Page 2 of Kingston

My head shot up at that.“The fuck you say!She already got paid at the beginning of the week.What kind of bullshit is this chick trying to pull?”

I was aware my mother had an arrangement with some single mother who needed a little extra cash.She made decent-enough baked goods from what everyone who raved about the muffins said.I’d never actually gotten to eat any of it, mostly because by the time I got to the diner, they were sold out.Customers had been enjoying the extra goodies and they were aware those items weren’t made in-house, so I didn’t have an issue with it.But I hadn’t thought much about it, really.It was a mornings-only thing, and I didn’t work mornings.

What I did know of the situation was that Mom paid her suppliers and vendors on Mondays.No matter what—and that included the single-mom baker.That was something I was aware of because we were business partners, and I had to sign off on the books every month just like she did.Since it was now Thursday, I knew that Demi, or whoever the fuck she was, had already gotten her money, and she wasn’t getting another penny until Monday.

Opal gave me a look like she was disappointed, shaking her head.I didn’t give two shits what she thought of me.No one was going to take advantage of my mom.“Tell her to take the fucking muffins and go if she wants to be a bitch about it.But she already got paid this week.This is a business, not a goddamn charity.And I sure as fuck won’t be letting some cunt try to con my mom out of cash she didn’t earn.”

Turning my attention back to the grill, I was just in time to save the eggs from overcooking.Mr.Gregor was a grumpy bastard, and that only got worse if his eggs weren’t perfect.Eggs runny, bacon extra crispy but not burned, home fries heavy on the peppers and onions, toast light brown and not a shade darker.Coffee as strong as an ox.It was the same order every morning.I remembered him repeating it when I was five and pretending to take orders while I ran around the diner before school.Aggie, who had been the original owner of the diner and the closest thing to a grandmother I’d had, used to tell me that it was the exact same order he’d had way back when the diner first opened eighty years ago.

“You’re making a mistake, Kingston,” Opal hissed.

Without looking up again, I waved my spatula and then plated the eggs and bacon.Turning with the plate in hand, I was about to grab the toast when something nailed me directly in the face.Stunned by the surprise attack, I dropped the dishes in time to protect myself from the next foreign object that was aimed right at my head.

“Bitch?”Another missile was thrown at me.

“What the fuck?”I shouted, grabbing a frying pan and using it as a shield.“What the fuck!Are you crazy?”

“Con?”I got nailed in the chest.Whatever the hell-raiser was throwing didn’t hurt.I’d been shot more than once, and the impact of whatever I was getting hit with barely registered.But that didn’t mean it couldn’t, or wouldn’t, change.

“Jesus, you lunatic…”

Lifting the pan carefully, I took in my attacker.Her arm was already raised, what looked like….Was that a muffin in her hand?

Once I was sure that it wasn’t a gun or a grenade or even a rock, I took in the woman herself.

Something uncurled in my chest, my heartbeat thumping in a way that suddenly seemed to vibrate through my entire body.All the air rushed out of me in a whoosh as a crackling of electricity lit up my veins.

Fucking gorgeous.

She was a little bitty thing, maybe five feet in shoes.My mom was small, but even she had height on this woman.In comparison, I was a giant to her, towering over her by at least a foot and a half.Her long strawberry-blond hair, with its natural highlights of gold and red that caught the light, swung around her shoulders as she slung the pastries at me.I batted away the muffin with the frying pan on autopilot.

Her pixie nose scrunched up, her lush lips twisting in anger as she grabbed another from the container she held in her free hand.

“Don’t worry, you piece of shit.I won’t be bringing my muffins back to this stupid diner ever again.I don’t need or want your charity, you fucking asshole.I just wanted to be paid what I’m worth.”

Her voice trembled as she launched another muffin at me, the sound causing an echo of pain deep, deep inside me.Between that and watching her lips move, I was so distracted that I didn’t duck in time, getting smacked in the face with a double-chocolate muffin.“I hope you choke on it, dickhead.”

ChapterTwo

Demi

Any other day,I would have waited when Opal said her boss was busy, but I’d left Iris sleeping in my car.In any other town, I never would have left my daughter alone.But this was the safest place we’d ever been, and she was sleeping so peacefully after having an earache the last few days.

My sweet little angel seemed to keep getting them.No sooner did we get one infection cleared up, and I was searching for a new walk-in clinic to treat another.It ate up what little funds I was saving, but my baby came first.Always.From experience, I knew tubes would be the best route, but that cost money.Or government assistance.But if either of our names or Social Security numbers showed up in the system, my ex and his family would find us in a heartbeat.

Staying off the radar was the only way I could keep Iris safe.She was all that mattered to me—she was all I had left.

After days of very little sleep and almost constant pain, she was finally comfortable.My car was warm, the doors were secured, and I was only planning to be a few moments.Yet no matter how safe the place appeared, I was always watching—waiting—for my ex to pop up.Seeing Opal, I’d asked if anyone else was around.

Everyone who worked at Aggie’s was nice to me, with the rare exception, but Opal was a true gem.I saw her most mornings when I dropped off my supplies, and I knew she was at least somewhat aware of my arrangement with Quinn, unlike the other waitresses.Although we’d only spoken a few times in the months since I’d started my little enterprise with Quinn at Aggie’s diner, Opal might have been the nearest thing to a friend I had.

We’d shared the random bonding moment over being single mothers, how the experience was like having your heart broken and mended back together all at the same time.I loved being Iris’s mommy, but it was pure hell every minute of the day.A person didn’t know fear until they were responsible for the little life they had grown inside their own body.But then to constantly have to run and hide to protect that precious little life…

It was exhausting.

And I would continue to do it until the very last breath left my lungs.

With a grim smile, Opal had said Kingston was in the kitchen.I’d never met Quinn’s son before, but she’d mentioned him and that he was her business partner.Opal had turned toward the kitchen, and I’d caught a glimpse of the man at the grill.

---