Her Forbidden Amish Child by Leigh Bale

Author:Leigh Bale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-03-26T12:52:31+00:00

Chapter Eight

“Order up!”

Tessa whipped her head around and glanced at the kitchen cutout. Six plates of food sat beneath the warming lights, waiting for her to shuttle them to the tables.

Holding a coffee carafe aloft, she refilled two more cups at table three, then headed toward the cash register so a customer could pay their bill. The teenaged girls sitting at table five erupted into peals of laughter. A low rumble of voices permeated the air from table eight. At nine o’clock on a Saturday morning, the restaurant was almost filled to capacity. Tessa was doing her best to keep up.

Sliding the near-empty carafe onto the hot plate, she quickly flipped up the lid to the machine, dumped the used filter and grounds into the garbage, slapped a clean filter in, added scoops of fresh coffee, then the water, and pressed the start button. Then she snatched up a wide, round tray and piled the plates of food on before hefting them over to table nine.

By the time she’d helped two more guests pay their bills, taken the order for a familye of four and returned to the drink dispenser, she had a fresh pot of coffee ready to serve.

The bell over the front door tinkled, heralding more arrivals. Thankfully Sam was at the farm today with Doris. Caleb had finally convinced his mom to stay home for once. At least Tessa didn’t have to worry about the older woman overdoing it or her son getting into trouble. But it also meant they were shorthanded.

She scanned the dining room, mentally noting she had one table empty that would seat four. As she reached for a pile of menus, she turned to greet the new customers...and her heart sank.

Bryce Jackson and two other Englisch cowboys she didn’t recognize stood at the front counter, laughing and talking rather loudly. She hesitated. Would Bryce behave himself? He’d been inebriated that day in the park. Maybe he wouldn’t even remember her.

“Good morning. How many in your party?” she asked politely.

Bryce turned and, as if in slow motion, she saw the recognition fill his eyes, and a silly grin crossed his face.

“Well, hi there, Tessa,” he said, as if they were old friends.

Her body inwardly clenched in response. He took a step toward her, and she took one back. But not before she caught the pungent scent of liquor on his breath. She blinked, surprised by the man. It was still morning, yet he’d obviously been drinking already. Doris had told her he was an alcoholic. She couldn’t fathom that. A part of her pitied him for the sadness in his life, while another part greatly disapproved of his weakness. Everyone had sadness in their life. Everyone had struggles and difficulties. But Caleb had made it clear that happy customers were their number-one priority. So, she pasted a smile on her face.

“We’ve got three in our party. Ain’t that right, Charlie?” One of the men jabbed his friend with his elbow.

Charlie flinched but laughed raucously. “Yeah, we got three, but we could make it four, if you’d join us.

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