Page 53 of Waitress at the Shadow Ridge Inn
“Jessie said you were going to be with us for a long time.”
“Well, Jessie was wrong.”
“Jessie is never wrong. And you can’t leave. I don’t have anyone to cover your shifts.”
I gave her a small, tight smile to cover my annoyance. Maybe she would have coverage, if she’d actually tried to hire someone.
“I’m happy to train my replacement as long as you hire him or her within the next two weeks. That’ll get you through Halloween.”
A muscle ticced along Rose’s jaw. “Why are you doing this? What do you want? Less hours? A raise? I’ll talk to John. I’m sure we could find a little wiggle room in the budget.”
“It’s not that. I have some things I need to take care of, and I need to leave town for a while.”
“What things? How long will you be gone? I can hire some temporary help to cover until you return.”
“It’s personal. And I don’t know how long it will take.”
Her scowl deepened. “But youarecoming back?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. I intended to, yes, but my future was anything but clear at this point.
“Does Steve know about this?”
I ignored the question. My annoyance was reaching critical levels, and I knew I had to step away before I said something I would later regret. I liked Rose, and I liked Shadow Ridge. I didn’t want to burn any bridges that might make it awkward to return. Small towns had long memories.
Max chose that moment to knock on the door. “Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve got orders stacking up and getting cold.”
“I’d better get back out there,” I said.
Rose couldn’t say no to that; I was the only one serving.
“We’re not done talking about this,” Rose called out behind me.
But we were.
Over the courseof the next week, Rose tried on several occasions to get me to reconsider, but I remained resolute. I understood that my leaving would make things difficult for her, but this wasn’t abouther. I had to do this formeso that I could move forward.
Rose, unfortunately, didn’t see it that way. She acted as if it were a personal affront. Eventually, she changed tactics and started giving me the cold shoulder.
No one was happy about me leaving, which I supposed was a good thing, but at least they were being mature about it.
Lou summed it up nicely when he told me, “We don’t want to lose you, darlin’, but you gotta do what you gotta do.”
Thankfully, the closer we got to the end of the week, the busier business became, and the less time there was for talking and moping. The weekend was shaping up to be a perfect storm. Halloween fell on a Saturday night, which meant both Friday and Saturday, we were going to be slammed. Steve and his family were just as busy. Great weather was predicted with the next front forecasted to move through late Sunday night.
I lingered in Steve’s bed on Friday morning, knowing we probably wouldn’t be spending much time together over the next forty-eight hours. Despite my intention to keep things slow, we’d ended up at either his place or mine every night this week.
I wasn’t complaining. We’d settled into a nice, comfortable routine. I began each day with Steve’s special brand of morning wake-up, and then I made breakfast while he showered and got ready for work. I had the rest of the morning to myself, then went to the inn and worked until the dining room closed. Afterward, I found Steve, or he found me, and he made me forget everything, except how wonderful it felt to be in his arms.
“Have you had a chance to talk to Jessie?” Steve asked, stroking his big hand along the curve of my back while I waited for my heart rate to return to normal.
“Not yet. She went home with a migraine on Wednesday and called out yesterday. Lou said, sometimes, the bad ones last for days.”
“I’ve got a job over by her place this afternoon. Text me if she doesn’t come in today. I’ll check in on her before I head back to the farm, see if she needs anything.”
“You are such a nice guy,” I said, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
He palmed my backside and gave me a squeeze. “Nice, huh?”
