Page 23 of Trophy
At five after seven she was getting jittery, trying to get the exuberant family refills—they’d finished eating a half hour ago but still hadn’t left their table—and take the order of a group of elderly women who had come in for what looked like a Bible study.
He always came in between six thirty and seven. Surely Rob wasn’t that awkward or disappointed in her. He was obviously attracted to her, but it wasn’t like he had anything else invested in her. He could have any woman he wanted in this town. She saw all the admiring looks whenever he walked into Dora’s. It wouldn’t hurt him to just be friends with her.
When she turned around after taking an order, she almost slumped in relief when she saw him come in, grinning at someone behind him.
It was Ernie, the old guy in overalls who came in by himself most mornings. Rob was saying something friendly to him. He was nice to everyone.
Allison had never met anyone like him before.
When he saw her looking in his direction, he gave her a warm smile, and Allison relaxed completely. It was fine. Everything was going to be fine between them. One random kiss wasn’t going to get in the way.
She was up to serve him, so she walked over to his place at the counter with the coffeepot and a mug.
“Your yard is looking good today,” he said with another smile.
“I know.” She couldn’t help the silly thrill of pride at the memory of how nice and neat her yard had looked when she’d left that morning. “I dread when all those weeds start comingback. You want your usual?” His usual was eggs, bacon, and wheat toast.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
She scrawled out his order and carried it back to hang on the rack in the kitchen, feeling pleased with the world again now that things were settled.
Her satisfaction only lasted a minute, since the huge family still wasn’t leaving their table, and the toddler had dumped his milk. Then one of the Bible study ladies changed her mind about her order, so Allison had to run back and make the adjustment. Then three tables came in at the same time, and two of them were hers, so she juggled taking orders and bringing beverages for a few minutes.
Then she realized that Rob’s plate had been ready for a few minutes, and she hadn’t brought it over to him.
“I’m sorry,” she said, hurrying it over. “Is it still hot?”
He took a bite of the bacon. “It’s just fine. Why is it so busy today?”
“I have no idea. What is it about Monday mornings that makes people want to eat breakfast out?”
“I can’t answer that question. I eat breakfast out every day.”
Before she could reply to this, he said, “If you want to keep the weeds down in your beds, you should mulch them.”
She blinked at the abrupt shift. “Oh. Yeah. I should, I guess.” She sighed. “That’s probably more than I can afford right now, though.”
“It’ll wait,” he said easily, chewing his toast thoughtfully.
“Yeah.” She gave a little laugh. “Who would believe the day would ever come when I lusted after mulch.”
Rob chuckled appreciatively, and she couldn’t help but shiver at the look in his eyes.
He certainly wasn’t looking at her like he remembered they were supposed to be friends. He was looking at her like he wanted to kiss her again.
A man across the room was making the scribbling sign at her, obviously asking for his check. Allison waved to acknowledge him and quickly ran back to get it.
It wasn’t a good idea for her to focus on Rob too much. If she didn’t do a good job serving tables, Trey might be unhappy with her. Not to mention her tips would go down.
When she brought the ticket over, she had to listen to the man complain about the wait. Her first instinct was to point out that he’d waited less than two minutes, but she managed to bite back the response. No one had to tell her that talking back wasn’t a good idea for a waitress. She dropped her eyes and murmured an apology.
The man grumbled as he got up to pay, and Allison was glad to see him leave. She glanced to Rob automatically and saw he was watching her. He gave her a little wink, and she hid a smile as she hurried to the kitchen.
When Rob left his tip, the note on his napkin said,You look great in those jeans. R.
A week later, Rob was sitting at the counter in his normal position, waiting for his breakfast. Allison’s attention was occupied by an elderly couple he didn’t recognize in the corner, who appeared to have questions about every item on the menu.
He wondered how she could keep smiling when she must be getting impatient, but she was really good at the waitress face and her friendliness never wavered.
