Page 33 of Dirty Laundry (Down and Dirty)

“If the nature of my job weren’t so dangerous at times, I’d just wear her out into the field whenever I have to be on-site.”

“She’ll understand when she gets older that you did what made sense. I don’t think she’ll fault you for not having been attached at your hip twenty-four hours every day.”

“Still feels like hell having to get back to the office.” Valerie gave Naomi’s nose a little wiggle.

“Yeah. It’s supposed to. Helps to ensure the survival of the species.”

“Hard to give a damn about the species sometimes.”

“Amen.”

Tim returned with Valerie’s hot chocolate, a clean mug for Heidi, and the regular coffee decanter. “Gotta hurry with this,” he said as he poured Heidi’s serving. “Table One’s waiting to refill.”

When he was out of earshot, Valerie said, “I meant what I said about you looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.”

“And I still don’t know what you’re suggesting.”

“Sure you don’t. Usually, your fillers have to work a little harder on Monday mornings to compensate for how badly you slept. Did your neighbors move?”

Heidi snorted into her black coffee. “I wish.”

“Did they give up their fitness aspirations?”

“Of course they didn’t.”

“Then…Kevin has announced he’s entering a monastery and erasing any future stress you’d have about him falling asleep while driving and rolling his truck into a ditch.”

Heidi stopped sipping and glowered at the woman. “I actually hadn’t had that nightmare yet, but thank you.”

“What in the world did you say that made Heidi’s face go so white?” Bearing the communal half-and-half decanter and a sugar pourer, Tim sat across from Valerie.

“Oh, nothing. She’s discovered a new reason to worry about grown children. That’s all.”

“I come up with those whenever I stand still for too long. Fortunately, I rarely have the time lately.”

Heidi harrumphed and carefully lowered her mug to the table. The baby hadn’t shown any curiosity for the bright yellow cup or tried to reach for it, making maneuvering the hot vessel exponentially more effortless than it would have otherwise been. “Valerie has also suggested that my countenance is sunnier than usual. I was deciding whether or not I should take offense.”

“You do seem a little more alert. How many cups of coffee did you have before leaving the house?”

“The usual amount. None. Most days, I don’t have coffee until I get to work. Maybe you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe I’m just in a good mood.”

“Or maybe you did some socializing over the weekend,” Tim declared.

Heidi proceeded to participate in her and Tim’s usual staring contest. They did that whenever he said something that was too on-the-nose, and she didn’t wish to say aloud that she found his accuracy annoyingly inconvenient.

They would have kept on staring indefinitely, and Valerie would have let them because she usually didn’t care enough about their weird competitions to interfere, but LaDonna shouted from the griddle, “Tim, come get Valerie’s thing before someone else eats it.”

Tim was on his feet in a hurry, because of all the things LaDonna was, an exaggerator was not one of them. Orders left up front for too long really did have a habit of walking away. Everything got paid for, of course, but the person who may have ordered an item could very well get their meal sniped by someone who’d gotten bored waiting for their own order.

“I know what that stare meant.” Valerie snickered.

“Good for you. Now mind your business.”

“Fine. Give me my baby.” Valerie reached for Naomi, but Heidi turned rightward and got Naomi entirely out of the range of her mother’s grasp.

“It isn’t nice to use children as bargaining chips, Valerie. Now, be a good girl and eat your sandwich. Doesn’t it look delightful?” Heidi awkwardly pushed the plate Tim had deposited onto the table closer to the other woman.

“You need to keep an eye on that omelet, Heidi,” Tim said. “Bert over there perked up a hell of a lot when I put the order in.”

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