Page 24 of The Hometown Dilemma
“What’s a guy supposed to do when he wants to watch Manchester United?”
Given that I gave zero fucks about soccer, I didn’t have an answer for him. But if it meant that he and his friends would come here on their nights off rather than somewhere else, I didn’t really care.
“You’ll have to educate me in the ways of all things soccer. I don’t want to sound like a total dummy.”
“You got it. We’ll watch a game next time it’s on. Maybe even here.” He grinned, then passed the two cartons full of chowder to me. “Give my love to Violet.”
I stepped back into the bar to see Cami chatting with my mom. For a fleeting moment, I wondered if she was meeting Jaime for lunch. I still hadn’t talked to her properly after taking her home the other evening. Despite her message reassuring me everything was fine, I had a gut feeling that it wasn’t. Heading over to the pair, I tapped Mom on the shoulder.
“Here you go. Don’t let them get cold.” She took the cartons from me, and I nodded at Cami. “Hey, how are you?”
Thankfully, things between the two of us weren’t awkward. We were adults and having decided we weren’t right for each other, there seemed little point in being angry at each other and we settled on being friends instead.
Which made the crush I currently had on her sister easier to deal with.
“Grabbing some food before work.” She glanced around the bar. “I’m meeting…someone.”
It had to be a date. She would have said if she was meeting Jaime. “Can I get you a drink?”
Cami shook her head. “I’ll grab a table and come to you when my, um, friend turns up.”
She walked away and Mom watched her go. “Such a shame the two of you split up. The Harlow girls are lovely.”
Mom didn’t have to tell me.
I was only too aware of it, particularly where Jaime was concerned.
I didn’t answer her directly, instead telling her to go home and eat. “I’ll pop around soon with some plans for the games we’ll be showing. I think we should make a big deal out of it.”
“Agreed.” She nodded, then pointed to the deli bag. “And don’t forget to eat your lunch. See you, Wade.” With a swift kiss to my cheek, she was gone.
Resuming my place behind the bar, I trashed all the copy paperwork and put all the official ones back in the envelope to stash somewhere safe. The last thing I wanted was for someone to ask me where they were and not be able to find them. Reaching into the deli bag, I pulled out the sandwich. Their BLTs never failed to impress me, crammed full of all the main ingredients and made with thick, yet soft bread. I took a huge bite, mayonnaise spilling onto my chin. Wiping it away with the nearest napkin, I chewed and swallowed, silently thanking Mom for buying it for me. She was right. If it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t have eaten today. Pulling a double shift always seemed like a good idea, but I’d been doing way too many of them recently.
Carefully putting down the half-eaten sandwich, I pulled out the folder with my staff roster and found the most recent one. Staring at the colored spreadsheet in front of me, I couldn’t ignore the gaps for much longer. My long-standing staff were already doing so much in the way of split shifts and taking on extra ones. If I didn’t give them a break soon, I was pretty sure I’d lose some of them, despite their loyalty to me and my family. The thought depressed me.
Hearing the door swing open, I glanced up and spotted the football player Cami had been all over when she and Jaime had last been in together. I stifled a smirk. She certainly liked to go for extremes: me being older than her and this guy obviously much younger. He made a beeline for her table, leaning down and swooping in for a kiss without introduction. Cami’s tinkly laugh rang out across the bar as she preened in his presence.
Heading over to their table, I pulled an order pad out of my back pocket. “Afternoon, guys, what can I get you?”
The football player fumbled in his pocket for his wallet, checking how much cash he had. “Looks like I might need a job more than anything else,” he half-joked. “But until then, how about a bowl of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich?” He glanced over at Cami. “Are you okay to share?”
Her eyes flickered, but she nodded. “And a couple of sodas, please, Wade. I’ll get those.” She placed a hand on her date’s arm. “Okay with you?”
“Thanks, babe. Appreciate it.”
“Got it. Won’t be long.” I scribbled the order on my pad and went back to the bar. As I walked away, I overheard the guy talking to Cami.
“Sorry, babe, I don’t like to let you down, but I’m a bit short this month. Had a bet with one of the quarterbacks he wouldn’t score three touchdowns in a game, and fuck me, he did.” He let out a laugh. “We won the game though, so it was worth it.”
I didn’t have to turn around to know that Cami’s eyes would have glazed over. She certainly wasn’t into sports, more so drawn to the hot guys that played them.
His comment about wanting a job stayed with me though. If I could get some of the college kids working here, it would attract others. Add the sports channels into the mix and it could be a win-win for everyone.
After I’d given Sonny the order, I went back to the bar and pored over my roster. If I worked out how many shifts I needed covered, I could start advertising to the masses.
In the back of my mind, I remembered asking Jaime whether she would come back to work here. We’d worked here together through college and although it was some eight years since we’d last done so, I doubted she would have forgotten much of it. After all, pouring a beer and popping a cap off a bottle were skills easily regained. My fingers itched to pick up my phone and message her again.
But I didn’t know whether she was killing it with Austen on the design stuff. I didn’t want to stand in the way of her dream if it was going well.
