Page 3 of Broken Chains

"I've offered to move in. You know I have."

"Yeah, as long as your brothers tag along. It's bad enough I have one kid to take care of, I don't need two more."

"Fine, just let me take her then."

"Back to that shithole you insist on staying at? No way."

"Then I'll find a place. Just don't do anything stupid. She's my daughter too," I reminded her.

"Get out," she yelled. "How dare you. I think we both just need a break. My parents will take her for the next three days. You can come by and see her on Friday."

Something told me not to leave that house without my daughter, but we'd had fights like this before. It sucked being away from Eve, but life seemed to get a little better afterwards . . . for a few days, at least.

Peyton

Chapter 3

“Good morning, Kate. Woah, what is going on here?” I asked as I walked into work.

“Morning, girl. Sorry about this,” Kate said as she stopped long enough to give me a quick kiss on the cheek while moving about the kitchen. “Did you hear the stove caught fire over at the chow hall?”

“Yeah, Mom was talking about it this morning. Apparently Dad was over there all night helping out.”

“Well, I sort of volunteered us to pitch in today. We need to have lunch delivered before eleven.”

I checked my watch. It was almost nine o’clock. I wasn’t scheduled to come in before eleven. I had just been up with nothing to do. That wasn’t unusual for me and I would often wander in hours before my shift to help out wherever needed.

“You knew I’d be in early, didn’t you?” I accused.

Kate gave me a sheepish grin. “No, but I sure did hope you would. Mind pitching in?”

I shook my head and smiled. “I’d love to. What’s the menu?”

“We’re keeping it simple, soup and sandwiches. I have Fred and Eddie working on the sandwiches and don’t know anyone who makes better soups than you.”

“Awe, sweet talking like that will get you everything with me.”

“Don’t I know it,” she admitted with a laugh.

“Did you already verify ingredients? And what soups are we aiming for?” I asked, getting down to business.

She cringed. “I haven’t. Any soups are fine, whatever you can muster up with what’s on hand.”

I took a quick inventory. We were low on too many things to feed that many people.

“Sorry Kate, I have to make a quick run, or I won’t be able to stretch far enough.”

“How long?” she asked, starting to panic.

“Relax, I’ve got this. I just need to make a quick trip over to town.” She already knew I didn’t mean into Collier but the next town over. It was only five minutes longer each way, but they would have a much bigger selection to choose from and the quantities I needed.

I quickly calculated the plan, opting for the easiest soups I could muster. Tomato basil, chicken noodle, and beef barley vegetable soup. Meat was something we had plenty of, so I got to work prepping the meats to cook while I was gone. That would be the time-consuming part anyway. Normally I slow cooked the beef all day, but there wasn’t time for that, so I tossed in some bay leaves and put the beef in a pressure cooker instead.

With the meats cooking, I grabbed my bag and headed for the door. I had no time to waste if this was going to work. I sped and prayed no one was around to stop me.

When I arrived at Powell’s Grocery, I parked and jumped from the car like a woman on a mission. I grabbed the first cart in the parking lot that I passed and the second my feet entered the produce department, I was snatching things up, sniffing, testing, then tossing them in the cart. I didn’t have time to be as picky as I normally would. I just needed the items I’d placed on my mental list on the drive over, and then to get back to the diner in record time.

I felt like I had a purpose and it was more invigorating than anything I’d experienced in a long time. I felt downright giddy. There was a pleasant scent in the air that appealed to me, too. I couldn’t remember ever having smelled it before, but it was nice.

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