“I miss you. Don’t mind me. I’m cranky.”
“You see me all the time.”
“No. I see you four days a week. That’s not enough for me. I get glimpses of you Wednesday thru Friday, and a few hours each day on Saturday and Sunday, and the same Monday and Tuesday nights, if you don’t have a later catering gig.”
“I’ve been turning them down.”
“What?”
“I’m just a part-time, as-needed employee for At Your Service Catering. After that one Tuesday night that I had to cancel on you, I’ve been turning down any jobs that are going to have me working after five. This,” I point to the Tavern behind us,“is my main job.”
“I know you enjoy working here, and I would never ask you to quit for me, but I miss you. I dread the middle of the week because I know I’m only going to see you while I’m here eating or not at all.”
“I’m sorry.” I hug him closer.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m being selfish. There’s a part of me that wants to demand you find a day-shift job. However, there’s a bigger part of me that knows you’re a grown woman who can make her own choices. I won’t take that away from you like they did. I might be pissy about it, but I would never demand that of you. No matter how bad I want to.”
“I miss you too,” I confess. “I’ve been thinking a lot about how I could use my degree. Well, just about what I want to do for the rest of my life. The Willow Tavern isn’t forever.”
“As long as I’m still in the forever column, we’re all good,” he assures me.
He has no idea that his words set off an explosive tidal wave of emotions in my chest. He just basically told me he wanted me forever.
“Eat up. You have to go back to work soon. Unless you’re willing to let me tell them that you have food poisoning from my awful cooking and need to take the rest of the night off,” he offers.
“Stop. We both know you’re an excellent cook, and they already know that because this isn’t the first meal you’ve brought me while I’m working.”
“Damnit. Why do I have to be one of the nice guys?” he teases.
“I’m glad you’re one of the good ones, Deacon. I’m also glad you’re in my life.”
“Me too, baby. Me too.” He presses his lips to my cheek and moves to sit beside me on the tailgate while I finish my dinner.
Six hours later, we finally lock the doors and call it a night. My feet are killing me, and I’ve been distracted by my conversation with Deacon earlier. It bothers me too that we only have two weeknights that we can go out, and it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot. When I first accepted this position, I was fine with the nights. The tips were better, and if Palmer was busy, I just sat at home alone anyway. Now I have someone other than my best friend in my life who I want to spend time with. I used to spend Sundays at my aunt and uncle’s, and I’ve been missing that lately too. Every spare minute I spend with Deacon and it’s not enough.
I’m not sure that any amount of time with him will ever be enough.
“Hey, Ramsey, can you grab some napkins from the supply closet?” Tabitha asks.
“Sure.” I drop the dirty glasses I just collected off at the bar and head down the hallway to the supply closet. I pass Hank’s office, and instead of passing it like I would any other time, I knock on the door frame.
“Ramsey. Come on in.” He smiles kindly. “What’s up?”
“Well,” I say, wringing my hands together, “I was wondering if we could talk about my schedule.”
“Sure, you need a day off?”
“Kind of. I was hoping I could have fewer nights on the weekends. I know that I said I could work with them when you hired me, but my situation has changed.”
“Deacon.” He smiles.
I nod. “I work every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. That doesn’t leave much time to grow a relationship.”
“Trust me, I know.” He nods. “So what are you thinking?”
“Maybe one weekend night a week? Out of those three days?”
“That’s a big ask. That’s going to disrupt the entire schedule.”
“I know. I’m sorry for asking.” I turn to walk out of his office.
“Ramsey,” he calls out to me.
“Yes?” I turn to look over my shoulder.
“Let me see what I can do. You’re a hard worker and very dependable. I’d hate to lose you. I’ve been thinking of adding another employee anyway. It’s always nice when someone calls off to have options. It would take some time to get them trained.”
I try to hide my smile, but I can’t. “Yes. Of course. I’m happy to help and pick up shifts during the day, whatever I need to do to help train them.”