Page 56 of Bean

After dragging myself into the shower, I got dressed and headed downstairs. Everyone else was gone, a note in Nash’s handwriting explained. Creek was at work, Tameron was doing heaven-knows-what, and Nash had some kind of secret appointment somewhere, which was probably code for hooking up. Though why he’d want to do that this early in the day was a mystery to me.

I was glad I was by myself, if only because Nash would’ve taken one look at me and sent me back to bed. The man meantwell, and I appreciated it, but it could get overwhelming some days.

I poured some cereal, added milk, and parked myself at the kitchen table. What was on the schedule again today, other than work?

Crimeny cripes, it was my mother’s birthday, which meant I had to call her. If I didn’t already have a headache, that alone would create one. Phone calls with my family were exhausting.

There was no way around it. I’d have to suck it up. If I didn’t call, I’d be guilt-tripped into eternity—not a price I was willing to pay.

At least I had a date with Jarek to look forward to. According to my notes, I was going to teach him to cook again, which should be fun. Now that I’d seen him several times, I had less of an issue remembering him, though many of the details were still vague. But Nash’s trick with telling myself a story about Jarek and me had definitely worked.

But before I could be with him, I had to get through the rest of the day, and I’d better start by calling my mother right after breakfast. She’d have been up for a long time anyway, what with the three-hour time difference with the East Coast.

As soon as I’d rinsed my bowl, I grabbed my phone and called, putting it on speaker.

“Hello?”

“Happy birthday, Mom,” I said with all the cheerfulness I could muster.

“Merrill. It’s good to hear from you. I wasn’t sure if you would call.”

And we were off to the races. Great. “Why wouldn’t I? I’ve never forgotten, have I?”

“Well, there have been a few times where you didn’t call.”

“Because I was in the sandbox and unable to, and I called as soon as I could.”

“I know you did, and let’s not squabble about it. I just wasn’t sure if you’d remember this year.”

Considering my injury, that was an innocent enough remark, yet it rubbed like sandpaper against my skin. “I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget. Just like I write down all the important things.”

“I appreciate the effort, Merrill. How have you been?”

My answer should’ve been the mother of all platitudes: good. But no, I had to open my mouth and actually share something from my life. As if I hadn’t learned from all previous times that it would inevitably lead to trouble. “I have a new job.” When she didn’t say anything, I added, “As a cook in a bar.”

“Are you sure that’s smart?” she finally said after another long pause.

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Merrill, your brain doesn’t work. What if you make a mistake and accidentally poison someone?”

“Poison? What on earth could I even poison them with? It’s food, Mom. The worst thing that could happen is I add too much salt.”

A memory tickled at the back of my brain. Someone had added too much salt to a dish, but who? It didn’t matter.

“What if they have severe allergies and you forget while cooking? You could cause anaphylactic shock.”

“We’re not an allergy-friendly kitchen since we’re way too small for that. Our menu says there’s always cross-contamination, so our customers know that. People with an allergy that severe would never order food from a place like ours.”

“Right, of course. You said it was a bar, not a real restaurant.”

I rubbed the throbbing spot between my eyes. “Yes, it’s a bar. But it’s a real job, and I’m proud that I’m working again.”

“I hope you’ll be able to keep it. It must be hard for your employer to have someone like you since you’re unreliable. Not your fault, of course, but still.”

I slowly counted to three before responding. “Luckily, he’s very understanding of my limitations. Besides, I need to do something for a living.”

“You could move back home. I’d be happy to take care of you, and you could help your brother. He has plenty of work you could do.”