Page 10 of Timeless Valentine

Leo is almost too good to be true. The kind of man who deserves a real girlfriend who can spend quality time with him.

My fingers clench around the fork. I can't drop down to just one job and have a social life until Mom passes and I no longer have to pay half of the home care bill.

"Hey." Leo reaches out to tip my chin up with his finger. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry. Something just popped into my mind."

"You're probably exhausted. Why don't we—" His phone buzzes, and he frowns as he checks the screen. "Sorry, I really do need to take this. I'll just be a few minutes."

He answers the call while striding out of the diner to the parking lot.

"Wow," Claudia says while clearing our plates. "He's even polite. Most people gab on their phones at full volume, as if I want to hear about their doctor's appointments."

"Yeah, he's one of the good ones," I say quietly.

She pauses, looking at me carefully. "Is this a brand new relationship thing?"

"Yes. You can tell?"

She laughs. "Yep. Actually, I know a few couples who have met right here in the diner and fallen madly in love within a week. I'm one half of one of them." She arches a sassy eyebrow and cocks her hip. "I'm pretty sure it's the pie."

She sashays away to put on another pot of coffee, as I pull out my phone to check my email.

The good news is that Mrs. Mackie has wrangled one more extra pair of hands for Monday night. It will still be a long extra shift, but it won't be as frantic. That's a huge relief.

The bad news is an email from Jamison's Long-Term Care Home. Due to inflation and rising costs, mom's care isn't increasing the usual three percent a year. This time it's eight percent, retroactive to January first.

My heart sinks.

I have three choices. I can try to add shifts on Monday and Saturday nights, and run myself even more ragged. Or I can try to cut corners even more, but the only thing that could possibly be trimmed is my food bill, which is already slashed to the barest essentials.

OrI can send the email that I drafted two months ago to my selfish bastard of an older brother, and hope for the best.

It's a long shot, but basically, the email says how many hours I am currently working and sketches out my entire budget. It explains how I simply can't afford any more, and since he easily can, could we split the bill sixty-forty instead of fifty-fifty? I included a few compliments when I wrote it about how he had a much more important job, and had his entire life together, thinking that might help.

Rereading it, I realize I totally groveled. I'd been feeling really low at the time I wrote it, and had no shame. Screw it. After skimming the note, I hit send, then drop the phone in my purse. The odds of Ian even reading the email aren't good.

But it's my only shot, especially if I want to have any time at all with Leo.

The satisfying sugar rush from my dessert dissolves into fear. My entire happiness and well being now rest in the hands of a brother who has never liked me.

6

LEO

As I was gently persuading my client to consider a couple of new researchers that worked well as a team, I'd noticed through the window that Grace was looking at her phone. As she read something on the screen, she suddenly looked stricken. By the time I return, she's wearing a sunny smile again, but her eyes are tight at the corners.

Although I desperately want to ask what's wrong, I can't let her think I'm prying, or that I was spying through the window. I’m pretty sure that the worst thing I can do with a much younger woman is make her think that I'm trying to control her in any way.

"So, you are completely in charge here." I flash Grace a huge smile. "I can take you straight home so you can sleep. We can pick up a bottle of wine and go to either of our places for a drink to unwind. We can go for a walk on the beach. Or… Any other ideas?"

Claudia swings by so that I can swipe my debit card. "Actually, they're having those mini winter carnivals at the beach every Saturday night this month. Great spot for cotton candy and funnel cakes."

Grace rolls her eyes at Claudia. "Like I could have another bite."

"There's always room for cotton candy," Claudia says very seriously. "It's sugar air."

Grace giggles, then as soon as we are alone again, she places her hand in mine. "Maybe just a short walk on the beach."

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