Page 12 of Just for Him
Working twelve to sixteen hours a day didn’t help. I had put night school on hold and picked first and third shift work so I could spend some time with him after school every day, but that wasn’t going as well as I’d hoped, either. Most evenings, I could coax him out of his room to share a meal together, but afterward, he would head right back in, put in his earbuds, and refuse to engage.
Maybe if I shared some of that with Wanda, it would get her off my back about calling Officer Vinnie.
“It’s not just about Vinnie, Wanda.”
Since we were in a lull, and because Wanda was the closest thing I had to a girl friend, I laid everything out to her. Thankfully, she parked her snark and listened to me vent. I felt drained afterward, but sharing had been kind of cathartic, too.
“You need help, Haven,” she said thoughtfully once I had run out of steam. “You shouldn’t have to do all this on your own.”
Before I could respond, the door jingled, heralding the arrival of more customers.
“Wearegoing to talk more about this,” she informed me.
Wanda went to greet them and get their drink orders while I started a fresh pot of coffee, with an empty carafe this time, thinking about what she’d said about me needing help. I didn’t disagree; I just didn’t know who I could turn to.
Vinnie’s image popped into my mind, but I shook it away. Now was not the time for my daydreams.
The rest of my shift passed without incident. I didn’t have to rush to get to the café, so maybe I could get some online job searching in before I roused Joel to hit the books. Just because he was suspended didn’t mean I was going to let him sleep until noon.
Mentally and physically exhausted, I wasn’t sure what the day would bring. I just hoped it was better than yesterday.
Chapter Six: Vinnie
Iwoke up feeling unusuallyirritable. It didn’t take me long to figure out why. I hadn’t gotten my Haven fix the night before, and that made me cranky. Seeing her, spending time with her each night after my shift, even from across a counter, was like having a weight lifted from my shoulders.
I knew what that meant. I was a police officer, trained in and adept at reading between the lines. More importantly, I wasn’t an idiot.
I had it bad for Haven McAlister.
The question was: what should I do about it?
I had always been of the mindset that, with my job, not getting seriously involved with anyone was the smart thing to do. The demands of the job, along with the risks, would put a lot of stress on a relationship. That, in turn, would require a lot of time and effort to maintain that relationship and even more to make it grow. I hadn’t found a woman who had compelled me enough to consider all that extra time and effort was worth it.
Until now.
Haven was gentle and kind and hardworking. People, including me, were naturally drawn to her. She had a smile for everyone, and I had yet to hear her say an unkind word about anyone, even the jerks who stiffed her on tips. After dealing with the kind of things I dealt with every day, she was like a balm to my soul, a reminder ofwhyI did what I did.
