Page 2 of Healer’s Betrayal

“Kay. We’ll get it.”

“Thank you.” I try not to think about how much it’s going to cost, but it’s hard not to think about it. It seems like every time I feel like Noah and I might be able to get on our feet, something else goes wrong.

“Hey, Kayla.”

I look up from my phone. “Hey, Beth.”

“How busy is it today?” she asks, nodding at the kitchen.

“About an eight.”

“Really? On a Monday?”

I shrug. “Yeah, apparently, nobody wants to cook today.”

“That’s because it’s a hundred degrees, and the humidity is insane.” I don’t argue with her; she’s not wrong. But it doesn’t bother me the way it bothers her. I grew up in humidity; Virginia is always hot and muggy in the summer. Oklahoma, I’m learning, isn’t a whole lot different. She heads into the kitchen to get started for her shift, and I force my negative thoughts away and grab Noah’s burger.

“Hey,” I slide the plate across the table to him. “Hungry?” He nods as I slide into the booth across the table from him. Before he takes the first bite, he picks up the knife on the table and cuts the burger evenly before handing half to me. I don’t bother arguing with him. This is our norm; he never eats the whole burger when we’re sharing. He’s sweet like that, the sweetest little brother. “How’s your school going?”

“Fine.”

“Do you need help with anything?” I ask after dunking a fry in ketchup and munching on it.

“No.”

“Okay. Well, let me know if you do.” He nods, and that’s about it. We eat mostly in silence, both of us inhaling our food. As soon as I finish my burger, I slide the plate back towards him. “Thanks. You need anything before I get back to work?” He shakes his head, and I slide out of the booth. I take one more long sip of water. “Love you, Noah.” I ruffle his hair, and he ducks away. “Flag me down if you need something,” I tell him and push down the guilt that eats at me. Sitting at a booth in a café doing schoolwork all by himself is not the life any seven-year-old boy should have.

“Did you see him?” Noah’s quiet voice stops me in my tracks.

“What?”

His solemn eyes meet mine. “Did you see Uncle Ben?”

“What? No.”

“I saw you staring out the window. Did you see him?” he asks again.

This time, I put my hand on his arm. “No, Noah.” I make sure to make eye contact with him. “It wasn’t him; it was just some guy.” He doesn’t respond in any way, and his lack of response tugs at my chest. “Noah,” I start.

“Kayla, your break’s up,” Mama May says as she bustles past me.

Defeat washes over me, but I push it aside. “I’ve got to get back to work. I'll keep an eye on you.”

“I’m fine,” he mutters behind me. I take a steadying breath and head back into the kitchen.

“You good?” Jessie asks as she walks past me with a large tray.

“Yep.” I grab the extra plate she couldn’t fit on her tray. “I’ll follow you out.”

“Thanks, Girl.”

I don’t get a chance to think any longer about the unfairness of Noah’s life because we get slammed just after that. I end up working almost an hour past my shift until things calm down somewhat. “Take off, Kayla,” Butch, Mama May’s right-hand man and chef, calls out. “We’re good now. Here,” he hands me a white box. “Thanks for staying late.” Butch looks more like a dangerous biker than a chef with his bulky body and tattoos, but he’s a teddy bear underneath all that.

“You’re welcome.” I catch a whiff of what’s in the box and groan. “Your famous fried chicken? What did I do to deserve that?”

He winks at me and then turns to one of the guys beside him. “Are you going to get that bun dressed, or are you taking a nap?”

I leave my apron in the back and make my way out to the front of the café. It’s not super busy right now, but that will change in the next hour when the dinner crowd hits. “Ready?” I ask Noah when I get to his table. He packs his book in his bag and slides out. I’m almost to the front door when I remember my car problem. I step to the side and pull up the Uber app and request a ride and resist the urge to sigh at the twenty-minute wait. I glance down at Noah. “It’s going to be about twenty minutes.”