Page 19 of The Hot New Bartender in Town

Why?

I was just about to text you to reschedule because my dad wants me to meet his new girlfriend.

Wow. Yeah. That’s Kiss County for you!

So, raincheck? I really want to see you again.

My heart flutters.

Definitely. :)

I want to see you again, too.

:) Damn. What a coincidence.

Just one night. I’ve waited my entire life for a guy like Riley to come to Small Town.

I can make it through one more night.

Not wanting to spur the ire of Bruno, I put my phone back in my locker and return to check on my tables.

7

TISH

Ireturn home shortly before six. It’s a quick walk from Bruno’s Diner, just a few blocks west of the town square on Fourth Street. Our house is easy enough to spot along the way. It’s the only one on the block with a red mailbox and matching front door.

As I walk down the sidewalk outside the house, I check out the fancy black coupe parked in the driveway next to Mom’s old blue sedan.

Throwing on my bestwe-have-companysmile, I walk through the front door. “Mom! I’m home!”

“We’re in here!” she replies.

Taking a quick breath to prepare myself first, I step lightly through the entryway, following the quiet sound of whispered voices toward the living room.

First, I see my mother in another one of her pretty cocktail dresses, this one a gorgeous sapphire blue that brings out the color in her eyes. Her smile is warm and youthful, full of promise. It makes me pause, truthfully. It’s easy for me to forget how young my mother can look. How young she still is.

She rises off the couch as I walk in, along with the man sitting beside her. He has a bright smile as well, his mouth partiallycovered with a well-trimmed light brown beard and mustache. A few white and gray hairs are the only thing giving away his age, which appears to be mid-forties.

Mom walks over, my cute black shoes once again leading the way. “Hey, honey,” she says. “How was work?”

“Work was... work,” I say, giving a shrug. “Typical day at the diner.”

“Bruno’s, right?” the man asks, gently approaching the two of us.

“Yes,” I answer, taking the chance to get a better look at him. He’s admittedly handsome, with sharp cheekbones and blue eyes accented by a line of soft freckles on either side of his nose that seems... strangely familiar. “I wait tables.”

“You do so much more than that,” Mom says. “You make the schedule for the entire staff, don’t you?”

“Sometimes,” I say, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “When Bruno’s got his hands full, I help out.”

Mom turns toward him. “Oh, you’d love it, Richie. Best patty melt in Kiss County.”

“Sounds great!” he says. He extends his hand to me. “I’m Richard, by the way.”

I shake his hand. “I figured, yeah. Tish. I’m Tish.”

“Only I’m allowed to call himRichie,”Mom says, smiling.

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