The pain hit her suddenly as she was cleaning the table in the corner booth. Hadley hurried to the restroom where she sat and took a series of deep breaths. Was this happening more frequently since she’d moved home? She should have kept notes.
Five minutes later she was back on the floor taking orders from a couple of men wearing coveralls with Flo-Thru Plumbers embroidered on the front.
They ordered burgers and fries. According to Stella, ninety percent of her customers ordered burgers and fries while the rest were happy with either a grilled cheese or a BLT. When Hadley had suggested including a low-fat, vegetarian option to the menu Stella had rolled her eyes. If her menu wasn’t good enough for people they could go to Green Piece down the road, a new vegetarian café that had opened last year. But then they couldn’t get pie. And everyone knew her customers really came to Stella’s for the pie.
“Anything to drink?”
Diet cola for the bearded one with bright blue eyes. Coffee for the short guy with scrubby stubble.
“You’re new,” said bearded guy.
“First day,” she agreed. “Honk if you like my driving.” She left to give the order to the kitchen, then went behind the counter to get the beverages.
Stella, serving a slice of pie to an older man at the counter, scooted over to make room for her. Stella was well past retirement age, with a full figure and short curly gray hair. She didn’t talk a lot, but her eyes were always taking things in, sharp and calculating.
When Hadley had asked if she had plans to retire, she’d shrugged. “And do what?”
Hadley was still kind of surprised Stella had given her this job. She would have thought Stella would be more inclined to punish her for being such a dreadful daughter. Stella and her mom had been best friends. There was even a framed picture of the two of them hanging in place of honor near the entrance. The cook, Moe, was in the picture too, but he was standing behind the two women who had their arms around each other’s shoulders.
Hadley had arrived at work ten minutes early. Dropping Madison off with Fallon had gone easier than expected. Normally Madison was shy with people she didn’t know well. But Fallon had a sweet, maternal way about her that immediately drew Madison in.
While Hadley often felt her heart might explode with the love she felt for Madison, she had never been able to tap into those feelings for other people’s children. She gave Fallon credit for that.
But then, Fallon had always been a giving, loving kind of person. Warm, honest, genuine. When they were younger, Hadley had often complained that she was boring. Well look what boring had gotten Fallon. A great husband like Jesse and two beautiful boys.
Whereas Hadley was a single mom in crisis mode. That was karma for you.
Two groups of four came into the restaurant, both wanting to sit at tables. Hadley took their orders, then brought out the hamburger plates for the plumbers.
“You’re driving is fine,” bearded guy told her.
“You look kind of familiar,” scruffy short guy said. “Any chance you’re Denise’s daughter?”
She had often heard she looked like her mother, except for her blonde hair, which came from her father’s side. “Every chance.”
“Real sorry about your mom,” bearded guy said. “We’ve missed her round here.”
“Thank you.” Hadley left the table thinking she kind of liked the plumber guys.
An hour later, the lunch rush was over and just a few customers were left, lingering over their pie and coffee. While the food at Stella’s was all cooked by Moe, the pie was Stella’s domain and Hadley had never tasted better. When she was growing up, at least once a week her mom would bring home a few slices from a pie that Stella felt was getting too stale to sell, but even those less than perfect wares had tasted heavenly to Hadley.
Of course, that could be because her mother wasn’t much for either baking or cooking. The main foods Hadley remembered from her childhood were frozen dinners, pizzas and eggs and toast. And apples. They had both been addicted to apples.
Hadley offered coffee top ups to both customers, then went back behind the counter.
“Should I make a fresh pot?”
“Might as well. We always get a few stragglers before we close at three.” Stella sprayed one of the napkin dispensers with cleaning solution, then polished it with a soft cloth. “You’re doing good out there.”
“Thanks Stella.” She waited to see if Stella would make a comparison to her mother—in which she would be bound to come up short—but she didn’t. Hadley put on the fresh pot of coffee then took the spray bottle and cloth to the tables so she could follow Stella’s example with the napkin dispensers.
While she was polishing up the corner booth, Jesse McArthur came in. He was in jeans, a gray T-shirt, and a cowboy hat. And for a moment her heart surged at the sight of him, just as it had done when they were teenagers. He nodded at her, then slipped into the booth.
“Okay if I sit here?”
“Of course. What can I get you?”
“Coffee and pie would be fine.”
“It’s blueberry today.”
“Perfect.”
“A blueberry pie,” she said to Stella as she poured the coffee. Stella wedged out a slice, slid it on a plate and handed it over. Though she said nothing, her eyes were full of warnings.
No doubt Hadley’s mother had told Stella everything about her life. Her shabby breakup with Jesse, her so-called “music career,” the unplanned pregnancy, the messy breakup with Luke… The miracle, Hadley supposed, was that knowing all this Stella had still hired her.
The other customers had left by the time Hadley returned with Jesse’s order. She set down the plate and the mug. “Not working at the ranch today?”
“Dad needed some parts from the hardware store. We’re prepping to push the cattle out to the summer pastures. While I was downtown, I thought I’d stop in here and see how your first day was going.”
“Better than I expected. Mind you I thought I’d hate it. I remember wondering how Mom could do the same thing for over thirty years. But I get it now.”
“It’s about the people,” Jesse said.
“Exactly.” He had the warmest brown eyes of any man she’d ever met. And when they were focused on you, like now, it was hard to look at anything else. She forced her gaze down to the pie, oozing with juicy blueberries.
Talking to Jesse had always been easy. He got her. Hadley hadn’t realized how rare that was when she was a teenager. She sure knew it now. “What about you working for your dad? How’s that going?”
When he was younger, he’d been determined not to follow in his father’s footsteps and take over the ranch. He’d wanted to live in town. Become a mechanic, or maybe a carpenter. Anything but work on the family ranch.
Jesse shrugged. “When I was a kid, I thought I wanted something different. But turns out, ranching is in my blood. I’m glad Fallon stood firm on living in town though. If we’d settled in the old Singleton house my folks would have been our closest neighbors and that would have made for too much togetherness.”
“That house always gave me the creeps.”
“I know.”
His gaze met hers and again Hadley felt that zap of shared understanding. When they were teenagers, he’d tried to convince her they would be more comfortable making out in that abandoned house than in the cab of his truck—he knew where his dad kept the key—but Hadley refused. She was sure the house was haunted, and sometimes she really believed she could see Odette’s ghost peering out the bedroom window.
“I heard the house was finally sold?”
“Yeah. Some woman from Kelowna. Kind of weird that she wants to live out there on her own. But Dad and Mom are relieved they won’t have to worry about keeping it up anymore.”
Jesse hadn’t been this chatty when they’d met up at the block party on Saturday. Was that why he’d come in here, to get a chance to speak with her without Fallon?
She slipped into the seat on the other side of the booth. Folded her arms on the table and leaned in. “Ancient history I know. But I want to apologize for being such a jerk when I left.”
Jesse took a deep breath. He seemed to be bracing himself. “Funny time to apologize now.”
“Yeah. It took having a kid to make me grow up, I guess. Anyway, I wanted to put it out there. For the record.”
“Okay. Fine. Apology noted.”
He did not offer any forgiveness, but she hadn’t expected that. She’d hurt a lot of people when she’d run off with Luke, most importantly her mother and Jesse. But if she hadn’t done it, she would have always wondered about the road less traveled. And hey, she wouldn’t have Madison.
“Also, for the record, Luke was a jerk.”
Jesse gave a short laugh. “I already knew that.”
“No woman in her right mind would ever pick him over you,” she added.
“Ah, well, you can never fully regret any decision that led you to having your children, right?”
She nodded. “I was just thinking that myself. Madison is a gift I didn’t deserve, but oh how I love that kid.”
“How is Luke as a father? Does he see her much?”
She shook her head. “He never wanted our baby. I thought his feelings would change after she was born, but…”
“Like you said before, jerk.”
“Yeah.” She picked up the spray bottle, intending to get back to work, but Jesse reached across the table and touched her wrist.
“Nice bracelet. Where’d you get it?”
“Found it on my doorstep the other day. Not sure why I’m wearing it. Reminds me of grade school, I guess. Happy times with my friends.”
“Found it on your doorstep? That’s weird. Once, a long time ago, someone gave me a bracelet like that. Did you make a wish?”
She glanced up at him. Obviously, he knew the drill. She smiled slowly. “I sure did.”
A moment passed between them. Hadley hadn’t felt young in a long time, but in those seconds, she remembered what it was to be beautiful and totally unencumbered.
“You gonna eat that pie, Jesse?”
Hadley jumped, startled by Stella’s sudden appearance at the booth. Damn those rubber-soled shoes. She hustled out of her seat. Brushed her hands on the sides of her jeans.
“Why don’t I go get your check?”
“Yes, Hadley,” Stella replied. “You should go do that.”