AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nope. A woman had a stain on her shirt. I was helping her get it out.”
Don or Ron—she couldn’t remember—picked up his phone again. “I have more pictures I want you to see.”
She mentally sighed as she settled in for the slideshow of Sheila the drooling bulldog. Five minutes had surely gone by. Where the hell was Milo? The jerk was probably taking his sweet ass time on purpose. She was going to strangle him later if he didn’t—
Her phone rang, and she fumbled for it.
She snatched it out of her bag and answered, pretending to listen for a minute. “Oh no! Really?”
“He’s a spitter, isn’t he? Spitting all over your food while he’s yammering on and on.”
“I can be right there. It’s no problem.”
“Nail biter? Talking about the ex?”
Harper hesitated.
“Oh! That’s it, isn’t it?”
“Okay. I’ll see you soon.” She hung up the phone before Milo could make any more guesses and stood.
Don or Ron looked at her, eyebrows pinching above the bridge of his nose.
“Something came up,” she said. “I am so sorry, but I have to run.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes. I mean, it will be. It’s a family thing. I had a lovely evening.”
She turned, and he called her name. She spun back around.
“We haven’t gotten the check yet, but if my calculations are right, you owe thirty-two dollars and thirteen cents.”
Did he have a calculator on his person she didn’t see him use? She’d totally called this earlier in the evening. She should have left right then and there. With a sigh, she reached into her bag, retrieved her wallet, and took out two twenties. She placed them down on the table and pointed at the money. “Just because I left extra doesn’t mean that you skimp on the tip. Got it?”
He looked at her like she was nuts, but she didn’t care. She’d waitressed for years and knew what it was like working for tips. He nodded, and she gave a final wave before hightailing it the hell out of there.
In the parking lot, she sighed a breath of relief. Her phone buzzed, but she ignored it. It was probably Milo looking for more details. She’d tell him all about it when she got home. She slipped into the driver’s seat and got the hell out of there.
Her phone buzzed again, and she came to a stop at a red light. She glanced over at the screen, but it wasn’t Milo’s name flashing back. The moment of relief she had vanished as the familiar number flashed over and over again.
Couldn’t she just have one day? Just one. That’s all she was asking. She let out a breath and answered the phone. “Hey, Jerry.” She didn’t even need the bartender to say a word. Mom’s slurred speech was loud and clear in the background. “I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”
“Can you get here any sooner? She’s starting to scare away the clientele.”
If she didn’t agree to a date at the west end of the county, yes, but unfortunately, she was too far out and didn’t have a button she could press to turn her car into an airplane. “I’ll see what I can do.”
She dropped her phone into her lap and pushed her foot down on the gas a little harder. This wasn’t the first time Mom had drunk too much at the local dive bar, and it wouldn’t be the last. Harper had been picking her up and bringing her home since Harper was old enough to drive.
Sadness stabbed her gut. After Dad took off in the middle of the night when she was only thirteen, Harper had tried tirelessly to keep Mom from falling apart. But Mom’s pain was too much to handle. Her drinking went from a couple of beers a night to an entire case. She spent many nights away from home, drinking at the bar, while Harper took care of her little brother.
Harper held out hope that things would get better, and there would be months when she didn’t get a single call, but then they would start coming again. One or two at first and then every night. It always coincided with the summer months. She should have known, shouldn’t have gone so far for a stupid date.
But her options were limited. She’d already gone out with every acceptable guy on the dating site within a twenty-mile radius of Morgan’s Bay. She thought if she extended her reach, she’d have better luck. Meet a guy that made the travel time worth the drive. Not only did it not bring her better luck, now she was twenty-six minutes away from hauling Mom off a bar stool before she did something that would hit the town gossip mill by morning.
Her phone buzzed again, and she glanced at the caller ID. Oh no. This definitely was not good. “Hi Jerry,” she said. “I’m driving as fast as I can.”
“I’m sorry Harper, but I’m going to have to call this in. She’s getting belligerent.”
