Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
I nod and contemplate my next statement carefully. “Put money into her account.”
“Finn . . .” he warns, but I brush him off.
“I’ll tell her it’s from me when I see her.”
“You’re going to see her?” he asks, as if he doesn’t already know.
I nod. “Yeah, I mean Eddie’s has great food and Spokane is a small enough town. I’m bound to run into her.” He doesn’t confirm that I’m spot on about her location, but his face gives it away.
“I’m sure you are.”
“Plus, you’re going to put that app on my phone so I know how to find her.”
“Of course I am.” He reaches over my desk and takes my phone. When he hands it back, a black dot on a map blinks at me. I try to enlarge the map as best I can to see where she is and get a good idea from the cross streets.
Lamar excuses himself to get to work on my ticket and salvaging my working relationship with Mr. Kramer. The best-case scenario, he thinks his daughter is delusional and won’t pay her any mind. Worst case, I’m getting engaged to a woman I don’t want to marry and fully plan to keep a mistress on the side . . . if she’ll have me.
19
Macey
The breakfast rush is where I make most of my tips, and since returning from Vegas that’s what I’ve been using to budget with. I’ve been tempted to spend the money I put in the bank, but refuse to go back to where I was living.
After I came home, Morgan and I spent a few days in the hotel. We ate room service, laughed, swam in the pool and went to the water park. It was like we were on vacation and I didn’t have a care in the world. Except I did and they were all looming. First thing I had to do was make sure Eddie was going to give me my job back. He did without hesitation and told me to never take off on him again. I didn’t make that promise, but can’t imagine I’m going anywhere else. After I secured my waitressing job, Morgan and I set out to find an apartment close to Eddie’s, what would be her new school and the bus line. I thought about buying a car, but that’s an expense that I can’t afford right now.
Morgan and I chose a small two-bedroom on the second floor. It’s perfect for the two of us. When I finally had the courage to go over to my mother’s to get the rest of my stuff, I knew it was a mistake. She sensed a change in me and somehow figured out I had money. She demanded that I pay her for storing my stuff. So I left it all there and bought new things. Tangible items that Morgan and I can call our own. Some of it is secondhand, like our couch, but our beds are brand new. For the first time in my life, I have a bed that no one has slept on except for me, and that feels really good.
With Morgan enrolled in school, I’m back to working my full-time job at Eddie’s. The tips are good, my regulars treat me well and if I play my cards right I can sustain us with this paycheck and tips, meaning that the college courses I enrolled in shouldn’t overextend me.
I’m excited about taking these courses. I was good at math back in high school and thought I’d try my hand at accounting. It’ll take two years, but it’ll be worth it. I know I could’ve easily chosen a shorter course, but I want a career that Morgan will be proud of.
The flow of customers is heavy, but nothing we can’t handle. Eddie’s has been around for a long time and is a staple in the community. If you want a good breakfast you go to a chain restaurant, but if you want something amazing, you stop at Eddie’s.
“Hey, Macey, there’s a gentleman in my station asking for you. He’s at two,” Debbie, one of the other waitresses working today, says. This means I have to give her one of my tables in exchange.
“You can have table eighteen,” I tell her as I head to her section. Fortunately for me, since I’ve worked here for so long I know this place by heart, which means I’m walking with my eyes focused on my pad and making sure I’m not missing any orders.
As soon as I step up to table two, everything freezes. Staring back at me with his bedroom baby blues is Finn. I look around, wondering if someone is playing a joke on me, but who would? No one knows about him, not even Steph. She’s asked me many times what happened in Vegas, but I refuse to tell her. I don’t want her to judge me any more than she has in the past.