by Leanne Davis
A hamburger every single day? What a boring ass. She bit on her lower lip to make sure some sarcastic statement didn’t pop out of her mouth. No. She wasn’t going to lose this job. She’d spent the last four freaking years doing things… many things to get off the streets and this, finally was her shot at legitimacy. She wanted, craved, longed to be mainstream, normal, and ordinary… a real person in society. Now she was legit and desperately wanted to figure out what that meant. She didn’t really remember anymore.
“Noted. I’ll go put your order in.” Your highness.
He nodded she noticed from the corners of her eyes. Nope. Still not making direct contact. She turned and slipped away and rushed to the cook. She was Chloe’s aunt and waved at her. “I saw him come in, it’ll be ready in a few.”
Huh. Cop-man even made the tough-talking cook who Tara hadn’t figured out how to approach yet, fall in line to him.
She went back out to the crowds of the lunch diners. So far she hadn’t spilled anything, mixed up orders, miss-added bills or said anything out of the ordinary or discourteous. It was harder than she thought with the breakfast and then lunch crowd. The place, Chloe’s Corner Café, yes total cliché name that made Tara cringe when she’d first found it, and the help wanted sign on the door, still motivated her to enter the establishment and fill out an application.
The café did a generous business. There was only an hour’s lull between the meal hours. She had been running to the kitchen and back again for hours. Her feet felt bruised and brain full. It wasn’t hard work, but ridiculous amounts of multi-tasking. It was actually far harder than she had anticipated.
But she was shocked to find she liked it. The people from young kids to old couples in their eighties were all curious about her. Small, small town, and she was new which brought out a general curiosity concerning her.
She smiled and answered, keeping things simple and close to what she wished was her history. But the friendliness directed at her was odd, and kind of wonderful. On the streets, dirty and unsmiling, sometimes begging, sometimes huddling at oddball places, most disdained her, grimaced, looked away, and clutched their purses or bags tighter. Few were kind. Few lent any kind of care or advice or even money. Few treated her as if she was a human being still.
So all the smiles were a welcome and unfamiliar treat.
Until the cop. She didn’t linger or allow any platitudes to be exchanged. She dumped his lunch on her way to the next table with a bunch of drinks. Since he apparently didn’t have to pay she didn’t go back past him and he eventually left an empty plate and small tip. She took both. Glad he was gone, and dreading already his presence tomorrow.
“Well? How was your first day?” Chloe asked, as she later, sat at the counter, books before her, doing some kind of accounting.
Tara sat for a moment. Her shift was over. “I think my feet are bruised. This is busy.”
“Bad busy?”
“No the day flew. I like that part.”
Chloe grinned, her red slicked lips sliding over shiny, white teeth. “You were liked. Had a few comments about how polite you were. Marta, who you are replacing, was every opposite of that. Hiring folly. She was a big, strapping lady, I thought would eagerly handle the work load. No. Nope. She complained and whined, was short and rude to customers and heaved herself around here like she was being asked to do something out of the ordinary in doing her job.”
How long since she’d outperformed another in anything? Any task? Let alone, in her attitude and conversational skills.
“How’d tips go?” Chloe nodded towards the pile of ones and fives Tara had in her pocket trying to restrain the urge to pull it out and greedily count it. Chloe generously let her wait-staff keep all their own tips and put a fee on her meals to tip her cook.
“I think good.”
“Go ahead, count it.”
Tara grinned in response to Chloe’s nudge. She whipped out the cash and counted. It was generous. And needed. She had rent now.
Chloe started to speak when the door opened and a young African American child came running in. He was skinny and small, bald headed and adorable. Another adult waved at Chloe as she stood up and headed towards the tot.
“Thanks, Beatrix.”
“Hi, Auntie! Look at what I made today!” He whipped out a picture of hand prints all over it in the shape of the letter ‘D’.
“Look at what you can do, Wyatt. Love it.” Chloe glanced up, sharing a look with Tara. She grabbed Wyatt’s hand and tugged him forward. “Tara, this is my nephew Wyatt. He gets dropped here every afternoon until his dad gets off work. Wyatt, meet Tara, my new waitress.”
He grinned as his gaze quickly left her to follow his hand which was stealth-like going for the candy dish up on the counter above him. “Wyatt… no candy. I’ll get you some berries and yogurt.”
He made a face while withdrawing his pudgy little hand and put it out towards Tara while saying, “Sorry, Auntie. Hi, ma’am.”
“Hi.” Tara shook the kid’s hand, charmed by his manners and his sweet little smile and even squeakier voice.
“So you come here every day?’
He nodded eagerly as Chloe disappeared. “Yup. Mrs. Beatrix grabs her grandson and me from school. She drops me here on her way home. Mrs. B is our neighbor.”
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you.”
“I don’t recognize you.”
“No. I’m new to town.”
“Really?” His coffee-brown eyes were huge to begin with but when he was surprised or interested they grew even rounder. “Where you from? Anywhere neat?”
“Ah… no. Not really. Just a small town in California.” Yeah, that was the generic version of her history.
“Like where Disneyland is?”
“Not even close,” she said with a small smile, kneeling down so she didn’t tower over him. She had no experience with young kids. Nothing. There had been few little kids in her life and she felt odd talking to him. Should she dumb down what she said? Use a different voice? But he seemed to understand her. “I grew up way up above there. Not much like what you see on TV about California.”
“How’d you get here?”
Walk, hitched rides, sometimes… she wasn’t even sure how she got where. Nothing that was appropriate for little kid ears.
“I drove.”
He nodded and turned towards Chloe when she walked back with his snack. He scooted up on the stool to the counter. Huh. That was easy enough. Blunt and to the point he accepted what she said, she wished all people were that easy to talk to. And didn’t ask follow up questions.
“Want some?”
Tara tuned back in when Wyatt glanced up at her, holding out a strawberry in his hand. Startled at the sweet, innocent offering she glanced over to Chloe who smiled as if to say yes. She put her hand to Wyatt’s and took the strawberry. His hand was moist and warm. Clammy, as was the strawberry. But she’d eaten garbage left overs, nothing gross here, and no way she’d hurt the little kid’s feelings. She popped it in her mouth and made a face of pleasure. “Best strawberry ever. Thank you, Wyatt.”
He grinned up at her. “You’re welcome. Daddy says gentlemen always share with others.”
“Your dad seems wise.”
“He is! The wisest. And smartest. He’s knows everything!”
She smiled, indulged, and charmed. Never. Not once, did she speak that way of her own father. Thad Tamasy, had never treated her with kindness or given her advice or paid any attention to her. So what did she know of what daddy’s did or were?
Chloe was called off by a new round of customers. She made a face. “Wyatt, behave while I take care of this.”
“I’ll keep him company.” Tara nearly glanced around, as she realized it was her who volunteered that. When did she ever volunteer to interact with anyone? Especially some little sticky kid? Still he was grinning up her.
“So what grade are you in?”
“Kindergarten. We go all day now. Last year everyon
e went part days. Now it’s all day. I don’t like it. I miss seeing my favorite show, it’s on just after lunch. Dad say it’s good to start learning sooner than later... but I don’t think that.”
Dad was quoted a lot. The next twenty minutes she learned dad was close to a superhero. Wyatt had all kinds of quotes from his dad. She was soon engaged and nearly provoking another dadisms from Wyatt. He had a way about him that was irresistible. His voice was high pitched and cracked when he got really excited, which was often and easy. It was impossible to hold back the grins his little voice evoked and his constant engaging monologues.
“You should meet my daddy!”
“You’re dad must be something pretty special,” she said while grinning back to Wyatt’s big, huge electric smile over his daddy. The kid had a serious case of hero-worship of his own father and it was very neat to see.
“Some think so. But usually they’re of the fived-year-old variety.”
Tara froze, facing towards the kitchen and back to the front door. She shut her eyes, sure that Wyatt’s dad had just walked in on them and whose cool voice slid up between them. He stood just behind her, towering over them. She turned her head, and the startled shock popped over her face.
It was the damn cop.
Her mouth dropped open. She glanced down next to her, not meaning to be so surprised. Wyatt giggled and exclaimed, “Daddy!” as he jumped off the stool and launched himself at the man’s green pant legs, while ignoring the scary-looking belt of violence. Wyatt’s little dark face next to the cop’s lily-white one was not expected. She dropped her gaze, stupid to be staring, gaping really. It was short-sighted to assume his daddy would have been African American too. There was no reason Wyatt couldn’t be inter-racial. She closed her eyes briefly and slid to her feet.
“This is Tara from far away. She works for auntie now.” Wyatt was saying, as the cop had swung the little kid up in his arms, his legs wrapped around the man’s thick waist, above the belt. Tara hated the belt, but it seemed half as menacing with the little kid in his arms. Wyatt had his little arms around the man’s thick neck and his fat, little cheeks rested for a long moment against his dad’s face. He then leaned back. “She’s pretty, huh? Like that one lady I don’t remember her name… in that book… Aur—no, Cinderella. The blonde one who loses her shoe, right?”
“Right,” the cop said chuckling as his gaze flipped to Tara. She kept her head on his big black boots. So menacing also. She blushed furiously. As if she wanted to be compared to the singing, housekeeper-slave whose only claim to fame was being pretty and then stupid enough to lose her shoe so some rich guy would find her and elevate her station in life. Stupid fucking story, Tara grumbled in her head. But little kids… always liked them. And maybe her long blond hair and waitress uniform might remind a kid of the fairy tale. All of it was tales and lies, however.
She ducked her head, grabbed her purse off the counter stuffing her tip-money in. “I’ll let you go. It was nice meeting you.” She scurried out the door, before it occurred to her she’d never officially met “Daddy.” She had no idea what the cop’s name was. She glanced at the truck. Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. She paused for a brief moment. Huh. Not the kind of authority agency she figured on. What the hell did fish and wildlife mean? Why would someone enforcing laws about nature need such a big damn gun? Were they still cops? They must be judging by all his paraphernalia he had attached to him. So whatever, he was the enemy. Someone she needed to stay far away from.
Who did however, have one of the cutest kids she’d ever met.
Keep checking my website for a release date.
My Other Titles:
The Sister Series describes the emotional scars and battles that are often hidden inside people.
Rape. Drugs. Abuse. Violence. Pain. Betrayal.
And how they can be overcome.
Love. Joy. Family. Forgiveness. Faith. Hope. Redemption.
The Sister Series available to date:
The Other Sister
The Years Between
The Good Sister
The Best Friend
The Wrong Sister
The Years After
The Broken Sister
The Perfect Sister
Daughters is a spin-off of The Sister Series about Jessie’s (The Other Sister) daughters.
Christina
Natalie
The Rydell River Ranch is a large horse facility that includes training, boarding and breeding. It is owned and operated by four brothers who feel morally obligated to protect their century-old legacy in the small, rural town of River’s End.
River's End
River's Escape
River's Return
River Road
River on Fire
Share in the fall, rise and eventual emergence of the rock band, Zenith’s destiny…
Zenith Falling
Zenith Rising
Zenith Fulfilled
The characters are all connected to Seaclusion, Washington,
a fictional town set alongside the Pacific Ocean.
Poison
Notorious
Secrets
Seclusion
My standalone novel:
Jason Malone has spent a lifetime being denied by his own family. His father, the respected mayor of his hometown, all but ignores his existence, while his drug-addicted mother only brings him more harm than good. After Jason is unjustly imprisoned for crimes that stemmed from his absentee family, he is grateful to be getting his life back together again.
Then, his estranged brother's fiancée walks into his life and changes everything.
Christine Andrews is the obedient daughter of a rich and powerful family. She is engaged to Trent Gallagher, her father's right hand man, and poised to join her father and Trent in managing the empire her father has built. That’s when Christine discovers the existence of Jason Malone and suddenly has doubts about everything around her, including her fiancé.
Christine is caught in a power struggle between the two brothers, but she soon realizes there is far more at stake than just her heart. Then, one night, everything is altered forever.
About the Author
I live in the rainy area of Western, Washington, and spend as much time as I can avoiding the rain by traveling to destinations all across the state where my family and I enjoy camping, boating, fishing, and horseback riding. Many of the locations where we camp become the towns for my books. Most of my settings are fictional but are inspired by real places.
I earned my business degree from Western Washington University. I worked for several years in construction management before I began writing and staying at home with my kids.
I love to hear from readers. Please contact me at: [email protected].
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Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed The Perfect Sister.