Page 6 of Second Chances in Cedarwood

“It’s kind of fun and frenetic,” Henry said. “I could go for lunch.”

“Good.” Jack washed his hands in the little sink, then donned fresh gloves. “It occurred to me I hadn’t properly introduced you to Anna. Anna, this is Henry. Henry, Anna.”

“Hi.” Anna applauded. “You impressed me. I don’t know if the take is right, but you seemed to keep up and that’s half the battle.”

“Thanks.” The tips of Henry’s ears burned.Christ.He was pushing fifty. He shouldn’t be getting so embarrassed so easily.

“We’ll get busy again—well, you know.” Jack winked. “Why don’t you go ahead and eat and we’ll handle the last burst?”

“Nah. I’m here. Feed me when we’re done.” Henry stretched his hands and nodded. “I signed on to do the job and I will.”

“Good, but if you keep doing it so well, we won’t let you leave.” Jack scraped the grill. “Here comes the wave.”

The last hour passed in what seemed like seconds. Henry closed the register one last time, then sighed. He’d been tired before, like after a workout, but this was different. “I don’t know how you do this day after day.”

Anna turned the sign around and locked the door. “I’ve asked him that myself.” She removed her gloves. “Can you two handle cleanup? I need to go to the preschool. Who knew the sign-ups for the fall were in July?”

“No problem,” Jack said. “Good luck.”

Henry left the register and picked up a rag from behind the counter. “What do you use to clean the tables?”

“The spray under the sink.” Jack pointed his elbow in the direction of the item. “Just spray them down and wipe. It’s antibacterial and has bleach, so don’t get it on your shirt or jeans if you like them.”

“Noted.” He cleaned the tables and chairs, then abandoned the spray and rag in favor of the condiment bottles. Without being asked, Henry refilled the bottles and containers.

“We should probably get tax information so you can get paid.” Jack finished scraping the grill. “Why don’t you put the lids on the onions and cheese. They go in the fridge behind me.”

“Sure.” He did as told. “You weren’t kidding about being busy.”

“If you hadn’t helped, I’d be in up to my eyeballs.” Jack wiped his hands, then offered Henry a box. “Made you lunch.”

“Thanks.” He didn’t want to eat on the now clean tables.

“Go to the office. It’s small, but we can eat in there without someone thinking I’m open.” Jack pointed to the little door off the hallway. “When we’re done eating, we’ll count the take. I’ll count, then you do it.”

“Okay.” He ate in silence, not sure what to say to Jack. He’d wanted to be alone with him, but now that he was, he didn’t know what to do with himself.

“Got plans for tonight?” Jack asked. He finished his hot dog. “Something exciting?”

“Sleep?” Henry laughed. “What about you?”

“Sleep, most likely,” Jack said. “Ask me tomorrow. I never go out when the shop is open.”

“Smart.” He hadn’t realized he’d asked Jack out. “I just meant are you doing anything tonight.”Damn.“Are you going to do something exciting?” No matter how he worded it, he made his questions sound like offers for dates. At least they did to him.

Jack finished his fries. “Are you trying to ask me out?”

He’d gone this far. He might as well just ask now. “Duh.”

Jack wiped his hands on the napkin. “Really?”

“Yeah, I am and I’ll try again tomorrow. Maybe then you’ll say yes,” Henry said, finding his gumption. “I’ll dazzle you with my register-running skills, and you’ll fall madly in love with me.” He’d overdone it, but whatever.

“I will,” Jack said, his voice low. “You jumped in and didn’t complain. That’s huge. I’ve had kids from the high school wanting to work for me. They last a day and quit. It’s too hard.”

“Not that hard.” He shrugged. “Let’s get that money counted.”

“I’ll total the receipts while you count the bills. Then we’ll switch,” Jack said. He unfurled the register tape and jotted down numbers in a notebook.

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