Page 32 of Starting Over

“Hey! I can make other things. Besides, food is not what the guys ask me for when they want to eat.”

Ewe.My nose scrunched up at her implication.

Sam saw my face and whispered, “Crystal is all talk. Don’t listen to her.”

Before I could answer, a few of the guys walked in; Micah being one of them. I still wasn’t used to thinking of him as Micah, but honestly, I wasn’t quite used to the thought of him being alive, either.

Maybe it would help if I thought of him as a new person.

I looked over at him and saw Eduardo, but the way his eyes softened as he gathered Beck in his arms, he looked just like Kara.

“What are you doing in here? You know the rules, Micah.” Beck whimpered as he buried his face in her neck.

Young love.

It was always beautiful. I hoped one day, Colleen would find someone that would love her the way Micah loved Beck.

The way her father had loved me.

“Out! All of you!” Rachel shouted. “We don’t need you in here, distracting us.”

I saw her wince as she shooed them out the door.

“Are you ok, Rachel?”

“Just a little headache.”

“Another one? You have been getting those a lot,” Beck said, watching her friend.

“It’s just the change in the weather. Barometric pressure or something,” she waved off their concerns, but it looked like it could be the beginning of a migraine.

“Why don’t you take a break and go lie down? I can finish the potatoes,” I offered.

“No, I’m fine.” She grimaced, closing her eyes again.

“Maureen is right; go lie down for a bit. We have this handled,” Amber said, looking at Rachel with her eyebrow raised. “I’ll call Cash if I have to.”

“Fine,” she huffed. “But only for a little bit. I’m not leaving you all here to do everything.”

“Yea, ’cause with one less person, everything will go to shit,” Beck scoffed, as another woman walked in. “Oh look, your replacement.”

“What’s going on?” the woman asked.

“Rachel has a headache, so we are sending her to bed. You can take her place peeling potatoes,” Sam explained.

“Of course. Go lie down, Rach.”

“I’m going. Thanks, everyone.” Rachel left the kitchen as the woman looked at me.

“Hi, I’m Grace. We haven’t met.”

“Maureen.”

“Oh. Hi,” she said, her tone changing immediately.

Then she sat in the chair Rachel vacated and took over where she had left off.

Ok, that was strange. That was the chilliest greeting I’d gotten since moving to Diamond Creek last week. Not counting the sheriff. Even after finding out who I was, Micah had been wonderful. I didn’t know what I could have done to this woman.

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