Page 102 of The Guy in the Alley

“That’s it for the bread!” I hollered.

“I’ll go see if we have something else.” Tonya hurried out of the Green, while Marisol and I poured extra soup into the cups.

Julie stood in the doorway, and we exchanged a look.

“About twenty more,” she said.

I nodded in confirmation. Twenty more heads wasn’t a huge miscalculation on our part. We’d find something.

It was dicey before payday. Twice a month, we had services where more visitors showed up at the soup kitchen because money just didn’t stretch the whole way till the next check arrived.

Julie went to give Tonya the estimate, and as she left, Ben entered. He’d just woken up by the looks of him.

I smiled politely at the guy I offered a cup to, then turned to Ben. “Mornin’, sunshine.”

He yawned and pressed a quick kiss to my temple. “Need a hand?”

“No, we’re almost done.”

He’d pitched in plenty this morning, after he’d gotten off his night shift. Tonight was his last shift for this round, meaning he was off tomorrow. When we were heading to the lake with Alvin, Elsie, and Angie.

Alvin wanted to take water samples and test the pH.

I was gonna buy the biggest slushie I could find on the way and then sit my fine ass down in the shade with Elsie.

We’d been threatened with summer heat all week.

It was good for Alvin, though. We were taking him out on more frequent day-trips, and he was slowly finding enjoyment in a bit more variety in his daily routine. As long as we could protect him from too much commotion, I thought it was going great. And Ben was overwhelmingly relieved, which also helped him get over Ziggy being gone.

That dog had his own Instagram account now, but even Ben had his limits.

“I’m not joining social media to see the same shaggy mug every day. I’ll see him when your folks come back for Thanksgiving.”

Tonya and Julie returned with a crate a couple minutes later, and it was filled with a mix of cheesy bread and hot dog buns.

“We checked with Petey first,” Tonya added.

“That’s great. Thank you.” I took a step back to have a swig of water.

I turned to my man and touched his scruffy cheek. “I think I should drive tomorrow. At least on the way up.”

After all, even though he’d be off tomorrow, he’d be on call all night.

Someone always called.

“We’ll see how it goes.” He yawned again and smiled sleepily. “It’s gonna be fun. Ma’s excited—she’s doin’ it up big with a picnic.”

“Score.” I loved her cooking.

It was good for her to get out more too.

“Angie better like me,” I said. “Shit’s going so well, it’d be my luck if she hated my guts.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “You got nothing to worry about.”

I hoped not.

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