Page 7 of Summer Waves

“Proud of you, kid,” I smiled genuinely. It was nice to see him get some sense. “I’m off the next two days so you can either have your sister come in tonight or have her come back Monday.”

“Can I grab my phone out of my locker and call her?”

Damn. He even kept his phone in his locker. Most new hires got busted for having their phones on them at least twice during their probation period. Maybe Jacob would end up becoming a full-time employee after all.

Two hours later, there was a knock on my office door.

“Yeah?” I called out and looked up from my computer. The door opened and Jacob popped his head in.

“I have to get back to the dishwasher, but she’s here. Table Six. Her name is Bethany,” he blurted. “She’s wearing a red button-up shirt.”

“Okay, I will–”

“Thanks. Have to get back.”

And, just like that, he left, leaving me laughing to myself.

“Good talking to you,” I continued to laugh, closed my laptop, and stood up. This was the first time I was going to be verifying to a family member that someone worked for me.

The restaurant was packed. It usually was on Friday nights. I looked around the room.

“Hey, boss,” Larry said, walking up to me.

Larry was a five-year waiter. He’d been with me since I opened the doors. He was in his fifties, balding but what hair he did have was red, and freckles covered his pale skin.

“Hey, Larry,” I replied softly. “Which table is six? My brain is fried from going over numbers all day.”

“Six,” he turned his head towards me and grinned. “The news spread fast.”

“News?” I questioned. He nodded his head and leaned over to my ear.

“There’s a beautiful woman sitting there. Rumor is, she’s Jacob’s sister.” He whistled and held his hands to his chest like they do in old cartoons when the character is in love. “Boss, I’m telling you. She is gorgeous.”

“Hey, boss,” Jarold said, standing on the other side of me.

What is this break time?I frowned.

“Come to see table six?” Jarold asked.

The way these boneheads were acting, I could only hope and pray that they hadn’t drooled all over the poor woman. Hopefully, they kept some standard of professionalism when they saw her. They were acting as though they had never seen a pretty woman before.

“Table six?” I looked at Larry. He pointed to the left.

“Table by the window. She has her back to us. She’s wearing the red shirt with her hair pulled up,” Jarold answered. “She smells like heaven, too.”

“For the love of God,” I groaned. “Get back to work.”

At this rate, this woman was going to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against my business.

These damn dummies.

I found table six and walked around to where I could see Bethany.

“Hello, I’m–” I said but stopped when I suddenly found myself unable to speak.

The woman sitting there was absolutely beautiful. Larry and Jarold hadn’t been lying. She was stunning. It had been a long time since a woman stopped me in my tracks.

Her skin tone was a slightly lighter tan than Jacob’s. Her brown hair was pulled up in a messy bun. She looked up at me with hazel eyes.

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