Page 35 of Only Ever You
My grandmother rolled her eyes. “Luna, you are a hard worker. I don’t sleep all that great, so I know you are up and rolling out of that driveway, usually around three or four in the morning, to start baking. I know you don’t make a ton of money. You don’t ask for a lot. Every single one of your days is a long country mile with that kind of schedule. Life isn’t a calculator. Some people get lucky, if you will. That’s a privilege. The café will be something you can slip into. But don’t fool yourself, you’re gonna have to work your tail off.”
I didn’t feel the tears slipping out until she shoved the stack of napkins in the center of the kitchen table over to me. “I hope those are happy tears.”
Laughing softly, I swiped my cheeks and blew my nose. “They are. All right, I’ll talk to Janet about it. I want to do it, but I don’t want to take anything from her.”
“You’re not. She’s been worrying about this for a while. This will make her feel good about it. She can rest easy. She loves that café. Hell, that café is her baby in a way.”
“How come she didn’t have kids?” I couldn’t help my curiosity.
Sadness passed through my grandmother’s gaze. “She had more miscarriages than I think she would want to share. She’s well past that stage of life now. That was back in the day when there weren’t as many options to help with things like that. She made her peace with it years ago.”
“Oh,” I said softly. “That must’ve been hard.”
My grandmother nodded, her gaze warm. “Yes, but she made it through. That’s one thing getting old teaches you. Hurtful and hard things happen and you keep going. Before you know it, you find a little pocket of peace inside.” She was not one to dwell on any topic and moved right along. “Next time you see Janet, let her know you and I chatted about it. This feels new to you, but once you moved back last year, she told me right off she felt like it was for you.”
I took a shaky breath, swiping away my tears again. I reached over and grabbed my grandmother’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “Thank you.”
She squeezed back. “Whatever for, Luna girl?”
“Helping me when I moved away from Mom and Dad. Making sure I had a place to land when I was ready to come to Willow Brook. Pretty much everything.” My heart felt like it might crack open from the fullness of emotion inside.
Her weathered face crinkled all over with her smile. “It’s called love. You don’t need to thank me. Couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t help you. It’s what I wanted to do. It’s not even the slightest burden for me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
LUNA
“We should get the variety plate platter,” Stella announced, closing the menu emphatically.
“Are we getting anything other than appetizers?” Casey prompted.
Madison glanced between them, her lips twitching at the corners. “Stella always wants the appetizer platter.”
“Really?” Stella looked surprised, her brows hitching up at the observation.
I leaned over, lightly bumping my shoulder against Madison’s. “I’ve never seen you order anything other than the appetizer platter here. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.”
“I like the variety,” Stella explained, just as Tish, Phoebe, Maisie, and Tiffany arrived.
“Let me guess,” Tiffany began with a smile as she sat down beside Stella. “We’re talking about the variety platter.”
“I can’t believe I’m that obvious.” Stella shrugged with a sheepish smile.
“It’s the easiest option,” Casey chimed in. “Trust me on that. I don’t cover shifts here anymore, but it’s absolutely the easiest thing for waitresses to get a few of those for a group. Otherwise,we’re entering long orders, and the kitchen has to deal with them.”
We were all on board for the variety platters. After we had ordered our drinks and food, I glanced around the table. “There’s a lot of us here tonight,” I pointed out.
Maisie leaned back in her chair. “It’s because three of the crews are out at fires. That’s seventy-five firefighters gone from town.”
“That many?” I exclaimed.
“Each hotshot crew has twenty-five firefighters,” Maisie explained.
“Do you get updates at dispatch?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Casey glanced toward me, a knowing glint in her eyes. “She’s wondering because she has a thing for Parker.”
My cheeks were burning up. “Casey!”
