Page 37 of Snowed In with her Mountain Men
A fresh wave of perfume punched me in the face, so powerful it made my eyes water. Somehow, even half holding my breath, I managed to keep a straight face.
I started at the beginning, from falling behind on the rent to the night my landlord showed up to wreck my life. Millie appeared sympathetic to that, even more so because I intentionally left the guys who rescued me out of the story. By the time I got around to the total destruction of the cabin, she waved me off.
“And where are you staying now?”
I hesitated just a half-second too long. “With… some friends.”
She frowned and regarded me carefully, arms folded.
“It’s only temporary,” I amended quickly. “Trust me. I’m already looking for a new place.”
“And your car?” Millie raised a skeptical eyebrow. “It’s running again?”
I nodded confidently. “Better than ever, actually. I just got it back from Santos.”
I hoped throwing around the local name would give me a little cred. Maybe it did.
“Fine.”
Millie reached back into the mess, somehow produced a clean apron, and tossed it my way.
“You can start up again tonight,” she ordered. “Right now, actually. Jenna’s been begging me all day to leave early. Take over her tables, and tell her she can go.”
“But—”
Her icy stare stopped me a single word into my sentence. Nodding, I relented.
“Okay. Thanks Millie.”
I tied the apron on, left a few things in my once and future locker, and pushed back into the main area. I coughed the last of Millie’s perfume from my stinging lungs, and inhaled the rich, familiar scent of omelets and cheeseburgers.
“Ah, home sweet home.”
The Cosmic Cafe diner was as old as its name; back in the day, the original owner had capitalized on the nostalgia of the 1960’s space race by giving the place an otherworldly theme. If you looked hard enough, you could still see stars on the ceiling that would glow under a black light, or the discolored spots where planets and spaceship decals used to adorn the walls. Millie had done a poor job in painting over them, just as she’d done a terrible job taking care of the dozens of hanging plants she’d put up practically everywhere. It was funny though, watching her water those plants each day. Even the ones that were very clearly dead.
“You’re back!”
Jenna hugged me so hard she nearly dropped her tray of toast. She was a cute, bubbly redhead, halfway through her twenties. Her green eyes had lit up the moment she saw me.
“I thought you quit. Millie told me you weren’t coming in anymore.”
“No, I’m still here,” I corrected her, smiling. “But you’re not. You can take off now. Millie’s orders.”
Her mouth dropped open. “For real?”
“As real as the voices in my head.”
Jenna’s freckled face scrunched in confusion. It wasn’t until I laughed that she cracked a smile, handed me her order pad, and gave me a kiss on the cheek before bouncing off.
“Guess I’ll be seeing you around,” I told her. “Whenever.”
“Check the schedule before you leave,” Jenna called back. “Millie would’ve added you to it by then.”
I made my rounds, refilling drinks and checking on orders and saying hi to all the regulars I knew. I hadn’t planned on working tonight, but whatever. It wasn’t like I couldn’t use the money. The grocery stores would still be open by the time I left, leaving me plenty of time to shop for the house.
Still, filling the fridge and cabinets seemed like small potatoes, compared to the boys putting me up for free. I wanted to do other things for them. Things that could take some of the burden off their shoulders, and free up a little more of their precious time.
It wasn’t until the end of my shift that I saw the schedule. Millie’s handwriting was meticulous, the big dry-erase board perfectly centered over the diner’s ancient time clock. It was gridded out for the coming week, showing not only employee hours but also our duties as well. There were chores to be divvied out. Things to list, write down, and accomplish.
