The Hero's Sweetheart

by Cheryl Wyatt

  “Can I go? I really need to help Patrice and Naem. Obviously you were right about patrons eating breakfast early.”

  In fact, many things had been running more smoothly. If she told him, would he think she was just sucking up? Was she?

  “One more question. Who all has access to the registers here?”

  “Pretty much all of us. We all help each other in a pinch.”

  He apparently didn’t like that answer because his jaw clenched rhythmically. “Employees only?”

  “Yes.” Why would he ask that? Had someone taken money? They’d been really lax about counting registers at shift change, and Sully operated almost solely on an honor system. She just assumed everyone was as honest as she was.

  The thought that someone would steal from Sully upped her ire in a big way.

  Patrice could be heard calling out for Darin to bring her more menus, which meant she and Naem were probably dealing with a full dining room. Olivia darted glances toward the door, wanting to go help her crew out of breakfast-rush chaos. Plus, Darin was undoubtedly slammed, too, and could use Jack’s help on the grills and other food prep.

  Jack rose. “Go on back to work, Liv.”

  She jerked. “Why did you call me that?”

  Jack angled his head. “Dad told me to.”

  “How? He’s not speaking.” She stood. Sat. Stood. “Is he?”

  “He started writing with his strong hand on a special tablet last night. Have you not been to see him?”

  She scowled. “I assumed you didn’t want me to.”

  “I never said that. I just needed time alone with him that first evening.”

  “So you don’t have a problem with me visiting him?”

  “Not as of now.” He studied her in a way that made Olivia wonder if he suspected her of unethical behavior, as well. “I’ll say it one more time. I can’t keep people I can’t trust. Do I make myself clear?”

  Olivia nodded but a terrible fist clenched her gut. Bottom line, Jack did not trust her. Why? What did he think she’d done, or what did he think her capable of?

  She couldn’t stand the thought of being let go. That would stress Sully out. And keep her from paying for school and make her ineligible for the EPTC internship scholarship. And maybe force her to live with one of her parents, a very unhealthy atmosphere. She just couldn’t. He had to believe her.

  Olivia wasn’t sure why his opinion mattered so much, just that it did. What he thought of her was important to her, even if she didn’t want it to be.

  “You can trust me, Jack.”

  He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his well-developed chest. “We’ll see.”

  * * *

  After nonstop customers from the start of her shift to the end, Olivia’s feet were aching. She’d expected to get to use her breaks for studying the right chapter but ended up not even having time to eat. She went to class and bombed her test despite cramming the hour before.

  Her schedule was too packed. Something had to give. She came home feeling defeated and praying for sleep. Still, it eluded her and she hadn’t been able to comprehend a single thing in her book. Her dyslexia was functioning at an all-time high. She needed help. Period.

  The next morning, she at least made it to the diner on time. Just in time to hear Jack say his trademark, “Get your boots back to work,” to Darin and Naem, who were swatting each other with wet dish towels.

  When she walked to the back and glimpsed Jack yanking Perry’s time card out of his slot, she realized that Perry had not shown up yesterday. She eyed the clock. Patrice, just now arriving, peered at the clock as well. “Perry’s late again,” Olivia whispered.

  “That’s his problem. I’ve got issues of my own.”

  “Fighting with Frankie again?”

  Patrice lifted her sleeves. Fingerlike red marks covered her upper arms.

  “He did that?” Again!

  Patrice nodded, tears filling her eyes. “He shook me so hard I bit my tongue.”

  “I’m so sorry. I keep telling you, you need to get away from him. Why won’t you listen?”

  “I know. But I can’t.” Patrice shrugged with the shoulders of someone already defeated.

  Olivia wanted to talk sense into her, to ensure her safety, but Patrice looked too distressed right now to listen. That talk would have to wait. For now, out of sensitivity, Olivia sent Patrice the kindest smile she could and tried to think of worthwhile words to say.

  Naem interrupted them. “Trouble’s brewing. Jack is at the computer cutting Perry’s check.”

  “Since today’s not payday, that’s not a good sign,” Olivia said.

  “No. Maybe if we have a talk with Perry and he promises to do better, Jack will relent.”

  She nibbled her lip, recalling the conversation about impairment and possible drugs. “Naem, I’m not sure that’s the best decision.”

  Naem looked at her funny. “Hey, we all stick together. All us little people.” Naem eyed her, then Jack. “What were you doing in his office, anyhow?”

  Olivia realized the potential for distrust and division. “He had questions about the diner.” Olivia answered carefully. “Probably the same questions he asked you, Darin and Patrice.”

  Naem nodded. “He said he needs to speak to me again today. Darin’s in there now. Maybe we should all compare notes.”

  “Maybe.”

  As she and Naem donned aprons, washed hands and tucked pens behind their ears, Darin emerged from Jack’s office. Wordlessly he headed straight for the grills.

  Perry was nowhere to be found. She eyed the clock. He was twenty minutes late.

  Jack helped Darin prepare bacon, then took over washing dishes. After customers started piling in upon the diner opening, a surprise to Olivia because she hadn’t thought they would continue to, day after day, Perry rolled in looking hungover and unkempt.

  He only got four steps in before Jack pointed to the door.

  Perry stopped, lowering his spit bottle. Gross. How could anyone chew tobacco in a restaurant? Not to mention it was a major health-code violation and one even Sully wouldn’t tolerate.

  “What?” Perry blinked at Jack, who looked more livid by the second.

  Perry on the other hand, looked as stoned as he probably was.

  “No.” Jack barreled around the corner to stand in Perry’s way. “There’s the door. Walk back through it. You’re done here.” He handed Perry his final check.

  “You’re firing me ’cause I’m only an hour late? What up, dude?”

  “Out. Now. Or I’ll call the police.”

  As mad as Jack looked, Olivia mentally advised Perry to do what Jack said. The anger in Jack’s eyes told her that calling the police on Perry was the most humane of two choices. Getting tossed out on his ear by Jack was probably the less appealing of the two.

  As Jack walked Perry out, he said, “You need to get professional help.”

  Perry sneered and muttered something to Jack that probably would have earned him a fist in the face from a less-controlled man.

  “Oh my. I cannot believe he actually fired him,” Patrice whispered later to Olivia as they tucked order pads into the next shift’s aprons. Everyone had been walking on eggshells since the incident.

  You mess up once, I warn you. You mess up twice, you’re done. That’s what he’d said when they’d all gaped at him after he escorted Perry out. Zero tolerance. Since then Jack had not said another word. To anyone.

  “I know. To Jack’s credit, Perry pushed him over the line. He was warned,” Olivia said.

  “Yeah. Multiple times. Still.”

  Nothing else needed to be said. Olivia knew one thing. She wasn’t about to cross Jack. He was nothing like his dad. Sully might yell a lot, but he was all bark and no bi
te. Maybe even passive to a fault when it came to setting boundaries with employees. Jack, on the other hand? He was all bite. Little to no mercy seemed his mantra.

  Other than that Fords were the only car built tough and worth having. Olivia smiled fondly remembering Sully telling her of their Chevy-versus-Ford sparring. Though Sully had made her promise to give Jack a hard time about Ford once she met him in person, so far, she hadn’t had the nerve.

  “Of course he could have been using Perry as an example.” Patrice shrugged.

  “To show his power you mean?” Olivia hoped not. But it bothered her that Jack didn’t even try to find out Perry’s background. Or, if he had, she wasn’t aware of it.

  “I don’t know. Maybe. That doesn’t seem like the Jack I remember, but maybe the military and war changed him.” Patrice didn’t have to finish the rest.

  Changed him. And not for the better.

  Just as Olivia thought. Change was, at this point in her life, her absolute worst enemy, and right now Jack Sullenberger was captaining that particular moving ship.

  Chapter Four

  Jack knew his firing of Perry had rattled the tight-knit day-shift crew yesterday. They were still subdued and somber today. Everyone, even Olivia, had shown up for work extraordinarily early and no one was goofing off or joking around.

  He hated to be the bad guy, but Dad had been too passive in dealing with insubordination and misconduct. Behavior like Perry’s could end up being bad for business.

  He’d done the right thing by setting a precedent.

  Yet he felt the gap widening between himself and his employees over it.

  “Hey, Jack, the appliance delivery company is on the line.” Patrice held up the cordless phone as lunch customers walked through the jingling door.

  “Patch them through.” When his office phone beeped, he punched a button. “Jack Sullenberger speaking.”

  “Yes, sir. Eagle Point Appliances. How are you today?” a chipper female voice asked.

  Dismal. “Fine. What’s up?”

  “Well, aren’t we Mr. No Nonsense again today,” the clerk teased in cooing tones.

  Jack rubbed his temple, willing away the oncoming headache as she chattered on. She sounded like the same gal who’d flirted relentlessly with him when he’d gone in to order the new washer and dryer for the diner yesterday, after his evening visit with Dad.

  Yes, loneliness resided that felt like a canyon was widening inside his chest more every year. But he’d seen enough emotional and psychological pain between his parents in his growing-up years to last a lifetime—and to sufficiently keep him away from any marriage-minded woman.

  As far as Jack was concerned, he was married to the military.

  “Listen,” he interrupted her. “We’re kinda busy here. Could you get to the point?”

  Silence. He heard a brief huff, then, “With the impending threat of bad winter weather, we’d like to deliver the washer and dryer early,” she said in a more professional tone, yet laced with enough saccharine and sarcasm to let him know she felt rebuffed and wasn’t happy about it. “Today, if possible, since the storm’s supposed to get worse tomorrow and terrible the day after.”

  “That’s fine.”

  “One issue is that all of our delivery drivers are out and we may need manpower for lifting.”

  “Not a problem. I’ll be here and we’ve got strong guys to help.”

  After writing the delivery time on the calendar, Jack hung up when the clerk attempted to turn the conversation personal again. He didn’t have time for this nonsense.

  His dad’s rickety office chair squealed as Jack swiveled to peer at the diner’s ancient computer monitor. Yesterday, the loan officer had mentioned sending digital reminders. Up until then, Jack hadn’t realized Dad had a diner email account. “What’s the password to the diner’s email address?” Jack called to Olivia, who was stacking server ware across the hall on the stainless steel shelving. “And why are you putting that stuff there?”

  Olivia started to furrow her brows then recovered quickly. “‘I don’t remember,’ and this is where Sully wants the plates stacked.” She turned to get a tray of cups.

  He stalked to the doorway. “If you don’t know the password, then who does?”

  “Your father...and the password is, ‘I don’t remember.’”

  “‘I don’t remember.’ That’s literally the password?”

  “Yes. Because that’s the only password your father could remember. He uses it for everything.”

  “Then everything he has will be hacked.” Jack sighed over the security breach. “Did Dad give anyone else here the password?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think so.”

  Good and bad. She’d have access to financial records, but it also meant Dad trusted her more than the others. Why? He intended to do some digging.

  “Perhaps you should turn up the heat in here,” she suggested, glancing at the customers huddled inside the door. “They’re complaining that it’s too cold.”

  While Jack was inclined to argue with Olivia, she was probably right. “A few degrees and no more,” he said. “We have to get the electric bill down.”

  He lifted his wrist to check his watch. He’d need to pick up some diner supplies before the ice storm hit. He couldn’t really go right now because someone needed to be in charge while he was gone. Jack needed to establish an employee chain of command in the diner. He’d start observing more closely to see which employee everyone looked to in each of the two shifts.

  Since Naem was taking care of customers, Jack handed Olivia a Rolodex and notebook. “Here. Before we get too busy, I want you to come up with a different password for all of Dad’s accounts. Write them down and I’ll keep the info in the safe from now on.” Jack worried Sully trusted Olivia too much. This test would show him if she deserved it. He surprised himself by hoping so.

  She looked at the items skeptically and slid into the office seat he indicated.

  Thirty minutes later, Jack asked, “How close are you to being done?” It didn’t seem like it should be taking her this long to create a few dozen passwords.

  “Maybe halfway,” she answered in a voice that sounded as strained as she looked. She practically had her nose to the Rolodex, so close he wondered if she needed glasses.

  “Only halfway?” he said, surprised. Then instantly wished he could take his words back.

  Crestfallen, she slid the Rolodex back into its holder. Her shoulders slumped more than a moment ago. She looked toward the door as if she wanted to flee. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings, embarrass her or make her feel bad.

  “It’s fine. I’ll finish it. Go ahead,” he said, motioning her back to help Naem since more customers had come in.

  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled as she stood and slowly closed the notebook. Her cheeks were tinged pink and she averted her eyes as Jack studied her.

  Had the task taken longer because she had a vision issue? Or something else entirely?

  “Olivia, is there a problem I should know about? Your eyes, maybe?”

  Her sharp intake of breath told him he was close and that surprised her. “No,” she said quickly.

  If she didn’t tell him, he couldn’t help her.

  After Olivia left, Jack checked the radar and turned up the weather alert radio’s volume. Snow flurries had begun and were expected to morph into a full-fledged winter storm that was expected to worsen this evening and last all weekend.

  Snow wouldn’t be bad, but if it turned to sleet or ice, as predicted, that would be bad for business and another financial hit. If people couldn’t drive or get out, they couldn’t eat out.

  He sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. What else could go wrong?

  A knock sounded on his door. Olivia peered in with
a strained face and slid a pen behind her ear. “Jack, one of the grills isn’t heating properly.”

  He stifled a groan and rose. He expected her to scurry out of his way but as he approached the door, she didn’t move.

  Nearly face-to-face, he paused. “Yes?”

  “I—I just wanted to talk with you about something personal.”

  Her eyes darted to the worn floor, then bounced up to his then away. She looked embarrassed or ashamed. His heart softened toward her.

  “Yo, Jack! Might wanna come see this,” Darin called. He sounded panicked—a rarity.

  Olivia stepped out of the way. “But obviously it can wait.”

  Jack reluctantly nodded and went to figure out what was wrong with one of the two grills and considered praying that the problem would be an easy fix. A sudden putrid electrical burning smell sent his headache through the roof. No telling what his blood pressure was up to right now.

  “Shut it down,” Jack commanded, moving toward the breaker that powered the diner’s only industrial-sized coffeemaker. Wispy smoke and snapping sparks flew from the cord near the outlet.

  Jack jerked it out of the blackening wall and turned to get the fire extinguisher—and ran into it coming toward him, thanks to Olivia. Quick thinking, he thought, but for some reason he couldn’t say the words. Why did he have such trouble giving praise and compliments yet it was so easy for him to give orders?

  He guessed he’d figured that if he warmed up to the employees, or at least let his soft side show this early, they’d try to walk all over him and disrespect his rules. In his line of work, troops lived by rules, died by not following rules.

  Better to make them think he was a heartless hardball so he could maintain authority and order. That was the only way to get things running in the black in time to save Sully’s.

  After dealing with the shorted-out coffeemaker, Jack instructed the staff to make coffee with the smaller pots for now, then went to check on Darin. On his way, he caught Olivia studying him with an overtly irritated expression. What now?