He laughed and flashed the gold band on his left hand. “It devastates me to say I’m already spoken for.”
“The good ones always are.” I sighed.
Waylay’s fingers furtively moved closer to the plate.
“My favorite is the chocolate chocolate chip,” Justice said, pointing at the biggest cookie on the plate. With a wink, he was gone.
She waited until he was behind the counter before snatching the cookie off the plate.
“Mmmm. So good,” I mumbled, my mouth full of cookie goodness.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re so weird.”
“Shut up and eat your cookie.” Her eyes narrowed, and I grinned. “Kidding. So, what’s your favorite color?”
We were on question ten of my half-assed getting to know you ice breaker when the door to the cafe flew open, and a woman strolled inside in ripped tights, a short denim skirt, and a Lenny Kravitz t-shirt. She had wild dark hair worn in a high ponytail, several earrings, and a lotus flower tattooed on her forearm. I couldn’t tell if she was in her thirties or her forties.
“There you are,” she said, grinning around a lollipop in her mouth when she spotted us.
The friendly greeting made me immediately suspicious. Everyone thought I was Tina, which meant if someone was happy to see me they were probably a terrible person.
The woman grabbed a chair, spun it around backwards, and flopped down at our table. “Ooooh! Those look good.” She helped herself to a cookie with red frosting, trading lollipop for baked good. “So, Naomi,” she began.
“Uh, do we know you?”
Our uninvited guest slapped herself in the forehead. “Whoops. Manners! I’m already several steps ahead in our relationship
. You’ll just have to catch up. I’m Sherry Fiasco.”
“Sherry Fiasco?”
She shrugged. “I know. Sounds made up. But it’s not. Justice, I’ll take a double espresso to go,” she called.
My future husband raised a hand without turning around from the order he was working on. “You got it, Fi.”
“So, as I was saying. In my head, we’re already friends. Which is why I have a job for you,” she said, biting the cookie in half. “Hey, Way.”
Waylay studied Sherry over her smoothie. “Hey.”
“So what do you say?” Sherry asked, shimmying her shoulders.
“Huh?”
“Aunt Naomi’s kind of a planner,” Waylay explained. “She wrote three lists so far today.”
“Ahh. A look before you leap type,” Sherry said, nodding sagely. “Okay. I’m a business manager, which puts me in charge of several small businesses in the area. One of them is down a server and desperately needs someone who can deliver beer and be generally charming.”
“A waitress?” I’d spent the last five years of my life cooped up in an office answering emails, pushing papers, and settling human resource issues via carefully worded emails.
Being on my feet and around people all day sounded like it might be fun.
“It’s honest work. The tips are great. The uniforms are cute. And the rest of the staff is a hoot. Mostly,” Sherry said.
“I’d need to arrange childcare,” I hedged.
“For who?” Waylay demanded, her forehead scrunched up.
“For you,” I said, ruffling her hair.