“He’s a jerk. I told him I had it handled. He made a huge scene.”

He waved me away. “Dwayne deserved it. Phaedra’s been wanting to kick him out of here for years. Right before you started, he turned over a table.”

My mouth fell open.

The sprayer silenced, and Hector spoke, “That’s not like Mrs. Phaedra to let someone do that and keep coming back.”

Chuck shrugged. “He hasn’t always been like that. His wife left him a few years back. He started drinking all the time. Phaedra’s put up with his tantrums because she felt sorry for him, I guess.”

Hector and I traded glances.

“And you don’t think Taylor’s a bully for throwing him out like that?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I’ve daydreamed about doing that same thing.”

“But she’s your wife. You’d just be protecting her honor. I get that,” I said.

He pressed his lips together. “You’re right, but you’re wrong.”

I furrowed my brow, confused.

“I don’t think that Taylor kid is looking for anything easy. Just the opposite. And I think he knows he’s found it.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means you’d better hold on tight. Guys like him don’t give up easily once they’ve found a girl like you.”

I laughed once. “Let him try.”

Chuck smirked, returning to the food on the stove.

Chapter Four

“You’d better skedaddle, kiddo,” Phaedra said. “You’ve got to get ready, don’t you?”

I looked down at my clothes. “For what?”

“Are you going out with that boy in your apron?”

“No. I’m not going anywhere with that boy.”

Phaedra shook her head and tended to her last table of the night. Only a few chairs were still occupied. It was a few minutes past closing time. Kirby had already swept, and she was now breaking down the ice cream machine.

Phaedra’s table signed their check, and she waved as the small family left together to their car parked out front. I sat on the stool at the end of the bar, counting my tips. Kirby happily took a small stack of bills—her percentage for bussing tables and for her excellent hostess skills—as she passed by on her way to meet Gunnar at the door. He bent over to hug and kiss her, wrapping his giant arms around her tiny frame.

“Good night!” Kirby said.

“Night,” I said, barely above a whisper.

Phaedra and Chuck waved to the couple before Gunnar held open the door for his girlfriend. She passed him, and then they walked together to wherever he’d parked her car. I thought about them walking alone in the alley behind the restaurant and how Kirby probably wouldn’t think twice about it.