Chapter 13
Eve
I hummed my way down the sidewalk, toward the front door of the Cowboys n’ Cuts, and shoved aside the niggling thoughts that I’d gone too far with Joshua, that I’d pushed my luck and now I’d somehow pay the price.
God dammit, could I enjoy this? Couldn’t I enjoy anything? All the friends I’d had growing up had been uninhibited, reckless, regardless of what the consequences might be – why did I have to be the one who worried endlessly?
“Not today,” I muttered and shoved open the door. Today, I’d enjoy cooking with thoughts of Joshua swirling around my head, and the haze of pleasure from a morning spent feeding cows and giggling when he’d stepped in cow poop. Unheard of in NYC.
I entered the diner and frowned. Something felt off. Cassidy stood in front of the counter, a tray hugged to her chest, eyes darting from side-to-side.
Oh, god, what’d happened last night? I’d left her there with Roger. Had he hurt her?
“What’s wrong?” I hissed, and hurried to her side. “Are you okay? Did you get home safe?”
“You haven’t heard, have you?” Cassie searched my face. Behind her, customers ate their meals and chatted amiably. Bob, the morning chef, didn’t scream at me for being late when I wasn’t, for a change.
“Heard what?”
Cassidy exhaled heavily and hugged the tray tighter.
“Cassie? What’s wrong?”
“Lily sold the Cowboys n’ Cuts,” Cassidy replied.
“Are you kidding? She sold it? But Lily loves this diner.” It was part of the reason I actually enjoyed working here. The creative freedom coupled with the owner’s real passion for the restaurant made this place a joy.
“She was bought out,” Cassidy said. “It happened sometime over the weekend. Lily’s left town to set up a new restaurant in Heather’s Forge.”
“This doesn’t make any sense.” Sure, Lily had always talked about starting fresh and finding more customers for her business but this? I’d never pictured she’d just let the Cowboys n’ Cuts go, not for anything less than a small fortune.
Which meant that someone with a lot of money had bought her out.
“Oh, god, I don’t actually want to tell you the next part,” Cassidy said, and gulped. “But I have to because you’re going to find out in about five minutes when the new owner comes in.”
“Who is it?”
“Faith. Faith Stone bought the Cowboys n’ Cuts. No, that’s not right, her daddy bought it for her.” Cassie’s expression went from morose to downright miserable. “Faith is our new boss.”
A brick dropped in the pit of my stomach and crushed all those happy, swirly butterflies. This couldn’t be happening. The woman who was practically infatuated with the man I’d slept with last night was my new boss.
And she’d threatened me. And she hated my guts.
“This is unbelievable,” I whispered. It wasn’t so much the Joshua thing that was the problem. I instinctively knew that Faith wouldn’t be a good boss. She’d do everything she could to make working here uncomfortable for me, and it wasn’t as if I had that many options or any money to pay rent if she decided my time was up.
I’d have to move again, away from Hope Creek, and try to find something elsewhere. A week ago, the prospect of moving wouldn’t have concerned me. After all, there were plenty of small backwater towns in Texas.
But now? Now, I couldn’t picture leaving my feelings for Joshua behind. Or Cassidy and her little family. Ma and Charlie felt like relatives to me. They’d been so kind, invited me over for dinner or iced tea.
“Eve? Are you okay?” Cassie grasped my arm. “Listen, Eve, we have to stick together, okay? All the staff. If we let her get to us it will be over before it’s begun.”
I homed in on her. “What?”
“Faith. She’s going to try to divide and conquer. Trust me, I know her type. Do you really think she bought the diner because she wants to start a career as a restaurateur? Hell, no. She’s doing this because she wants to make your life hell. We’ll get through this, okay?”
I swallowed. “You must’ve been sent by angels, Cassie,” I whispered. “How can you be this supportive? I feel like I’ve caused all this trouble.”
“You couldn’t have known, and why should you have cared? Faith can’t stop you from following your heart.”
My heart? It was about to beat its way out of my chest. But I wasn’t a pussy. I wouldn’t throw in the towel here because that was exactly what Faith wanted me to do. “You’re right,” I said, and gritted my teeth, “we’ll make it through this. I’m going to go get prepped for my shift.”
I swept into the kitchen and tapped Bob on the shoulder. He gave me a weary nod and manned the grill while I changed into my chef’s whites. Finally, he clocked out and left without saying goodbye.
Highly unusual for him. Bob always had something snappy to say.
Cassie arrived with my first order, and I set about making two slices of cinnamon French toast. I’d just finished garnishing them with dollops of whole cream, when the front door of the diner opened and Princess Faith herself pranced in.
She was joyous, whistling a happy tune. She spotted me in the window and waggled her long, red nails at me. “Yoo-hoo! Hello, there, guess who’s your new boss?”
I forced a smile.
“That’s right, bitch, it’s me,” Faith said.
A few of the customers gasped and turned in their seats but Faith Stone didn’t care. She hadn’t come to make friends or even money. She’d come to make my life hell, and anything that got in her path was just collateral damage.
She sauntered up to the counter, then leaned on it, still wearing that smile like a medal. “I assume you heard I bought out the owner of this dump. And I assume you realize that I’m going to be changing a lot of things around here.”
I continued with the next order but nodded to show I’d acknowledged what she had to say.
“In fact, I think you should come through to my office right away to discuss these changes.”
“I can’t,” I said. “There’s no one out here to man the grill. It’s lunch rush. I’ve got orders coming out of my ears.”
“Are you arguing with your boss?”
“Faith –”
“Miss Stone.”
“Miss Stone,” I said, and ground my teeth so hard they squeaked, “if I leave the grill, customers will leave and the diner will lose money. Which means the investment your father made in this place will be for nothing.”
It was Faith’s turn to grind her molars. She didn’t like the fact that I knew her father had dished out the cash for this place, and that he’d be less than impressed if she ran it into the ground, spite or not.
“Fine,” she said. “Fine, but as soon as the rush is over, I want you in my office for a serious talk about your future at this restaurant.” She flipped her platinum blond hair. “Bitch.” Faith stalked off to the office door in the far corner of the diner. People stared at her, shook their heads as she passed, a few of the regulars actually looked queasy.
I shared their nausea. This wouldn’t end well, for anyone. Least of all me.
The lunch rush continued, and I served up burgers, mac n’ cheese, and chicken fried steaks. All the regular delights that kept the customers coming back, but it’d changed. All of it had changed, and I couldn’t shake the sense of unease. I glanced at the door in the corner of the room – Faith’s new office – and Cassie did the same each time she delivered plates to a table.
Finally, the noise died down and the restaurant emptied out but for a few tables – one with what looked to be a farmer in overalls, and the other with an elderly woman who kept slipping sachets of sugar into her handbag.
“Cas,” I called.
My friend jogged up to the window. “Yeah?”
“I’ve got to go into the office. Faith asked to see me.”
Cassidy pursed her lips. “I’ll keep an eye on everything out here. These two only need coffee refills anyway.” She hesitated and grasped my arm, squeezed. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” I’d need it in there. Joshua hadn’t gone into too much detail about his past relationship with Faith, but she clearly hadn’t let go of it.
I took off my chef’s hat, fanned my face, then made the slow walk of shame to the office door, missing the previous owner with every step. I loved food and had grown to love this restaurant, too. Faith would drive this place into the ground.
I knocked once on the door and waited.
“Get in here,” the woman yelled.
I inhaled, then turned the doorknob and entered the office. None of Lily’s pictures were on the walls. The office was pretty much bare except for a set of new taffeta curtains in magenta. I forced down a tide of derision – magenta, really?
“Sit,” Faith said, gesturing to the tiny chair in front of her desk.
I shut the door and did as she’d indicated.
“You hate it, don’t you? Doing what I ask you to do. You totally hate it.” Faith’s eyes glimmered. “I warned you, though. I gave you a chance to back out before it was too late and you just didn’t listen.”
“What do you need to speak to me about?” I had to try keep this meeting professional, since Faith certainly wouldn’t.
“Miss Stone. Call me Miss Stone or get out of my office.”
I was tempted to take her up on that offer. “What do you need to talk to me about, Miss Stone?”
“We need to talk about your slutty ways, dear. You see, you whoring yourself out to the richest man in town is giving this restaurant a bad reputation,” Faith replied, with a broad grin.
“I don’t care about his money.”
The grin vanished. “Of course, you do. Everyone cares about money, and you’re no different. Don’t try to pretend that you are.”
“All I care about is doing my job.” And Joshua. I cared about Joshua even though I didn’t want that to be the case. Even though it scared the crap out of me that I’d fallen for him after everything I’d been through with Bryan.
“Is that right? Then it shouldn’t be a problem for you to stay away from Joshua from now on and focus on work.”
“Miss Stone,” I said, through gritted teeth, “I don’t see what my relationship with Joshua has to do with the restaurant.”
“Relationship! Ha, you’ve got a big head. Joshua doesn’t want you for a relationship. He’s a millionaire. What would he want with you, other than your body? That’s all you are. A warm body. A wet pussy. That’s it. Get it? Good. Now, if you don’t stay away from him –”
I stood up and banged my knees on the edge of the table, but the pain didn’t registered. “You’re disgusting,” I said.
“Pardon?”
“You’re disgusting! You can’t talk to me like that.”
“Oh, but I can and I will. And here’s something else I can do: fire you. Go near him again and you’re fired. Get it?”
I hovered on the brink of ripping off my chef’s shirt and dumping it on her desk. But then what? I’d have to move out of Hope Creek, away from Cassie and little Charlie. Away from Joshua.
What had gotten into me? This move was supposed to be temporary. I’d never planned on staying here. There wasn’t real opportunity. The initial dream had been to find myself, maybe to start saving money to open my own restaurant one day, but now…
“What? Why are you staring at me like that? Did your brain go on vacation or something? Or are you lost in slutty dreams of my man?”
“He’s not your man,” I said, jabbing my finger at her. “He’s not anyone’s man. He’s not a possession. And I won’t be bullied by you, Faith. I won’t. Understand?”
She shrugged and checked her manicure. “Then your days are numbered, I’m afraid.”
I turned on my heel and marched from the office, anger burning a hole through my gut. I couldn’t storm out of Cowboys n’ Cuts, though. I had rent due next week and not enough money in the bank to deal with it.
“Are you okay?” Cassie stopped me just outside the kitchen. “You’re red as a tomato.”
“Fine,” I said, still shaking. “Fine.” But it was the biggest lie I’d told. Apart from the lies I’d told myself about my ex-husband.
Funny, for the first time in my life I couldn’t put a Beyoncé song to this moment. That had to mean things had gotten bad.