She huffed out a breath and closed her eyes briefly. “Starting to die down now.” She gently grasped my arm. “I’m sorry you had to help out.”
“It’s okay.” I flashed her a smile, the same smile I always gave her that held secrets behind it. Secrets I would never reveal to her. “You were busy.”
“I hate that you have to do this.” She let her head drop back. “As soon as the other diner is up and running, we’ll have more time on our hands. Everything will change then.”
“Mom.” I placed my hand over hers. “It’s okay, really. I don’t mind.”
It wasn’t actually working in the diner that bothered me. It was the amount of time the diner took away from Mom and me. Growing up, we’d always been close, but the last couple of years I’d drifted away from her. It was no one’s fault, we just…had our own things going on. She thought I was doing fine, and I knew how much she loved opening up her own diner.
But today…today I witnessed the sadness in her eyes. She’d been devastated that day, and she’d managed to hide it from me over the years, but right now it was at the forefront, showing me how much she still hurt.
I couldn’t let her see my torment, though. I had to push it down and hide it away. I had to be strong for everyone around me because if I showed them exactly how weak I was, I wasn’t sure what would happen.
“How do pizza and a movie sound once I’ve finished my shift?” Mom asked, the sadness in her eyes turning to hope.
“Sounds good,” I replied, a genuine smile on my face this time. It had been too long since it was just the two of us hanging out like we used to. It was always Mom and me against the world, but somewhere along the way that had changed.
“Why don’t you head out front and get some homework done, and I’ll finish up here for you?” Mom rolled her shoulders, probably trying to wake herself up a little.
“It’s okay, I got this, Mom. If we work together, we can get out of here quicker.”
“You’re right.” She pushed some hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. “You always were the clever one,” she commented as she started to clear away the pots as they came out of the dishwasher. “I feel like I haven’t spoken to you properly since you started senior year.”
“I know,” I murmured. “But it’s been going good.”
“Yeah?” She grinned wide and held a pan in each hand. “Any boys asked you out yet?”
“Mom.” I groaned and rolled my eyes. It was always one of the first things she asked, and I always gave her the same answer. “Of course they haven’t.”
Mom let her hands drop to her sides. “What do you mean, ‘Of course they haven’t’?” The heavy pans looked like they were weighing her down, and the apron around her red diner dress was covered in food stains, but it didn’t deter her from looking scary as hell.
“Seriously, Mom?”
“What?” She stored the pans away and planted her hands on her hips. “You’re my beautiful Aria, they’re dumbasses if they don’t ask you out.”
“So you want me to be going out on dates with horny teenage boys?” I raised a brow and pulled the lid down on the dishwasher for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Well…” She trailed off and looked away from me at the sound of the kitchen door opening.
“What are you two rambling on about in here?” Sal asked, his gruff voice cutting through the silence in the kitchen. His face was covered in a frown, but I knew it was just his normal look. Sal was scary looking, but those closest to him knew he was a giant teddy bear, one who would do anything for the people he loved.
“Mom is trying to whore me out,” I casually stated.
Mom gasped, her hand flying to her chest. “I would never!”
“Mmmmm, don’t lie, you want me out of the house and getting drunk at high school parties—”
“No parties,” Sal interrupted. “Or boyfriends.” He halted next to Mom and pointed in my direction. “Boys are trouble
.”
“Yes, they are,” Mom replied, raising her brow at him. “You being the biggest trouble of them all.”
“Me?” Sal pointed his thumb at his chest, his brows high on his forehead. “I’m a goddamn angel, Jan. An angel.”
Mom snorted and shook her head. “If you say so.”
“I do say so.” Sal stepped forward and hooked his arm around Mom’s waist to pull her against his chest.