Chapter 17
Eve
I entered Cowboys n’ Cuts at five minutes to twelve, holding back a torrent of nerves. Last night with Joshua had been unbelievable, but it didn’t remove my core issue. I had a job working for his disgruntled ex-girlfriend and it was only a matter of time until she fired me. I’d be forced to move on to somewhere else.
I doubted Lily’s restaurant was ready to open, and I didn’t have any money to tide me over until it did. This was the end of the line unless I stayed away from Joshua, but that had become impossible.
Our connection made the thought of leaving painful. My heart thudded at the thought.
“Get it together,” I muttered and scanned the tables. They’d already started filling for the lunch hour rush. Bob stood at the grill, his chef’s hat slightly skew.
Cassidy waved from the register. “There you are,” she said, and smiled, but it was wan. Circles darkened the skin beneath her eyes.
“Hey,” I said, and strolled over to her. “You look exhausted.”
“Gee, thanks.” Cassidy stifled a yawn. “But yeah, I am. I was up late last night getting Charlie to bed. She’s caught the flu or something and she keeps crying.”
I grimaced. “That’s terrible, I’m so sorry.”
“It wouldn’t be so bad if Mama hadn’t left yesterday afternoon. She’s gone to visit her sister for a while, so we’re all on our own. I had to hire a sitter to look after Charlie today.” Cas sighed. “I’d give anything to be home with her, right now.”
I squeezed Cassie’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I wish there was a way I could help out.”
“Don’t worry about it. These things have a way of working themselves out. It’s taken me a while to figure it out, but problems are always worse in your head than they are out here.”
“Out here?”
“Yeah, you know, in the real world. I blow stuff out of proportion sometimes. I think we all do.”
“Well, I’ll fix you a burger and shake when I get on the grill, okay?” I smiled at her. “And I’ll buy you one to take home to Charlie, too.”
“That’s real sweet, Eve, but I don’t think it’s wise, what with Queen Bitch in the office over there,” Cassidy said, and nodded to the closed door opposite. “You know, it was abnormally quiet this morning. Less folks in the restaurant than I’ve seen since I started working here.”
I didn’t have to ask why. Word had obviously spread about Faith’s nasty attitude. No diner wanted to put up with that. Eating out was supposed to be stress-free and enjoyable, not laden with the possibility for a mental breakdown from one of the staff.
“Ugh,” I said. “You think that’s gonna work itself out?” I gestured to the door.
Cassidy’s expression darkened. “I don’t know. I just don’t know, Eve.”
A dull shriek exploded from the office and we both froze.
“What the heck was that?” Cassie whispered.
A group of customers who’d just entered and taken their seats exchanged wide-eyed glances.
Something crashed, an ear-splitting shatter of glass, and then thumping footsteps behind that door. “I don’t know,” I said, “but I think we’re about to find out.” I tightened my grip on Cassie’s shoulders out of sheer anxiety.
The office door burst open and Faith charged out, red in the face, her platinum blonde hair practically standing on end. She homed in on me like a pigeon with a letter, if this particular pigeon had decided to forgo delivering its letter and opted to peck eyeballs out instead.
“You,” she growled.
“Uh oh,” Cassie hissed.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?” Faith asked, in a semi-shriek.
The folks who’d just entered turned and rushed out again, muttering amongst themselves. The door slammed shut behind them.
“What are you talking about?” I asked. Fuck the Miss Stone spiel. I wouldn’t play to her ego a second longer. Besides, she was already pissed at me for some imaginary slight. Or was it because I’d slept with Joshua again last night?
“Don’t play dumb with me,” she replied and charged over to the counter. “I know you asked Joshua to buy this place. I know you’re trying to get rid of me.”
“What?” My utter shock must’ve shown, because doubt flickered across Faith’s face.
“Don’t you dare lie to me,” she spat. “You’re using him against me. You think you can oust me from his life.”
“From his life? You’re not even in his life,” I replied.
“Uh, Miss Stone?” Cassidy licked her lips. “The customers are leaving.”
And she was right – table after table got up and walked for the door, most of them even had the decency to toss a few bills down before they did so. The rest turned up their noses or mumbled to each other, casting dark glances in Faith’s direction.
“I don’t give a fuck about the customers,” Faith snapped.
That induced another mass exodus, and these folks certainly didn’t leave any money behind.
“Stop it,” I said. “These are people you’re talking about. If you want to speak with me about something, let’s do it in the office where you can’t scare anyone off.”
“No. I want to talk about it right now,” Faith said. “You’re his lover. He said so himself.”
My pulse ticked up. Holy shit. He’d actually said that? His lover? I blushed and couldn’t hide it from her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We haven’t discussed anything like that.”
“No? Then how come you slept over at his ranch again last night?”
“I –”
“That’s right,” Faith said, “I know all about it. You whoring yourself out for money is the talk of the town.”
“I don’t care about money.” But it came out feeble. I didn’t care about it. I didn’t care about anything except for the people who stood to get hurt because of this foolishness. Cassie was exhausted, Bob had been due to finish is shift five minutes ago, and Joshua –
“You’re nothing. You’re less than nothing. You’re a scumbag. You might be his lover now, but he’ll forget all about you in a couple weeks’ time. That’s how he is. He doesn’t care about you.”
“Hey!” Cassidy stepped forward and my hand slipped from her shoulder. Shit, I’d forgotten it was there. “Don’t you dare talk to her like that.”
Faith’s icy gaze switched to the waitress instead. “Or what?”
“Or – I don’t know, just don’t talk to her like that. Eve is an amazing person. She’s been there for me when I needed her, and she cares about this restaurant and the people in it. She’s a better person than you’ll ever be.”
Faith made a weird hissing noise reminiscent of an angry toad.
“Cassie, don’t,” I said.
“No,” she replied, “she needs to hear this. Faith, I’ve lived here a while, and I’ve got to say you’re the worst human being I’ve ever met. And I’m not the only one around here who thinks that. Bob does, too.”
“Don’t throw me under the bus or nothin’,” Bob mumbled from the kitchen.
Cassidy drew herself up, all five-foot-four inches, and stared daggers at Faith. “I’ll tell you another thing, Joshua isn’t a fool and that’s exactly the reason he chose Eve over you.”
With every word, Faith’s complexion darkened and hatred poured from her. It washed over me, over Cassidy, but the waitress was on a roll. Perhaps, it was the exhaustion which had pushed her to the edge.
“You need a wakeup call. You need someone to tell you how it is, because all that pretty isn’t going to find you the man of your dreams. You’re ugly on the inside from all that bitterness. You need to sort that shit out before it eats you alive. You’re not hurting Eve or me or anyone else with it, only yourself. Understand?” Cassie flipped her red locks and popped a hip. She was fiery, sassy, and a total babe.
I couldn’t have admired her more in that moment. But I couldn’t let someone else fight my battles for me. “This isn’t between me and you, Faith,” I said, trying to douse the fire Cassie had stoked with cool words. “If you’ve got a problem with Joshua, you need to speak to him about it, not me. I’m not interested in getting caught up in your business.”
“You should’ve thought of that before you started fucking him,” Faith growled.
She was impossible, and no amount of yelling or discussion would help the woman see sense. This was over before it’d begun. I couldn’t work under these conditions. Either we found a middle ground or one of us would have to leave, and it wouldn’t be her.
My throat closed at the thought of quitting – leaving Cassie, my first true friend in years, and Joshua behind. And Charlie and Mama, too.
“Enough. Stop this,” I said. “We have work to do and there are customers who’ve left because of this argument. I’m not interested in this drama. I just want to cook a goddamn meal and live my life. Is that so much to ask?”
Faith narrowed her eyes at me, then looked over her shoulder at the tables, many of them with meals uneaten, bills unpaid. She snapped back to me. “I warned you. I told you if you slept with him again, I’d –”
“Fire me?” I asked. “Go ahead. I don’t care anymore.”
Cassie gasped and gripped my hand. “Don’t say that.”
“No,” Faith said, and a truly evil grin twisted her lips. “No, I’m not going to fire you.”
“You’re not.”
Faith shook her head and focused on Cassidy instead. “You, waitress girl, pack up your shit. You’re out of here.”
“What?” I went supersonic. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No. I’m dead serious. The waitress let all the customers leave without paying. You’re fired,” Faith said, coolly, and stared down my friend. My only friend. My friend who was a single mother, who could barely afford to pay her bills as it was. “Get out of here.”
Cassidy wavered on the spot, tears welling in her usually sparkling green eyes. She blinked once, twice, then tore off her apron and tossed it at Faith’s head. It smacked the demon-woman on the nose.
Cassidy ran for the door.
“Cassie!” I yelled. Anger torqued up my soul. “Have you lost your mind?” I asked Faith. “She can’t afford to pay her rent without this job. It was everything to her.”
“She should’ve thought of that before she left the customers leave without taking their money,” Faith replied, smug now that she’d ‘won.’
“She has a five-year-old daughter,” I hissed. “She has a child to look after all on her own.”
“Another whore. No wonder you’re friends with her.”
I itched to slap Faith until her cheeks were red, but Cassidy needed me more than Faith needed a beating. I pushed past her.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Faith called after me. “You can’t leave. It’s your shift.”
I didn’t bother answering her. This was over. My time at the restaurant was over, too. I didn’t see a future for myself here without Cassidy as a waitress and with Faith as the owner. I’d been delusional to think I’d manage working under a woman who despised me to this extent.
I let myself out into the early afternoon and scanned the street for my friend. But she was gone. “Cassidy,” I shouted, and set off down the road, grinding the grit on the sidewalk beneath my heeled boots.
Shit, she had so much to deal with already, and now this on top of everything else.
I hurried for the corner. A hand clamped down on my arm and stopped me in my tracks.