The Goodbye

Jamieson was younger than me, but he had that fresh-out-of-business-school look about him, with his slacks and Oxford shirt. I knew he was taking in my faded jeans and black T-shirt. Sure, I always changed clothes before dinner service began, but during the day, I was comfortable. He’d need to learn to relax a little, too.

“Great. I’m excited about this opportunity.”

I refrained from rolling my eyes. He was a kid. He’d lose that enthusiasm soon enough. He was about to enter the real world.

I walked past him and opened the door. “We’ll start in the kitchen, and I’ll show you around the back side of things. Introduce you to the culinary staff. We’ll meet with the servers when they arrive in an hour.”

Jamieson pulled an iPad Mini out of his briefcase. What the hell was he doing? “Can I leave my bag here?” he asked.

I just nodded, still trying to figure out what the iPad was for.

“Great. I’m ready to take diligent notes,” he explained, holding up the iPad.

This was going to be interesting.

Addy

Franny had begged to come to work with me tonight. She wanted to hang out in the back with Captain. She didn’t understand that he was busy all evening, and he couldn’t have her tagging along. But from the moment we had gotten back to the car after ice cream, she had talked nonstop about her father. She didn’t call him Captain anymore, either. She referred to him as her dad when she talked about him to me. I knew she liked the way it sounded, but I worried that she was rushing things.

They both needed to ease into this.

Or maybe I needed them to ease into it. Maybe it was just me who needed space and time to adjust. Franny had been mine alone for so long. Sharing her like this—her emotions, her love—was hard. I hadn’t expected that. I wanted her to have everything. I wanted her to know her father. I just didn’t want her ever to feel like I hadn’t been enough. That was my insecurity, though, and I knew it.

“Meeting in the dining room. The manager Captain’s training to take over is here. I hear he’s young and super hot,” Patricia informed me, as I went to stow my purse in the employee lounge.

“OK,” I replied.

I knew Captain wasn’t planning on staying. Everyone knew that. He hadn’t kept that from everyone. But I hoped he wasn’t leaving town. Not soon. Not now that I’d brought him into Franny’s life.

“Dining room, now. Everyone,” Elle called out in a bossy tone as she stepped into the room. Her gaze leveled on me, then she spun around and stalked off.

“Who wants to bet she fucks around with this one before the end of the week?” Daniel, one of the servers I didn’t know well, whispered. Several of the others giggled quietly and muffled their laughter.

I really hoped she would, but that was a selfish hope I wasn’t going to explore. I didn’t need to think about it.

“You’re not wearing your glasses,” Natalie Orchard said, smiling at me. “I knew something was different about you. I like you in contacts. Your eyes are killer awesome.”

There was no reason for me to wear the fake glasses now. I didn’t explain that I didn’t wear contacts. Instead, I just thanked her and followed everyone to the dining room.

I was unable to keep myself from scanning the room for Captain, and my eyes landed on him, then quickly looked away. I didn’t want him to catch me looking at him. I was still confused about my feelings for him. When he was with Franny, I saw River in his expression. The hardness melted away, and the smile that used to make all the bad things in my life OK would touch his lips, and I would feel a tug I didn’t want to feel. I wasn’t ready to feel. I was afraid to feel.

“He’s yummy,” a female server whispered.

“He’s all college-sexy,” another said behind her hand.

“Dammit. He’s straight. I can tell from here,” Kyle muttered under his breath. That got me smiling. Kyle had been lusting after Captain from afar since the first day. He was open about how attractive he thought Captain was and how Captain’s dangerous vibe made him sweaty and achy. That was more than I’d wanted to hear.

“No, he’s definitely into girls. He’s already checking Elle out,” Natalie grumbled.

“Because she’s flirting with him,” Daniel replied. “She’s either trying to make Captain jealous or mark her territory.”

“Captain’s not even paying attention. He’s looking this way,” Kyle said in a whisper. Then he turned to look at me and glanced back at Captain. “Or he’s looking at Rose. You do look dayum good without glasses.”

I smiled at Kyle. “Thank you.”

He swung his gaze back to the front of the room and nodded. “Yep. He’s checking out Rose.”

I didn’t want to look, but I was curious. Slowly, I turned my gaze to his, and our eyes locked immediately. He was watching me closely. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and I couldn’t keep myself from smiling back.

“That shit’s hot,” Kyle drawled, and I jerked my gaze away from Captain and stared at my feet. Kyle chuckled, and Natalie let out a low whistle.

“Wowee. Someone caught the bad boy’s attention. He’s scary and hot all at the same time,” Kyle said.

I ignored that. They didn’t know Captain. They didn’t know the boy he was or the life he had endured. But I didn’t know what he’d lived through over the past ten years. Maybe the dangerous vibe they all got was real. An image of him laughing with Franny over a story she told him came back to me, and I shook the thought away. He wasn’t dangerous. They just thought his slightly too long, sun-streaked hair pulled back in a man bun and the thick scruff on his face made him look dangerous. But I liked that scruff. I liked it a lot. It made me think about things. Things I hadn’t had in a very long time.