Rough Ride (8 page)
The boys gave off their order and she jotted it down and headed to the steaming hot kitchen. Fryers bubbled and popped. The griddle sizzled and tickets hung from a clip above the heads of the flushed cheeked cooks. The scent of frying grease filled the air and it was in a strange way, heavenly. Being way cooler in the kitchen than standing in front of Lane was also a big bonus. Gretchen added the food tickets to the end of the line. “Two cheese sticks, two double burgers, a fish and chicken dinner!”
A series of got-its from each person on their station came at her and they added their order to the mountains already cooking. Gretchen started after the cheese dip, but Tonya looped their arms together and tugged her toward the back of the kitchen by the big deep freezer. “This is
fascinating
. You dropped off one pie, in and out, and here he is!”
Flora tugged open the heavy door and frosted air flooded out over Gretchen’s sweaty body. Gretchen shook her head. “He’s here because of his brothers and it’s a nightmare, that’s what it is.”
“What?” Flora stepped out of the cooler with the jet engine it sounded like for a fan. “No. He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t curious about you. Just keep it like we talked about. Light and flirty. Don’t stick around too long. Keep him guessing.”
Gretchen groaned. “Why don’t you do this? You’re the one crushing all over Jacob and he’s at that table. Take it from me. That’ll make me more mysterious.”
Flora laughed. “You must be crazy.”
“It’s perfect.”
“A perfect way to make me look desperate. No thank you.” She tossed two burgers on the grill then faced back to Gretchen. She grabbed the top of Gretchen’s shirt and tugged it down.
“Flora!”
“Be still.” She widened the tank straps to the edge of her shoulders, straightened and adjusted then stood back and admired her work. “Now get back out there. And shake your ass this time.”
Gretchen grabbed their drinks and dip and headed back through the maze of people, walking on her toes and holding the drink tray high over her shoulder so as not to hit the other diners across the top of their heads. She rounded by their table and eased the tray on a corner.
“Here we go. I’ll be back with the cheese sticks in a bit.” She passed around the drinks, dip and chips. She stood, watching Lane as he watched her. “Your order will take a bit longer than usual with the crowd, but it’s in.”
And she walked off before saying something she shouldn’t. Or saying anything.
Be a tease
. Ha, yeah right. She glanced at her tables as she walked back to the kitchen, took note that she needed four pitchers of coke and one tea on the way back out. She’d never been a tease or any kind of sexy thing like Flora and Tonya insisted she aim for. She was just her. The widow in town. She never realized how rarely she flirted. How rarely people flirted with her.
“Well?” Flora asked at the drink stations.
“He just keeps staring at me.”
“Good!”
“No, I don’t think it’s good. He looks confused.”
Flora patted the top of her head. “Confused staring is good. Trust me.”
“That’s what you said when you claimed he’d be easy!”
Someone ahem’d and Gretchen glanced over her shoulder to see one of the regular waitresses waiting. She filled up her last coke pitcher and got out of the way. “I am ready for this night to be over. Love helping Tonya out for busy nights like this, but this one might kill me.”
“I already saw the pitcher of sangria cooling in the big refrigerator. Just keeping thinking sangria.”
“Bless, Tonya.” Gretchen turned and slid away from the machine, and marched through the tables, putting down refill pitchers and picking up empties as she moved. Through the corner of her eye…the one she kept looking out…there was no missing Lane staring her way.
She swept through the kitchen. Dumped the empty pitchers in the sink for a wash and waited by the fryers as her cheese sticks for the Iverson Brothers were finished. She glanced down the ticket line and saw another table’s food was being wrapped and plated.
Jimmy, the old fryer cook, shook one of the fryer baskets. “Halfway there, now!”
She laughed. “Only halfway?”
He slid the two baskets of cheese sticks on her tray and two plates of fries. “Take those down for me?”
“Sure, I think they’re mine anyway.” She looked for plates with her personal blue tickets, noted their table numbers and loaded up her tray and headed out for another pass through the room. She unloaded as she moved and finally came back across Lane’s table and dropped down the piping hot cheese sticks. “Everything all right here?”
She was met with nods and moans by the table. By everyone except Lane, who was still staring at her. She couldn’t help it. “Is there a problem with your dip? Or drink?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t know you worked here.”
“Dear God, no. I’d die if I had to do this every night. I fill in for Tonya when she’s short on wait staff, or on nights like this.”
Trent grinned. “I bet you’re going to be exhausted.”
She smiled. “My bed is already calling for me.”
She spun and hurried off, Trent’s snicker chasing after her. She checked her other tables as she returned to the kitchen. Short. Quick. Flirty. Utterly stupid. Oh my, God, what had she been thinking to mention a bed in front of Lane? She’d said bed.
And so it continued.
A constant near running pace of filling drinks, checking orders, delivering and smiling like she loved it the whole time. Not that she didn’t enjoy parts of helping Tonya out. She got to see a lot of people she only ran across on occasion. She enjoyed the quick chats and the many laughs, but she’d never had to do this with Lane staring. There was a constant itch in the middle of her back, knowing she was being watched. This kind of thing was exhausting enough, but with him there just watching, slowly nursing a beer, it was pure murder.
Another pass through the kitchen and finally the tickets were starting to slow down to manageable. Lane’s table was out next and she hooked her hand through Flora’s. Help me with the next one?”
“Sure. A big order?”
Oh, yes. A big, dark muscly hot order. Plated orders slid across the bar and she picked up blue tickets, Flora doing the same. She exited the kitchen and noted a few tables were finally emptying. “Looks like we’re almost done.”
“Thank God. I stole that strawberry pie out of your refrigerator to go with the sangria and I’m ready to dig in.”
“You stole my pie?” Gretchen glanced back. “I’d hid it in the back!”
“I know. And you did a good job, too.” Flora flashed her a smile. “All the way on the top shelf too. I figured you had to stand inside the refrigerator or get a chair to get it back there like you had.”
“Didn’t hide it well enough.”
“Nope and I’m not a damn bit sorry either. I am so ready to get a fork and dig in.”
“I sent you home with two others the day before. I know you haven’t eaten all that already.”
“Just some of each. But I wasn’t at home. I was at your house and coming straight here.” Flora turned and stepped back as a couple of people walked by and headed toward the diner’s front. “I know this thing is playing heck with your mind, but to be honest, I’m loving it. You are on a baking roll trying to figure him out. You’ll have the pie I stole replaced by lunch tomorrow.”
All right, fine. That was true. It was easy to bake when she had a lot on her mind. Measuring forced her mind on something else. She could admit that the sweet, juicy, creamy goodness all covered in a mountain of cream had a moan rumbling up her throat. “At the moment, I’m glad you stole it too.”
“I knew you would be.”
She stopped at Lane’s table. “Here we are. Sorry about the extra wait.”
A chorus of ‘no problems’ sounded out and she and Flora called out items and handed them out.
Jacob leaned back as Flora put his plate down. “Thought you were ignoring me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Hard to ignore what I didn’t know was here.”
“Oh, baby, you’re killing me.” He reached for her, but Flora popped his fingers with round tray.
“I’m not your baby either. Or your darling or your sweet-pea.”
Snickers came from the brothers and Gretchen was thankful all eyes were off her for once. All of them, except for Lane’s.
“Aw, honey—”
“Give me one more pet name and I’ll tell your brothers how you stuffed your kitchen sink with rolls and ribs as a last ditch effort to get a woman in your house.” She grinned and winked at the table. “Whoops.”
Jacob cursed soundly at that and loud laughter erupted from the table. Flora walked off and Gretchen followed. “That was mean.”
“Bullshit. He was playing with my leg under the table.”
Gretchen shook her head. “I don’t think I get it.”
Flora laughed. “I know I don’t, but I’m having a good time trying to figure it out.”
A red-faced and big grinning Tonya caught them as they started in the kitchen. She wrapped them both in a tight hug. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
“I’ll let you pay me back next week when I have to dig up a septic system.”
Tonya grimaced. “Does that mean I get to keep your tips tonight?”
Flora shook her head. “Well, I don’t know about all that. Point me to the sangria and somewhere to put my feet up and I’ll say we’re square.”
Tonya grinned. “That’s what I’m here to do. The others can finish up. I’ll get the drinks.”
“I got the pie!” Flora called.
Tonya watched her go. “We have pie? I would have sat us down already if I’d known that.”
For the last hour Gretchen had been sitting with her two friends, just a table over from him. They started with a big, full pitcher of some red, fruity drink, a pie in the middle and the three of them with a fork each working on their own side.
In no time only crumbs were left in the pie pan. It took a little longer, but then only a few chunks of fruit laid at the bottom of the pitcher. All that was left was a lot of laughing and carrying on. Lane had watched and listened enough that he expected to lay awake all night long, hearing Gretchen’s laugh as she slapped the table, mouth wide open, cheeks flushed. Then he’d imagine her soft body against his, sans clothes.
Not that any of that was new. He thought of those things a lot, but he’d only been able to imagine it. Now, he knew. Between the kiss on his couch and watching her, he had a clear picture of what she’d look like under him. He shook his head and turned back to his table to see Trent staring at him.
“Still don’t want her?”
“Mind your own business.”
He shrugged. “All right. I was just looking at trying to get them home. So in that case, you drive my truck, I’ll take Gretchen in her car. See her cozy to bed. Jacob, you gonna get your plumber home?”
Jacob nodded. “Somebody needs to.”
Rebecca pushed away from the table. “Tonya is on our way. I’ll drive her car and then Grant can pick me up from there.”
“Here are my keys, bro.” Trent slid his truck keys across the table.
Lane only raised his brow.
Like. Hell.
He pushed away from the table and left his brother’s keys where they sat. As he drew near the girls, their laughter died, eyes glanced to him. He settled his hands on the back of the only empty chair at the small table. “We’ve figured out DD’s for you three.”
Gretchen blinked her glassy eyes up at him. “Well that’s nice, but we still have a long night ahead of us.”
He couldn’t stop the chuckle. “The three of you look pretty finished to me.”
Gretchen yawned and stretched, forcing her tits out in the air. She blinked and her hazy eyes managed to meet his gaze. “I wish, but there’s a ton of sweeping, mopping and washing dishes left to do. We’ll be well and sober by the time all that’s finished.”
Sweeping, mopping and washing dishes? By the looks of them, he’d be surprised if they could make it to the front door without tripping over their own feet.
Jacob walked up then. “Come on, Plumber.”
Their gazes moved from him to his brother. And they only stared and blinked.
Lane shook his head. “They’re not done.”
At that, the girls stood up and pushed in chairs. Tonya yawned now. “I wish, but no. It’s easier to clean tonight than in the morning after the stuck on stuff has all dried. You boys are welcome to stay and chat if you like. Play cards for all I care. Drink machines are open, but the kitchen is closed.”
Flora laughed and walked toward the kitchen. “But you’ll have to endure our music.”
Gretchen stacked cups and grabbed the pitcher. Her cheeks were still pinked, eyes still glossed over. He studied her for a moment, surprised she wasn’t as wasted as he thought. Then it struck him in his chest that none of them were near as drunk as he’d first thought. They were just that good of friends who could laugh hard and loud. Like him and his brothers used to be. The realization knotted hard in his gut knowing he wouldn’t be able to have those moments again.
Gretchen started off. “Thanks for the DD offer. That was sweet.”
The girls retreated, and Lane faced his brothers. “Who’s got a deck of cards?”
Rebecca laughed and rubbed her stomach on the way out the door Grant held for her. “You three are pathetic, but good luck.”
Trent stopped next to him and trapped him in a headlock. “By the looks of the two of you, we’re not going anywhere until they have this place cleaned up. I have cards in my truck.”
Lane broke free and turned the open sign to close while Trent fetched cards. By the hours listed, the diner had closed over an hour ago.
Gretchen returned through the swinging door of the kitchen with a big plastic box and started when her eyes met his. “Oh, y’all decided to stay?”
“Trent is grabbing some cards. Boys night.”
She laughed. “All right then. Your choice.”
Just then, clapping, bubble-gum popping sounding music blared. His gaze fell on hers. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
She shook her hips and moved to the closest table. “You don’t like hip-hop?”
Tonya came out the door with a broom, the handle in microphone position while she sang and danced her way across the room.