Under The Willows (Jackson Bay #1) by Ciara Shayee

Author:Ciara Shayee [Shayee, Ciara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amazon Corporate
Published: 2020-03-27T00:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

Kellan

In true form, we have our quietest day of the week on the day we have all our staff in.

Brayden is back after his paternity leave and Kelly has returned after a three-day sickness bug. By four, I’ve got nothin’ to do except twiddle my thumbs. I hate being idle. My mind wanders, and that’s never a good thing.

“Yo, boss!”

Cocking an eyebrow at New Kid, I fold my arms over my chest. “Yo? Where do you think you are, the skate park?”

The two girls he’s serving giggle while his cheeks flush red.

Oops, guess I embarrassed him. Never mind.

“Why you gotta bust my chops all the time?”

“Oh, I’ve gotta hear this,” Jones mutters from the hatch before hurrying around to join me behind the bar, an expectant grin on his face.

Pursing my lips, I shake my head. There are a million reasons, but I don’t have the energy to list them all. I go with the simple explanation. “Honestly? Because you make it so easy.”

The girls at table four find this hilarious and crack up. I feel bad for a second until I see that one of them is shooting the kid sympathetic goo-goo eyes.

With a roll of my eyes, I throw a thumb over my shoulder and address Brayden as he returns from the bathroom. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

Looking at the half-empty restaurant, I doubt I’ll be needed any time soon, but Brayden agrees and heads over to the family in the window to check everything is good with their food. As I round the bar and head to my office, I can’t help but look at the kid on their table. She’s four or five, long red hair in pigtails. A tiny little thing. Her gap-toothed smile makes my chest ache.

Willow always loved having her hair in ‘piggies,’ as she called them. And just a few days before the accident that stole her from me, she lost her first tooth after falling over in the playground. I almost broke my damn neck tiptoeing into her room and around all her toys so the ‘tooth fairy’ could put a dollar under her pillow.

Shaking my head, I tug at my hair and sigh. I’m usually good at repressing these memories. Spilling my guts to Piper has opened the floodgates.

I’m almost in the safe solitude of my office when I hear a voice that stops me dead.

“Hey, Brayden. I know it’s against the rules if we’re not buyin’, but can Arlo use the restroom?”

“Sure, Piper. Hey, little dudes. How’re you all doin’?”

“I need to pee,” Arlo says frankly.

I grin and do an about-turn. Piper is just about to step through the door into the restrooms with the boys, but she pauses for a second to offer me a grin that has my stomach flip-flopping.

Turning to Brayden, I click my tongue. “Always breakin’ the rules for the pretty girls, huh?”

“Hey, the kid’s wearing a Gators hat. We Gator fans have gotta stick together.”

“Sorry, excuse me? Please can we get some more drinks?”

Waving Brayden off, I offer the table beside us a grin.

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