Page 14 of Caleb's Salvation
Two weeks later
Vivienne
I stood outside the bar and shivered as the wind kicked up around me. It was now or the next time I could work up my courage. Which might not happen again soon.
I opened the door and walked through it. It was early afternoon. Long before any of the regulars might arrive. Shelby had taken Sam for me. I knew what I needed to say. I also knew Bud was a hard-ass who hated change.
Which was why he lived in Hope’s Point. Which was why he hated all the newcomers.
And I don’t think he was thrilled we were all women.
As suspected, the place was empty. Unfortunately, including Bud.
Shoot. Did the guy take lunch breaks? Naps? Was I going to have to come back and do this when he actually had customers? If he rejected my idea in front of everyone, it might be humiliating.
Humiliation, I could handle. It was not getting the job that had me worried.
I’d already checked with Gert to see if she needed part-time help. Her answer had been a definitive no. But Bud’s made sense. I’d only been a few times with Sammy, but everyone had to go to the bar for what they wanted. How would the guys hanging out by the pool tables like having their beer brought to them?
Enough to tip?
Right now, I had free rent. Food was expensive, but I didn’t need much. Wood…Cal set me up for a while with the wood. He’d sent Ty, a roustabout who worked for Eli, with a truck full of wood.
Ty explained he’d been sent to help me with anything I needed and to make sure I wasn’t being hassled by any of the guys from camp. I didn’t need two guesses as to who had sent him.
Caleb obviously wanted to make sure I had the help I needed but had come up with a plan to avoid me. Sending Ty, a man I figured to be about my age, lean with dark brown hair and a scruffy jaw line, was probably intentional.
He was cute and sweet. Plus, he had all the patience in the world when it came to showing me how to split a log. After an hour I was sore all over my body, but mildly competent at the task.
No, I really didn’t need much money. Just enough to sustain me and Sammy. Enough to cover Shelby’s time, although I doubted she would take any money. She said watching Sammy and Zeke Jr. was a labor of love.
I was about to face the reality that Bud wasn’t here and was thinking about leaving, when he came out of the kitchen.
I cleared my throat and made my way to the bar.
“Little early for you to be drinking, isn’t it?” he asked.
I laughed, assuming that was a joke. “No, sir. I’m not here for a drink. I don’t know that we’ve formally met. I’m Vivienne Chester.” I reached my hand across the bar.
He looked at it, then looked at me.
Right. I dropped my hand, rubbing it against my jeans and just went with my pitch. “I have a proposition for you. Bud’s is a flourishing business with the oil riggers and I was thinking, why not increase the level of service? I can take orders and deliver food and drinks directly to the tables and back where the guys play pool.”
“I’m not paying you,” he said bluntly.
I smiled. “That’s the beauty of my plan. I’ll work for tips. You get the added value of table service on the nights I can work, and it doesn’t cost you a thing.”
“I get ten percent of your tips. My food, my booze.”
I lifted my chin. “Five percent,” I countered.
“Seven.”
“Done,” I agreed. I had no idea whether that was a fair deal or not. But I was going to make ninety-three percent of whatever I could get the guys to tip me, and I had a feeling I could get by on that.
“I have a baby.”
“Seen him.”
