Page 22 of Shy Santa

“Dear, where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Shirley slurped her strawberry shake. “Stop fussing and look at alternative methods. Isn’t there that online book thing? Your uncle got me an e-reader so I would stop losing my books.”

The bell over the door chimed as Bear and Alice-Grace walked in.

“Bear dear, come join Addy.” Shirley waved him over as she smirked at me. “I need to get back to work.”

I helped clean up the plates. “Go on, I’ll take these to the back so you can hit your tables.”

“Hey Ms. Addy.” Alice-Grace slid into the booth, taking Shirley’s side. “Mr. Bear, can I get a shake today?”

“You don’t mind us crashing your dinner, do you?” Bear smiled at me, and my knees went weak.

“Nope, it’ll give me someone to talk to.” I collected a couple of plates and headed to the back. Dumping them at the bussers station, I grabbed an order pad and headed back out. “Do you guys know what you want?”

“You work here?” Alice-Grace’s eyes bugged out her head.

“For now. I didn’t like my job, and Aunt Shirley took pity on me.” I leaned against the booth on my side.

“We’ll take a couple of burgers and shakes.” Bear looked at his daughter.

Alice-Grace folded her hands on the table. “May I have a caramel shake?”

“You sure can. My uncle makes the best, and he taught me how to do it.” I grinned as I wrote out their order. “What flavor do you want?”

Bear smirked at me, a naughty glimmer in his hazel eyes, the gold rim gleaming. “Surprise me?”

“Hmm… I think I can do that.” A flush crept up my neck. Flirting didn’t come naturally to me.

* * *

“Hey Shirley,are you sure you’re good to watch Ace tonight?” Bear rubbed the back of his neck. “I wish I could find a sitter who does evenings but wasn’t a crap load of money.”

“Honey, your Gran, God bless her soul, she'd watch Alice-Grace for you. And since I lost my baby, I ain’t gonna get me no grandbabies. So, this is my chance.” She waved a hand, shooing him out the door. “You wouldn’t take that away from me, would you?”

“No ma’am. I’ll keep looking so you can be back up and not have to take time from the diner.” Bear glanced over at Alice-Grace and me before turning to Shirley.

“Get to work. We’ll be fine here.” She shoved his shoulder before his feet unstuck and headed out the door.

“Now, little miss. What say you to another shake or a slice of grasshopper pie?” Shirley slipped into the booth next to Alice-Grace. She tried to hide the grimace, but I caught it. “I have a whole pie in back. I made up special just for you to try. It’s Addy’s favorite, you know.”

The poor girl turned enormous eyes to me. “You eat grasshoppers?” She whispered. Her horrified look had me busting out laughing.

“Oh God, no!” I wiped tears from my eyes. I laughed so hard. “It’s mint n’chip ice cream in a brownie crust with chocolate fudge drizzled over the top and grasshopper mint cookies on top of the whipped cream.” My stomach grumbled, not wanting any more food.

She tilted her head, her little eyebrows smooshed together.

“Trust me, you’ll love it.” Shirley scooted out of the seat with a grunt. “Be right back. Addy, you want a slice? Or to take what’s left home?”

“Take it home?” I asked, thinking a midnight snack would be the ticket. This last week I’d been stuffing my face. Mother would die if she knew the calories I’d been packing away, but I didn’t care at this point. My feelings needed drowning and since the bachelorette party, I was steering clear of alcohol and any snack foods Maya gave me. “So, how was your first day back?”

Alice-Grace shrugged her shoulders. “The principal met everyone before school to talk about us being back. She said we’d be separated today and Monday. And if we behaved, we could earn back recess privileges.”

“Did the boy and his friends stay away from you and the others?”

A big grin spread over her face; her eyes filled with mischief. “Yep.” She popped the p. “Mom told me if a boy was ever bullying me, I should punch him in his… you know…” she pointed down at her lap. “Or if he was coming after me to go for the throat.”

“Your mom sounds wise.” I took her hand when the smile faltered. “And it’s okay to talk about her. She sounds like she would have been my friend.”

“She’d have liked it here. Mom didn’t talk much about Mr. Bear. Just said he was a good man who didn’t know about me, or he’d have been there.” She frowned. “Ms. Addy? Why didn’t my mom tell him about me? She never wanted to talk about him much.”

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