Peace in Flames: A Peace Series Novella by Caroline Andrus

Author:Caroline Andrus [Andrus, Caroline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-02-16T06:00:00+00:00

Valerie loved her job. Her boss and co-workers were great, her customers loved her, and the tips she made were the cherry on top. But that afternoon Valerie dreaded the very idea of being out in public, let alone going to work.

She couldn’t call in sick, though. She had a perfect attendance record and she couldn’t leave the diner short staffed. So she sucked it up and went to work.

“I want to hear all about your date,” Tammy said with a grin and a wink as Valerie slipped behind the counter and pulled on her work apron.

“It was good,” she said quickly.

“That’s all I get?” Tammy threw up her arms. Abandoning the pitcher of ice water on the counter before her, she followed Valerie to the back room. Valerie ditched her school bag in her cubby and shrugged, her back to Tammy. She walked to the hand washing sink and scrubbed her hands.

“Well,” Tammy huffed. “At least tell me if there is going to be a second date.”

Valerie shrugged again, grabbing a paper towel and turning off the tap.

“You are killing me, child!”

“It’s… complicated,” she said, turning back to face the older woman.

Tammy pursed her red lips—only a shade brighter than her bottle-red curls—and narrowed her eyes at Valerie.

Wanting to escape this line of questioning, Valerie quickly darted past her co-worker and to the soda fountain counter. She grabbed Tammy’s abandoned pitcher of water and left to refill glasses for the few customers in the diner that afternoon.

She tried to lose herself in the ordinariness of the job. She forced herself to smile and make small talk. Eventually she returned to the counter and began to wipe up a few stray spots of ice cream.

The diner’s doorbell jangled and she held her breath, expecting the worst.

“‘It’s complicated’ just walked in.” Tammy nudged Valerie’s side with her elbow, a grin plastered on her face, before leaving the counter to deliver an order.

Valerie closed her eyes and let the air flow from her lungs.

“Hey.” Liam approached the counter and took the seat in front of her.

“Hey,” she said softly.

Tammy crossed the restaurant behind Liam and grinned like a fool.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him.

He shrugged. “Just grabbing a snack.”

She raised her eyebrows, her hazel eyes boring into his dark ones.

He sighed. “Fine. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“That’s sweet, but I’m fine.” He stared at her. “Promise.” She returned her attention to the counter and scrubbed at the non-existent spots.

“Well, I’m going to hang out here just the same.”

“You’re going to spend the next four hours hanging around the diner watching me work?”

He shook his head and held up his backpack. “I’m going to spend the next four hours hanging around the diner studying.”

She grinned; her first real smile in almost 72 hours. “Okay, then. Well, can I get you some homework fuel?”

She took his order and left him to it.

True to his word, Liam didn’t vacate his seat the entire evening. Even during the dinner rush, he stayed firmly planted at the counter.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.