Order Up by Kali Hart

Author:Kali Hart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jackie M. Wallick

CHAPTER 11

Willow

My feet are killing me. I’ve been on them all day, waiting tables in the diner because the high schooler who was supposed to start at seven a.m. decided she had better things to do on a Saturday. Grandma Rose switched Aurora to busing tables within the first five minutes—less chance of her dumping hot food on customers. Kinley’s been hiding in the office, combing over the books and learning that side of the business so we don’t run the diner into the ground during the month that Grandma Rose is gone.

All I want is to go home.

Except, I don’t have a home. Even if I could go back to the LA house I shared with three other women, it never felt like home. And sleeping on the pullout couch in Grandma Rose’s basement has left my lower back aching.

If it weren’t for the constant whispers I hear behind my back or the awkward questions and comments—I never could stand the city. Too crowded. Did you know Mason went on a date last month? At least all that extra food from your reception went to a homeless shelter. Mason’s building quite the real estate portfolio since you left. Are you actually acting? The only thing I’ve seen you in lately is a hemorrhoid cream commercial.—I might consider staying.

“Order up. Table six.”

“I’m taking a break after this,” I tell Aurora so she can cover my tables, risking Grandma Rose having a conniption. I need ten minutes to take some deep breaths or I might scream. Waitressing isn’t new to me. I did plenty of it when I first moved and was waiting for auditions to come up. But I’d forgotten how draining it can be.

I drop off table six’s order, but before I can make my escape, I overhear something that stops me dead in my tracks.

“Heard there’s a developer buying that old theater.”

“Shame. That building’ll get torn down now.”

“Heard he wants to build some tourist trap box store.”

“Fuck, just what we need.”

The conversation between two old men might be merely a rumor, but it sends my pulse off the charts. I can’t seem to fill my lungs with oxygen. I’m going to hyperventilate. I weave through tables and patrons, rushing for the back door. It’s been eons since I’ve had a panic attack. Since a major audition that I completely flopped. I thought I’d moved past these episodes. But hearing about my precious theater being torn down and turned into a box store? My heart cracks in two.

I lean against the diner, close my eyes, and tilt my head toward the sky. I focus on my breathing, but it doesn’t do much for my sweaty palms or the tears threatening to fall. Before I ran away from my life here, that theater was thriving. I had big plans to bring in traveling shows and even produce some of the plays I’d written.

If only I’d known that leaving would cause its demise…

“Willow?” Mason’s deep voice sends shivers throughout my body, reminding me that the last time I saw him, he had his hand down my pants.

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