Page 33 of Look at Her and Die

She grumbled something under her breath and followed it up with, “Yeah, yeah. I know you think I talk a lot, but really I don’t. I talk probably about as much as everyone else.”

“True,” I said. “But everyone else doesn’t have Calliope for a sister. She left a lasting impression with all of the teachers in middle school, and trust me when I say, you don’t want them taking anything out on you that Calliope did. Just keep your nose clean, be respectful, and listen always. Make them realize that Calliope is her own breed and make them love you.”

“I’ll have them eating out of my hand by next week,” she declared. “Is Kent up? The bus just turned the corner.”

“I’m up,” Kent said as he came into the living room fully dressed.

He was in a hoodie, and it was already ninety degrees.

The kid was crazy.

In three months, he’d be wearing shorts and a t-shirt and it’d be freezing out.

“Good,” I said as I walked to the drawer. “I wrote y’all checks for school.”

“Don’t need ’em,” Kent said. “Tear them up. Everyone gets free lunch this year for some reason.”

I paused. “Really?”

“Really,” he said. “Some rich kid’s dad covered everyone for the year.”

That was amazing, and truly something that would help.

Speaking of help, I seriously needed to go.

With school back in, I now had to find a way to do the diner thing on my own.

It was obvious my mother had no immediate plans of coming back anytime soon.

Which was why I had a potential hire coming in for an interview in fifteen minutes.

That gave me just enough time to walk there.

Leaving the house with the kids, I started down the road and they took off in the opposite direction.

I’d just turned the corner of the road we lived on when a sight greeted me that I hadn’t expected to see.

I narrowed my eyes and a pang of unexplained anger hit me at the sight.

Posy.

On his bike.

But with him on his bike was a black-haired beauty that had incredible hair, great boobs, and a smoking hot body.

I dropped my head so that he wouldn’t see me staring and started walking faster toward the diner.

Anger was in each step I took, and I cut the walk down from ten minutes to seven just by sheer anger alone.

The bike stopped somewhere beyond the diner, and I refused to look up as I made my way to the diner’s front door.

Lenny had the place opened up already, and my potential new hire was already at the bar with a cup of coffee in her hands.

The jingle of the bell had both Lenny and the woman looking up.

Since I likely looked like a customer and not the boss, she smiled and turned back to Lenny.

“How would you say you learn the best?” I heard Lenny ask her.