Page 51 of Sugarlips
“Yeah,” Liam grumbled. “But not the assholes.”
“We’ve all been an asshole at some point or another. I’m willing to forgive him—”
“Doesn’t he have to apologize to you in order for you to forgive him? Or did I miss him calling with an apology?”
“Not yet,” I sighed. “But he might when I go in there and pay for a couple hundred dollars’ worth of booze for other paying customers. No one goes to a bar for justoneglass of wine. He’ll be groveling at my feet in no time… you’ll see.”
“We’ve done that much in sales tonight?” Liam whispered, leaving the fryer and looking over my shoulder.
“We’re closing in on $675 in sales—and we’re dangerously low on donuts and ice cream sandwiches.”
I wrapped up two ice cream sandwiches and handed them over the counter along with the donuts to the two smiling girls. The beautiful thing about The Dump Truck seemed to be that you didn’t need to be dumped and crying to enjoy late night sweets. Maple Grove had a serious lack of late night facilities—which was why Addy’s bar was so damn popular.
“Oh my God!” I said, spinning and facing Liam. “We should park outside of Addy’s bar tomorrow night!”
Liam blinked, stunned momentarily before dragging his hand through his hair. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Drunk people are: A) more likely to have a fight with their significant other and B) tend to get the late-night munchies.”
“We don’t have enough inventory for tonight,” Liam said, taking a look in the fridge. “But tomorrow, for sure.”
“And we should make double of everything.”
“If we’re going to be working late nights, I need to figure out a new schedule for Beefcakes. I can’t wake up to bake at three a.m. and then run the registers all morning while doing this late into the night.”
I gave him a sympathetic smile. “You and Neil are interviewing for new employees this week, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Finn’s agreed to help us out when he can, but he’s weirdly busy at odd hours. And Neil leaves for Budapest right after Mom’s surgery.”
Poor Liam. He had so much on his plate. So much to worry about. The least of which was this food truck. “It’s going to be okay,” I whispered.
Liam nodded but worried the inside of his cheek and turned back to lift the mac & cheese out of the fryers, putting them in a paper bowl and bagging them up. “What if tonight is just a fluke?”
“It’s not,” I whispered back. “I can feel it.”
“You’re so sure?”
As he handed me the packaged mac & cheese balls for the waiting customers, his fingers grazed mine. A jolt surged up my arms and my breasts tingled with awareness. Like a bear coming out of hibernation, my libido was ravenous and roaring to life. I turned so that Liam wouldn’t see my reaction and handed them over the side of the food truck to the awaiting customers before yelling out, “Next!”
I looked down, marking the drink voucher in my notebook so I could keep track of what I owed Nick tomorrow.
“Chloe.” I snapped my gaze up to find my sister looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes. In her hands, she twisted the strap of her purse between her fingers. “I’ve been so worried about you. Can we talk?”
“I don’t know… I’m working—”
I felt Liam’s hand on my back, nudging me toward the door. “Go,” he said gently. “I can handle the register for a while.”
Elaina and I walked in silence to a picnic table in the park and each sat down.
“I’m sorry,” Elaina said first, sniffing and dabbing her eyes with a tissue. “I’ve been such a mess since Neil and I broke up, and I’ve taken it out on you.”
I shook my head, reaching across the table to hold her hand. “I’msorry. I didn’t think that going into business with Liam would hurt you so much. Maybe you’re right… maybe I can’t be alone. It’s like I jump from relationship to relationship. It’s my crutch. I need to learn to walk without it—”
“No,” Elaina said. “Don’t listen to me. Seriously, what do I know about any of this? I only had two boyfriends my whole life and both relationships ended disastrously.”
“I hope you’re not buying this house just to… I don’t know… get away from me and Liam—”
“No,” she said with such emphasis, I was truly surprised. I thought for sure she’d made a rash decision based on our fight. “Honestly, it’s time for me to have my own place. But I loved living with you again.”
