Page 6 of New Year

Shelton’s face hardened. “Look, it was gonna get tossed anyway. No harm in making sure it’s kind of clean, so he doesn’t have to dig it out of the garbage can later.”

“He’s homeless.” Not a question, because Zack wasn’t a fool. And he’d spent enough time being food insecure that his sympathy went out to anyone facing the same crisis.

“Yeah.”

“How do you know him?”

“I don’t really. We, um, met two weekends ago, and at one point, uh, got some food, and the way he ate, it made me wonder, so I asked, and he told me he usually eats out of dumpsters. Didn’t get hot meals a lot.”

“That’s a truly terrible situation.”

“Yeah, I’ve been there, you know? So, I told him where I work and that I’d try to take a smoke break around nine every night, and I’d try to bring him something. I never took food off the line, I swear, just off returned plates. It was garbage anyway.”

“So, you only gave him food scraps?”

“Yes. He’s just a kid. I mean, he’s not like a real kid, he’s probably in his early twenties, but he needed food, and I wanted to try and help. Reminds me of someone I knew once. Someone I couldn’t help.”

Zack’s heart squeezed with sympathy. He was still irritated with Shelton for the theft, but Shelton’s heart had been in the right place. He’d tried helping someone in need. But he’d also invited someone potentially dangerous onto the restaurant’s private property. What if this homeless person had hurt one of his staff?

Stop it. Homeless doesn’t mean criminal or addict.

More early-life prejudices he was still working to exorcise.

“What’s his name?” Zack asked.

“Why? So, you can call the cops?”

“No. I’m not calling the police over a few dollars of table scraps.”

“Am I fired?”

“No, but consider this a verbal reprimand. You cannot do that anymore, Shelton, and it’s not because I’m cold-hearted, or think the unhoused deserve to starve. But I have to think first of the people who work here and their safety. I can’t have word getting around that folks can get free food, or we’ll end up with a problem that could drive away business.”

Shelton scowled. “Sounds cold to me.”

“My job is to protect Chase’s investment, and turning his restaurant into a back-alley soup kitchen won’t solve anything. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now, do you think this young man will come back tomorrow? Or did I scare him off for good?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t seem dangerous, just real slow to trust. I wanted to help him.”

“I understand. Truly.” Zack desperately wanted to help Chase, to fix everything ailing him, but there was no fixing it. There was just easing Chase through it to the end. He couldn’t save his friend and former lover, but maybe he could save someone else. Even if it was as simple as giving him a free hot meal.

“If he comes back tomorrow during your break, I want to meet him,” Zack said. “Maybe there’s something bigger we can do to help.”

Shelton’s eyebrows crept up. “Yeah?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

The question did not insult Zack in the least. He’d only been at River Bistro for a month, and the staff knew little about him, aside from what an internet search might turn up about his business ventures. He’d kept his private life off social media. “I want to help because I am able to help. You saw someone worth helping, and you did what you could. It’s my turn.”

“Natty.”

Zack blinked dumbly. “What?”

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