“Donuts!” screamed Skylar, and Dad laughed.

“First-day-of-work exception,” Dad said. “Don’t get too used to it!” He gave Skylar a kiss on the head and added, “Have fun at camp!”

Then he turned to me and opened the car door. “And you, my dear, are mine for the day. Let’s get to work!”

My cousin Kelsey was also working behind the counter at Dreams, and she gave me a quick wave when I came in.

Kelsey and my other four cousins all work at the Park and Dreams. Kelsey is only older than me by a month and a half, but she always tells people I’m her younger cousin.

“You know what to do?” asked Kelsey.

I nodded and slipped behind the counter with her and put on an apron. Dad was talking to the manager of the restaurant about something, so I turned around and stared at the rows of donuts, making sure they were all lined up and that the shelves were clean.

When Mom was alive I went home right after school, but after she died, Dad would pick Skylar and me up and bring us to the restaurant so we could be near him. We’d hang out at a table and do our homework or color for a few hours before Nans would take us home for dinner. I had watched the counter at Dreams for a few years, so now I knew exactly what had to be done.

If you look around, a restaurant is kind of a fascinating place. It’s usually busy—if it’s a good restaurant, that is—and there are people sitting and talking about stuff, and if you pay attention, you can learn a lot. And most people don’t stop talking when someone comes over to the table. So even if I helped clear a table or dropped off a glass of water, I could really get an earful. That’s what I loved most, picking up little pieces about people that you wouldn’t normally know.

Grandpa loves to go around and talk to everyone, and he stops and chats with the regulars, especially the ones at the counter in the morning. He knows everything that was going on in town, but he never spilles it to any of us, which drove Mom crazy.

“Oh, come on,” she’d say. “I know they were probably talking about it at the Park. What’s the dirt?”

And he would just smile and shake his head and say, “I just pour the coffee. What do I know?”

But Grandpa never misses a beat, so you have to be on your toes. I once saw him correct people for not properly wiping down a table, or not setting it right, or sloshing a glass of water when they put it down.