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“Hah!” She chuckles. “I’m not much of a team player.”
“Pearl.” I catch her hand and look into her face. “We should talk about–”
“I saw one!!” Jenny howls from a few paces away. She points up at the sky. “I saw a UFO! Look!”
My words are lost as Pearl hurries back to her telescope, holding her breath. It’s like she has completely forgotten about everything else.
I can kind of see now why Pearl likes UFOs. Her life as she explained it, with her aunt revealing a huge amount of tax debt for the land they both live on, sounds hopelessly complicated. But when she’s looking through her telescope, I imagine it all fades away. I envy her that.
“Where?” she calls out. “I can’t see it!”
I stand back, watching Pearl and her telescope. There are a lot of things I don’t like about her. She’s wearing antennae and looking for UFOs, for one thing. And she’s in these beat up looking jeans and a GFUFOS hoodie. My type of girl is polished and sophisticated, two things that Pearl definitely is not.
But damn if I don’t think she’s pretty and cute anyway.
The voices all around me burble on. But I’m left thinking that I might need to arrange a way to see Pearl again soon. To talk to her about her aunt’s property, that is…
Six
Pearl
Ipop my head into the chrome kitchen of Gem’s Diner. Gem Cruz is waving a wooden spoon at Diego Garcia, a teasing expression on her wizened face. She unleashes a string of taunts at Diego in rapid-fire Spanish. The young cook unties his white apron strings and sighs in exasperation. “Don’t lecture me about what young people do, mami.”
“Do you care if I head out early?” I yell.
Gem and Diego look at me. Diego’s expression is apologetic. “Sorry, Pearl. I already asked to leave. My boyfriend is on the couch, sick as a dog, and he needs some cold medicine. Any other day, I would be glad to stay.”
I give Diego a conciliatory smile. “Of course. I hope Jared feels better.”
He whips his apron into the drawstring bag of dirty kitchen laundry, and walks down the kitchen toward me. “Gracias, hermana,” he says as he takes his leave.
Gem sighs once he’s gone. “If things don’t pick up in half an hour, we’ll close early. I could use the extra sleep.”
I step out of the kitchen, calling to her over my shoulder, “And yet, you look as fresh and young as the day you started this place, Gem.”
“I know that’s right!” she yells back.
I check my watch. It’s almost ten thirty at night, and I’ve worked a grueling double today. But I’m patient as always. Gem counts on me to work all the weird shifts that no one wants to work. And I will gladly take them, even if I’m only earning minimum wage. What else would I be doing if I wasn’t here?
Having sex dreams about River, probably. Although Auntie Delta would no doubt have me cleaning trailers.
A blush creeps up into my cheeks as I grab a rag to make sure every table is wiped down. I haven’t been on a date since I broke up with Bishop, and it shows. River showed me thirty minutes of attention and now I regularly dream about him. Mostly about how I imagine his tall, toned body looks in the buff. River getting into the shower, River waking up early in the morning, River coming back from a run… YUM.
The bells on the diner door chime, jolting me out of my reverie. Sam Bennett, the gray-haired patriarch of the Billion Dollar Bennetts, pokes his head in the door. “Are y’all still serving food, darlin’?”
I straighten, feeling like I’ve been caught. “Of course! We’re still open and ready to serve you.”
“Thanks, doll. We need to soak up some of the beer we drank while watching the Atlanta Kings obliterate the New Orleans Pelicans.”
“Wiped the floors with those Pelicans!” comes an all-too-familiar voice from behind Sam. My stomach drops and my heart gives a little flutter.
It sounds like River.
Sam winks at me as he parades into the diner. The man is as tall as an oak tree. Behind him march his sons, every bit as tall and handsome. There’s boyish-looking Brooks, somber Rhett, and gorgeous River.
“Hey, Pearl,” River says with a secret smile. “What’s going on?”
I duck my head. Hottie Walker Harrison is the last to enter, and he comes up to clap Rhett on the back. I know Walker is best friends with twins Rhett and Rex; the town gossip mill is strong when whispering about the Bennett boys and their exploits.
