. She looked beat. So was I, but at least I went home during the days. She stayed on and continued working like the energizer bunny. I’d only known Macy a little over a month, but I cared about her. She’d become the one constant in my life after losing my aunt. She went out of her way to make sure I was okay when I got to New Orleans. I owed her a lot.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Macy said.
I blinked innocently. “Like what?”
“Like a concerned parent. You’re nineteen, and I’m twenty-six. I should be the concerned parent in this scenario.”
Rolling my eyes, I took off my apron. “Actually, I’m twenty.”
“What?”
“Well, my birthday is next month. But what’s a few weeks, right? I’m pretty much twenty years old now.”
“Look at you. So, are we having a party or what?”
Her excitement made me smile. No one got excited about my birthday before, not even Aunt Lydia. She was always so caught up in her studies and investigations that she usually forgot my birthday until it passed. I never held it against her. Giving me a home, food, and clothes was enough. “No, I don’t really celebrate birthdays like that.”
Macy gasped and clutched her chest as if I’d blasphemed. “Well, birthdays are a big deal around here. So, we’re having a party.”
I threw my arms up. “Who am I going to invite? I only know you, Shannon, Arlene, and Rachel.” The other waitresses were nice, but we weren’t particularly close. I considered Violet a friend, but we hadn’t seen much of each other. Plus, I was uncomfortable with anything that brought too much attention my way. “No party.”
“Fine. We’ll do a girls’ night out, then. You and me.”
Relieved, I smiled. “That sounds more like it.”
“Good, now get out of here.”
“Okay. I’ll take the trash on my way out.”
“Thanks.”
A few minutes later, I went to the back alley, tossing the garbage bag into the bin. Pulling my sweater closer, I aimed for the sidewalk. I gasped when I bumped into something hard. Staggering back, I glanced up and almost screamed. It was the broody guy from the diner.