Page 36 of Hope & Harmony

Dylan had only been a few weeks into his freshman year of high school when he started talking about college, buckling down and getting good grades, and building a well-rounded portfolio of community service, academics, and clubs. She’d been impressed by his plan and his determination. Of course, that was when Andi realized he wasn’t the only one who needed to buckle down.

Andi was the sole provider for her family…most of the time. Her father had left her and her pregnant mother when Andi was nine. Andi’s mom did her best to keep a roof over their head and food on the table, but as time passed, she grew more and more depressed, drinking too much. Their mom’s alcoholism made it hard for her to hold down a job for any length of time, so Andi had learned a long time ago to stop relying on her to pay the bills. By the time Andi was a sophomore in high school, she was working full-time hours stocking shelves at a local grocery store from the moment she got out of school until eleven at night.

“How old is your brother?” Joel asked.

“Sixteen. He’s a junior. If Dylan gets into NYU, he’ll be the first in our family to go to college.”

Andi wanted that for her brother as much as Dylan did. So when he’d told her his plans for after high school, she had kicked it up a notch, taking on a third job in order to save as much money as she could to help him achieve his dream. In addition toworking here and at the hotel, she’d started waitressing at a local bar a couple of years earlier.

When she’d originally been hired at Pat’s Pub, it had been as a dinner shift waitress, the hours working in conjunction with her other jobs. One night after the bar closed, the bartender, Padraig Collins, had heard her singing quietly to herself, and he’d convinced her to perform on stage. To her amazement, the patrons liked listening to her. Since then, Padraig paid her to perform a couple nights a week while she waitressed the other evenings.

Joel crossed his legs, still leaning against the counter. He was seriously one of the most attractive men she’d ever met, though probably too old for her.

She did an internal eye roll because this guy was not flirting with her, and he never would.

“You didn’t have any interest in furthering your education?” he asked.

Andi shook her head. “It wasn’t in the cards for me. Not enough money, and my grades, while passing, weren’t anywhere near as good as Dylan’s.” Writing papers and studying for tests usually happened on her work breaks or on the bus ride to school, neither of which allowed much time for her to do more than the bare minimum.

“How old are you, Andi?”

She was surprised by the question even though she was curious about his age as well. “I’m twenty-six.”

“Twenty-six,” he mused aloud.

“How old are you?” she countered with a grin.

For the first time, he smiled. “I’m ancient. Thirty-nine.”

She laughed. “Wow, yeah. A total relic.”

He narrowed his eyes good-naturedly.

She should probably get back to work, but there wasn’t anyone else in the store, and there were only so many rounds ofsolitaire she could play before boredom kicked in and her hand cramped from holding her phone for so long. “So, how was your gala? Must’ve been bougie as hell considering the tux and limo.”

He grinned, shaking his head. “It was mind-numbingly boring. Making small talk with self-important snobs and raging narcissists is a tedious thing. This is the most interesting conversation I’ve had all night.”

She made a face. “If this is a winning conversation, you’re obviously running with the wrong crowd.”

“As I said, it was a meet and greet deal tied to work. I was only there an hour when I began to suspect my partner probably canceled the flight himself just to get out of attending.”

She started to ask what Joel did for a living, but he glanced out the window, speaking first. “Looks like the tire’s changed.”

Andi followed his gaze and saw the limousine pull into the parking lot, claiming a space right in front.

“I need sleep, so I’m going to skip the caffeine.” Joel walked away from the coffee, heading to the cooler to grab two bottles of water, while Andi picked up her cup and returned to the register.

She rang up Joel’s purchase, and he paid.

“Are you safe here by yourself?” he asked, concern in his tone.

“Oh, I’ll be fine.” She was no stranger to working after dark. A job was a job, and unfortunately, she couldn’t afford to be afraid of every shadow.

Joel didn’t look convinced.

“Honest,” she tried to reassure him, though she was touched by his trepidation.

She wasn’t accustomed to someone worrying about her. Her mom was typically too drunk to know whether or not she was home, and Dylan had spent his entire life with a sister who worked too much. This was the norm to him because it was how things had always been. He had offered to get an after-school jobto help with bills on more than one occasion, but she’d put her foot down, telling him that getting good grades and getting into college was his job.

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