Page 91 of Suits and Spark Plugs

“Pass.”

I stood from the stools and walked back to the kitchen to give Jake and the cooks our order, hoping to save Kelly some effort seeing as we had an unspoken rule that we didn’t tip each other. I filled our drinks and went back to where we were sitting.

“Can you just do that when you’re not working?” Sadie asked. I nodded. “What was your first job?”

My mind blanked for a second over the fact that my sister didn’t know what my first job had been. Quickly doing the math I realized she’d only have been eight or nine when I started working. “I worked at that old drive-up car hop place that closed down. I had to wear roller skates and deliver food.”

Sadie surprised me by chuckling. “Sounds dangerous.”

“It was. Are you thinking about getting a job?”

“Maybe. I only have one more year of high school left. I should probably be thinking about my future. I guess I’ll need some money.” She ran her finger around the rim of her juice glass, never taking her eyes off the liquid.

“What do you think you’ll do after graduation?” I tried to keep my voice as casual and uninterested as possible, afraid of not playing it cool enough and her closing up.

“I’m thinking about doing, like, dental hygiene or something.”

I leaned my chin in my hands to keep my jaw from hitting the countertop. What? I had no idea she’d actually thought about it.

“I hear you can make a good living doing that,” I said.

“Yeah. I’d have to move somewhere else to go to school, though.”

“True.”

She finally looked up at me, and I was taken aback by how worried she looked. “It’s just, I don’t really want to leave you alone to handle everything. I’d feel like I was running away.”

This time I allowed my natural reaction to show, relaxing my lips into a smile as my heart swelled. Here was something I could understand. I’d made many of my decisions based on not wanting to desert my family. It was a struggle I didn’t want her to go through as well.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, sis, but please feel free to run away.”

One side of her mouth lifted up, and she returned to staring at her apple juice. “Okay. I’ll think about it.”

“You don’t need to worry about us. Chase your life.”

“Is that why you’re going to nursing school?”

I nodded and kicked my feet back and forth under the stool. “Do you really want to know why I’m so set on getting a degree?” She again turned to look at me. “Because I want to make sure that no matter what happens in my life, I’m taken care of.”

She looked away and picked up her cup, taking a big sip and letting it swish around in her mouth before swallowing. “Same. I hate feeling helpless, which is all I usually feel.”

“I know. I realized I had to stop feeling that way and do something.”

“Yeah.”

Jake himself popped out of the kitchen, carrying our orders. Sadie’s oatmeal was steaming and looked surprisingly tempting, but I still would have chosen my omelet. We thanked Jake and dug in, aware that Sadie needed to get to school.

“What brings you two fine looking ladies here today?” Kelly’s chipper voice greeted us as she came around the end of the counter.

“Sister date,” I replied with a smile of my own.

Kelly nodded. “I’m super glad you’re here. I need a Connor update.”

At this Sadie’s head popped up and she looked at me. “Connor?”

Kelly’s expression became mischievous. “Oh, you didn’t know?” she said with faked innocence. “I guess I thought Liv would have told you that she’s dating the freakishly good-looking town mechanic now.”

Sadie’s eyes grew mischievous. “I kind of figured it was coming after he cleaned our house.”

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