Grateful in Watch Hill : A Small Town Romance, Sara Celi [good beach reads .TXT] 📗

“No.”

I slid it into the nearby stove. “On its way then.”

“Thanks.” Kyle took a few steps toward the main dining room but turned around when he reached the doorway. “Remember how Ashley told me she saw Kendra at the food drive?”

“Yeah, I do.” I sighed. “Sad.”

He crossed his arms. “Was she also one of the FoodSwap drivers that showed up to help over the weekend, when I was gone?”

I nodded.

“Figures. Kendra isn’t that common of a name.”

“Working for FoodSwap is better than not working at all.” I looked down for a moment as my thoughts turned to Nancy and the conversation we’d had the day after she got my text. “But I think she’s going to be all right. Just needs a stroke of luck.”

And someone to help that along . . .

“That’s what she needs.”

Kyle tapped the doorframe twice, a sort of signal that the conversation was over, and moved into the public part of the restaurant. I set my mind to making the pizzas as fast as I could, something that made me proud. Over the last few months, I’d become the fastest pizza maker on staff. Add that unexpected skill to the list of things I’d learned since the beginning of the pandemic.

I was on my tenth order when Kyle rushed back into the kitchen.

“You should come out here,” he said, his eyes wide, his expression tight. “Right now.”

“But I’m in the middle of this.”

“I’ll take care of it.” He crossed closer to the preparation station. “Just go on out there.”

“Okay. Whatever you say.”

Confused, I ran my hands under the water at the sink, wiped them on a paper towel, and wandered into the dining room. Kendra stood at the far end of it, her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at me.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Is something wrong?” Everything about her body language told me that something was, but I asked the question anyway. “You look upset.”

Kendra took a deep breath. “I am.”

I glanced at my watch. It was already after two. The pizza orders had kept me so busy that the hour or so I’d been at work passed quickly. Still, if it was after two . . . “Your interview with Nancy must be over.”

“Yep. It’s over.”

“How did it go?”

“Fine.” Her tone of voice told me that no, it wasn’t fine at all. I’d been around enough women to hear the telltale edge in her voice. “It was fine.”

“Why don’t you tell me what’s upsetting you, then?”

“Nothing’s upsetting me.”

“You’ve got anger written all over your face.”

She sighed. “Why did you do that?”

I threw up a hand, feigning ignorance. I could guess what she was talking about, and part of me was surprised she seemed so angry. Did the meeting with Nancy go badly? “Do what?”

“Call her. Talk to her.” Kendra shifted her weight. “Tell Nancy that she should hire me.”

“Because she could use someone like you. Would there be any other reason?”

Kendra tightened her shoulders, her body language growing more stressed instead of less. “She said you reached out to her and gave her the idea. That you approached her about me.”

“Not really.” I cocked my head. “We keep in touch because I think it’s a good thing to have a vast network. That’s it.”

“I don’t need charity.” She practically spat the words. “I don’t need a job from someone who feels sorry for me.”

“Was that what she said it was?”

“No, but—”

“Then what’s the problem? I’d think working for Nancy would be a huge opportunity for you. She’s an enormously powerful woman in this community, and her dance company is very well respected around here. Besides, you . . .” I broke off instead of adding the words on the tip of my tongue, need the money. She knew what I was talking about. Kendra was a smart woman. She could guess.

“I’m working as a delivery driver instead of pursuing my dream. I know.” She pulled a chair from one of the remaining tables in the dining room and sank into it. “But I don’t want this. Not this way, at least.”

“Why not?” Seeing my opening, I crossed to the open chair opposite hers and pulled it close to her. “I know Nancy pretty well. She wouldn’t have asked you to do this if she didn’t think the idea fit with what she wanted to do for the dance company. That’s not how she operates.”

“I wanted this to be something that I earned. Not something that someone gave to me because they felt bad.”

“Trust me, you did earn it.”

“Did I? There wasn’t a job to apply for, there wasn’t a competition to enter.

You . . . you pulled strings. You forced it.”

“That’s not what I did at all.”

“What did you do?”

“I simply told someone that you were available, and they put it together. They figured it out.”

Kendra stared at me for a few breaths. “I just . . . I can’t.”

“What do you mean?”

She backed away from me. “I don’t . . . I don’t want a handout, Seth. I don’t want a job because someone felt bad about what’s happened to me over the last few months. I want something I’ve earned. There’s a difference.”

“You did earn this. You were about to be a principal with American Dance Company for God’s sake.” I thew up a hand, not understanding at all. Wasn’t that what she wanted? What she needed? Why wouldn’t she accept that? “Anyone would be happy to have you on staff.”

Instead of agreeing with me, Kendra shook her head. “I’m sorry. But . . . I can’t . . .” She shoved her hands in her jacket pockets and focused on the asphalt. “I’ve gotta go, Seth.” Kendra gave me a small shrug, turned on her heel, and got in her car.

Within another breath, she was gone, out of my life again.  Will someone explain what the hell just happened?

NINEKENDRA

The next few days passed in a blur.

I delivered as many orders as I could for FoodSwap, took my dad to a few medical appointments, paid the monthly bills, and tried to push through the rhythm of life, holding