AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t like any of this,” I say, tucking my hands into the front pocket of my Heartstopper apron. “I don’t like that we’re lying to people. I don’t like that my brother has been arrested, and I’m the one who’s married to a cop, and I don’t like that my business is failing.”
And then, because I’ve got nothing else to do with my hands other than fumble in my apron, I walk to the kitchenette and start preparing a pot of coffee.
Taylor doesn’t say anything at first.
“Ganny wants us to come by after work today,” he says. “She wants to put on a wedding ceremony. I think she’ll want to arrange it with you.”
“See? That’s another candle on top of the cake of lies we’ve baked.”
“That was… A cake of lies?”
“Don’t start with me, Taylor,” I say.
He smirks at me while I pack the coffee grinds. The coffee machine in my apartment is the one thing I splurged on. Good coffee is the difference between a good day and a bad one. The world can go to shit, but as long as I have my coffee, I’m good.
“The lying thing, I can’t do anything about,” Jesse says. “Trust me, I’m with you on that one. It sucks. It sucks to have to play dirty to get what we want, but fuck it. Can you say you want Deputy Dickfuck to wind up as sheriff one day?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Exactly. And you’re safe with me,” he says.
We wait for the coffee to brew in silence.
I bring him over a cup of coffee and he thanks me. He’s been taking it black, no sugar, for years. He takes a sip, pulls a face, and swallows.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just my first sip of coffee for the day.” He sets it down on my coffee table. “As for your brother being arrested, I can’t say I didn’t see that coming.” Jesse raises a palm. “I’m not going to talk smack about him, Angel, but there’s nothing we can do about that. He made his bed.”
“He needs bail money.”
“He needs a fucking CT scan, the way he acts,” Jesse mumbles, then shakes his head. “I assume you’re not going to give him the money.”
“I told him he needs to speak to a bail bondsman,” I say.
“Good. Because I’m not giving him shit. He’s your brother, but he’s also his own fucking person, Marci.”
I suck in a few deep breaths and glance over at the pictures on the walls. Pictures of Dad, me, Billy, over the years. I don’t have any from the time after it happened.
“Angel, it’s okay,” Jesse says. “Now, let’s talk about the diner.”
“What about it?”
“What kind of plans do you have in place to drum up excitement during the off-season?”
I tell him what I’ve got so far—a new special, a burger eating contest, a joint venture with the specialty smoothie place at the boardwalk. Ideas I hope will bring in more customers.
“Then, when they buy a burger from the Heartstopper, they get a stamp on their card. Five stamps equals a smoothie at Frank’s, and vice versa.”
Taylor scratches his chin.
“Those are great ideas,” he says. “But some of them are way more expensive than others.”
I bristle.
“Unless you’ve suddenly gone from cop to businessman in the last five?—”
