Page 105 of The One I Hate
The best part? Everything in the back of the house was smooth sailing. Mellie had her groove going. The line cooks are damn good, and I have no worries about leaving them on their own. My servers are angels, and even the two high school kids I hired to wash dishes and bus were on their game.
It’s almost too good to be true…
“Well, Sis, you did it.”
I smile as Connor takes a seat across from me at the table I sat down at five minutes ago, just meaning to take a rest. I’m now wondering how I’m going to get back up. “Something like that.”
“Don’t downplay this,” he says. “I want you to say it out loud. ‘I crushed it.’”
“Well, it wasn’t just me.”
He shakes his head. “We all know that. But you need to take your credit for this. Say it.”
“I crushed it,” I whisper.
“Louder.”
“I crushed it.”
“One more time.”
“I crushed it!”
I didn’t mean to yell that loud, but I must say it felt good. Until I realize that my exclamation has stirred a napping Lila in the neighboring booth.
“Oh shit,” I whisper. “Sorry.”
“She’s fine.” Connor looks over to his daughter, a softness in his eyes he only has for her. “It’s the sugar crash.”
I laugh, knowing that Lila ate her weight in sweets today. Mellie said she wasn’t the best helper when it came to icing, but was masterful in taste testing. I feel a rush of emotion watching her, her thumb in her mouth as she does sometimes still, and wondering what it’s going to look like when my child inevitably takes a nap here.
Is it a boy? Or is Simon right with the girl? Is it going to have fair, blonde hair like Lila and I had as a baby, or dark like Simon? I’ve thought about these things from time to time since I found out I was pregnant, but I think this is the first time it has occupied my thoughts.
“I wish you’d have told me.”
I turn back to Connor, though I can’t bring myself to look at him. “I know. And I’m sorry. I didn’t want you finding out like this.”
“Which part?”
I finally look up. “Both?”
We both softly laugh as Lila stirs a little more.
“Simon, huh?”
“Believe me, I wasn’t expecting it either.”
I look out the window to see the father of my child talking to people walking past, shaking their hands and pointing to the restaurant. I don’t know what he’s saying, but I can clearly tell he’s talking about Mona’s and the pride on his face is unmistakable.
“And he’s in? He’s ready to be a father?”
I smile as I think about his antics earlier today. “Did you not hear the announcement in front of the whole town or witness the baby pool he started?”
“Yeah, but it’s easy to put on an act.”
“You’re right, it is, but he isn’t. He’s…” I look out the window again, only this time Simon and I make eye contact. He shoots me a wink that somehow travels through the space and foundation of the restaurant to warm my entire body. “This is how it was meant to be.”
Chapter 25
