The boys accepted my invitation to join me and Meadow. As they made their way over, I looked around for a table we could move to. It would make talking easier, rather than being lined along the bar.

“Oh, there’s a table. Let’s move there. Grab our drinks,” I said to Meadow as I grabbed both of our purses.

I made sure to catch the waitress's eye so she knew we were moving.

“Did you guys just get here?” I asked Kane and Paul as I gave them each a hug.

“No,” Paul said. “We’ve been in the back talking beer with Jason.”

“Paul, I’m not sure you’ve properly met Meadow yet. This is Meadow. Meadow, this is Paul,” I said, smiling as they shook hands.

“For sure, how’s it going, Meadow? It’s too bad your first time at the brewery turned out to be such a disaster.”

We all looked at Kane. It was a tense moment and I felt I had to say something to diffuse the situation.

“Look,” I said to Kane and Meadow. “I know you two have had a few misunderstandings.”

I paused for a second so I could judge their response. They seemed calm.

“But you’re both good people and I know you’d get along. Think you can forget everything that’s happened and just be friends?” I said, looking back and forth at each of them.

“Sure,” Kane said as he took a sip of his beer.

“Yup,” Meadow said, running her fingers along the bottom of her wine glass and pointedly avoiding eye contact with Kane.

“Great. So we can move on and change the subject.”

They both nodded and I got the distinct impression there was more going on than I was aware of. I guessed it would take some time for them to warm up to each other and I tried to think of something we could talk about.

“So, we finally hired a new waitress at the café today,” I said.

Both the guys knew how stressed I’d been about being short staffed.

“Finally. You must be relieved. Who is it? Do we know her?” Paul asked.

“You’re looking at her,” I said, gesturing to Meadow.

Meadow averted her eyes and took a sip of her wine.

“Oh cool,” Paul said. “Congratulations. When do you start?”

“She already started today.”

“No kidding!”

“The second she walked into the café and asked about the Help Wanted sign, I tossed her an apron and she got to work. Her timing was perfect. I was up to my eyeballs in messy tables, customers waiting to pay, new customers waiting to be seated. She literally saved the day.”

“You’re working here now?” Kane asked Meadow.

“She sure is. She’s got zero waitressing experience though. She’s actually never worked a day in her life. I was so desperate I didn’t care. Plus, I could tell she’s a good girl, so I took a chance on her.”

I rubbed Meadow’s shoulder affectionately as I spoke.

“She killed it. She’s a natural. We make an awesome team, right Meadow?”

“Yup,” Meadow said shyly.

“We worked our butts off and as soon as we were finished, we came here. What about you two?” “Yeah, we had a really productive day. Kane and I make a pretty awesome team too,” Paul said, hitting Kane’s shoulder playfully.

Kane looked at Paul’s hand on his shoulder and Paul quickly removed it. We all laughed. Kane had never been the overly affectionate type, and Paul knew it.

“How was your first day on the job, Meadow?” Paul said.

“I was pretty nervous at first, but Sandra is a great teacher. I’m excited for my second shift tomorrow. I know I’ll get the hang of it soon,” Meadow said.

Before she could say more, the waitress came by with our food. She put my fish tacos in front of me and the Guinness stew in front of Paul.

“And two bacon mushroom burgers with fries,” she said as she placed them down in front of Kane and Meadow. They looked up at each other.

“See. I knew you two would have things in common,” I said with a smirk as I picked up a taco.

Meadow looked down at her burger but I caught her stealing a glance at Kane. There was definitely something going on between them, something more than the fighting they’d seemed to be doing since laying eyes on each other.

“Oh so get this,” I said. “Meadow only started today, but already she experienced grumpy old man Mathers.”

“Oh snap, that’s quite the initiation. Did he take it easy on you?” Paul said.

“I’m guessing that’s the guy who wouldn’t look at me while I served him?”  Meadow said.

“Yup. I didn’t notice him come in, otherwise I wouldn’t have let you go over. That man is peculiar to say the least. He’s a regular. Orders the exact same thing every day.”

“One poached egg, two pieces of brown toast, no butter, home fries with extra fried onions and a package of strawberry jam,” Paul said.

We laughed.

“Before he got the job at the brewery, Paul had your job,” I said to Meadow.

“Is that so?” she said, turning to Paul.

“Anyway,” I continued. “Mr. Mathers expects that the moment he walks through the door, the kitchen starts his order, and the server meets him at his spot with a coffee, water and a copy of the daily paper.”

Meadow laughed. “That explains a lot. I literally stood there and asked him three times if he’d like coffee. He wouldn’t move his arms off the table for me to put a menu in front of him. I thought he was deaf.”

“Oh man, you poor girl,” Paul said as he wrapped his arm around Meadow’s shoulder.

Paul’s an inveterate flirt. He can’t see a pretty girl without putting a hand on her.

“He can be such a stubborn jerk if he doesn’t know you,” he continued, leaning closer to Meadow. “Once he realizes you’re there to stay, and you get his order right every single time, he’ll warm up.”

Kane cleared his throat. He’d been his usual quiet self until then. “So, you’re here to stay?”

Meadow looked up at him and I could tell she was blushing. “Well, I guess so. I mean, I don’t have a place yet, I’m just staying at a motel.”

“Oh my God,” I said. “I can’t believe I didn’t ask about that. I mean, I knew you were new in town, but I just assumed you had a place. So you’re on the hunt for an apartment? I can help you look. I love apartment hunting.”

Paul leaned in on her again, this time letting his hand slide slightly further down her arm from her shoulder.

“A buddy of mine has a rental unit on the top floor of his place. It’s got a beautiful view. I’m pretty sure he said it’s empty. I’ll give him a call tomorrow. Give me your number and I’ll let you know what he says.”

Paul handed Meadow his phone for her to put in her info. I looked at Kane and rolled my eyes.

Kane didn’t look back at me. He got up from the table a little hurriedly and went to the bar.

I watched as Meadow gave her contact info to Paul. I knew the moment I saw her that Paul would be all over her.