Leopard Moon (6 page)

Kess shrugged noncommittally. That might be true of some people and some homes. Just not hers. The farther she could stay away from her father's house, the happier she'd be. She shoved the thoughts of home from her mind and focused her attention on Griff and landing a job.

"So what do you want to know about the job?"

"Well, do I get it?" She grinned at him. Griff laughed, shaking his head in amusement. "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"I appreciate the straightforward approach." He began to explain the ins and outs of the job, which were the same as most wait staff jobs she'd held. She'd already had a look at the menu; it was pretty broad with a nice selection of entrees of various prices. Griff detailed the hours, the shifts available, and the house rules. Kess listened intently, making mental notes. It sounded like a good place to work.

"So we'll try you out, see how you fit," Griff finished. "When can you start?"

"When would you like?"

"Lunch shifts are best--I can have you shadow with Rebecca today, if you're able. We've got a few holes in our roster to fill--a few folks left before the holidays so it leaves us in a bit of a bind. You wouldn’t think this would be a busy time for us with Christmas coming, but there’s graduation dinners, holiday parties, office lunches—you get the idea." He smiled at her and checked something else on her application. "I see you're staying at the boarding house. How do you like it?"

"It's great," she enthused. "Bran and Anita are pretty awesome. They say hi."

Griff nodded. "They are very awesome. And she makes a mean french toast on Saturdays." He got up, saying, "Go see Nancy to get your paperwork started. She'll get you set up. Good luck and welcome to the Barn." He offered her his hand again.

Kess took it, shaking it warmly. "Thanks so much, Griff." He winked at her, then headed back into the kitchen.

She took a moment to let it sink in. Server jobs were notoriously easy to get--it was keeping them that usually was difficult. If you couldn't hack it, you were let go, often after your first shift. Kess allowed herself a small smile of triumph. She knew she could do the work expected of her and more. Soon she'd have the money coming in to build back up her bankroll and she'd be in better shape if she had to leave quickly. The fact that she'd be able to work in a place that she actually liked was a bonus. She gathered up her things and went to find Nancy.

*********

Rebecca hadn’t been thrilled when she’d discovered Kess would be shadowing her. Kess could tell that the idea of having to split her cash tips on top of breaking in a new server was going to make Rebecca massively unpleasant to work beside today. Kess made a note to stay out of her way as much as possible.

She’d familiarized herself with the restaurant’s layout and seating chart, and she had already looked over the menu. She wasn’t thinking there would be much Rebecca could show her that she hadn’t already learned at other restaurants, but this place could surprise her. Rebecca ran through the specials quickly and Kess had jotted down a few notes in her book, but it hadn’t been necessary. Rebecca made sure she did all of the talking and Kess did all of the running.

The lunch shift was pretty brisk but not unmanageable. Kess watched Rebecca talk with customers and she noted the ones who seemed like regulars, paying special attention to make sure they never wanted for refills. She was getting frustrated that Rebecca wasn’t letting her do more, especially when the other waitress got triple sat and was falling behind on her orders, but Kess kept running sodas and coffees to the tables that needed them.

Another table of three was seated at table eight. Kess was getting some refills for table fifteen when Rebecca ran over to her. "Table eight just got sat," Kess told her. "I’ll get them some water after I drop these off."

"I’ve got table eight. Alone." Rebecca looked tweaked about something. "I’m going to put their order in now."

Kess blinked, brought up short. She’d been doing all of the grunt work for Rebecca so far; it didn’t make sense that the other waitress wanted to slog heavy trays of food and run drinks out there now. Unless…

Kess got a good look at the three guys at the table. The one closest to the wall had close-cropped blond hair, and a goatee that was a slightly darker blond than what was on his head. He wore a long-sleeve red t-shirt and jeans. He was thickly built, very blocky, but in a lumberjack kind of way, not like a gym rat. The one next to him was also big—making Kess wonder what was in the water around here to give rise to such big guys—with brown hair and thicker features. She thought they might be brothers; there was a similarity in the shape of their mouths and their eyes.

The third guy was built more lightly than the other two, but that didn’t mean he was small. He was slimmer, muscles less bunchy but still well defined if the arms in that green tee were any indication. He had dark brown hair, a little longer than his friend’s--the back almost brushed his collar. He was clean-shaven and had sharp features which softened when he smiled at something one of the others said.

Ah. Now Kess got it.

"And before you get any ideas, hands off of the one in the green shirt," Rebecca hissed, catching her looking. "He’s mine. I’ve been working on him for months."

Oh, wonderful. Rebecca was already unhappy about the shadowing thing. Now her guy was in here and she was going all Mean Girl about it, as if Kess even gave a damn about the three that came in. She had more important things to worry about. Although she did want to point out to Rebecca that if you had to work that hard to get a guy interested in you then maybe it just wasn’t going to happen.

Still, the other server’s snotty tone put her back up. She liked to project a no-nonsense attitude at work—it eliminated a lot of hassles and it never hurt for people to think you were tougher than you actually were. "Duly noted. You’ve pissed in those four corners. He’s your territory. Got it."

Rebecca flushed, and Kess knew that she could expect extra scut work for that one, but she didn’t care. She needed this job, true, but that didn’t mean she had to put up with someone’s attitude because said someone was overly possessive of an imaginary boyfriend. She grabbed her drinks for table fifteen and slid past while the other server tried to think of an appropriate response.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Cormac stopped in mid-conversation with Burke once he noticed Finn staring intensely at something on the other side of the dining room. "Dude, what the hell?" He looked over to where Finn’s gaze lay and found himself staring too.

"Who is she and where can I get one?" Finn was grinning. Cormac expected him to start baying at any second.

But Cormac had to admit that the girl was ridiculously good looking. Not in that pretty, perfect Barbie way, but in that punch you in the gut, grab you by the throat kind of way. She had black hair, but not the blue-black that shimmered under the lights, this was deep black with no highlights. She had it up in some complicated style with chopsticks stuck through it. She was slim but tall for a girl. And her face was striking—prominent cheekbones, large eyes, a small pointed chin. She wasn’t traditionally beautiful but there was something about her that was enticing.

Burke was eyeing her too, but didn’t say anything and then turned to Finn. "You’ve got a little something there," he said and pretended to wipe drool from Finn’s chin.

Rebecca came over to greet them and take their drink order. Cormac tried to politely ignore her. She was their usual server, and she was nice enough, but Cormac didn’t want anything to do with her despite her flirtations. Definitely not his type. Plus Uncle Griff wasn’t real keen on them poaching the waitstaff—he’d banned Finn from even looking at his servers. She gave Cormac a wink and a big smile, which turned sour when Finn asked who the new girl was. "That’s Kess. She’s new--first day. I'm training her." She sounded none too happy about it. A manager’s voice called out that Rebecca had just gotten two more tables and she frowned. "Gotta go. You guys want your usual?" At their nods, she grinned. "Your cows will be up in a few."

Cormac kept his eyes on Rebecca who was marching over to the new waitress, Kess. From the look on her face, Rebecca was pissed. He understood some of the dynamics of power in female relationships—they were a little like pack dynamics only way more complicated. He watched Reb talk to Kess with a nasty look on her face. The new waitress took it without batting an eye, glancing over only once to their table and nodding.

Cormac saw that Kess was going to be bringing over their drinks. He was curious about her, and not because she was new. He couldn’t explain it, couldn’t put it into words. He found her fascinating, and his interest only increased when she walked. There was a slink to it, if that was any way to describe the way she moved. It was a shame when she reached their table.

"Rebecca asked me to bring these out for you. Who gets the sodas?" When Finn gestured to himself and Burke, Kess turned to him. "Then you must get the coffee."

Her eyes were like nothing he’d ever seen—a brilliant pure green shot with flecks of gold. A dark ring around the iris made the gold more pronounced. He got out a thanks and gave her a smile when she placed the mug in front of him, happy to look at something else because otherwise he was at risk of staring like a complete idiot. Kind of like Finn was doing.

Kess moved to set the cream down in front of him, but he waved it away. He only took sugar in his coffee, no cream. "Do you need anything else here?"

"I’d like to hear the specials," Finn said, a sloppy grin on his face as he obviously eyed her up and down. Cormac threw a look at Burke, who just half shrugged, as if to say what can you do with him? Cormac took a sip of his coffee instead of saying anything. If Finn wanted to make an ass of himself in front of the pretty girl, that was his own problem.

He saw a puzzled look flash across her face for a second and he thought her eyes narrowed. Then she smiled a slow smile at Finn and Cormac waited for the annihilation to begin. "Sure thing. Our soup of the day is seafood chowder. Our catch is a cedar-planked salmon with a bourbon barbeque glaze served with a garlic mash and seasonal vegetables. Our lunch special is a roasted turkey potpie with root vegetables." She paused, then deadpanned, "And since Rebecca already placed your order five minutes ago, I can only assume that this was an excuse to check out my rack. All done?"

Cormac almost scalded Burke with hot coffee when he burst out laughing. Burke slapped Finn on the back of the head. Finn, though chastised, didn’t look like he regretted it one bit. Burke said, "Forgive my brother, miss. He usually doesn’t go out without his special helmet," which caused Cormac to convulse in fits of laughter.

"I’m right here, man." Finn rubbed his head. He looked at Kess and apologized sheepishly.

She nodded. "You guys need anything else?" Cormac shook his head and she took off.

He grinned over at Finn and Burke. "It was totally worth it," Finn announced. "That’s the future Mrs. Finnegan McNeil right there."

"It’s hard to date someone when they have a restraining order against you," Cormac noted. "Maybe try for subtle next time." He saw Kess bringing refills to another table and checking on a third party that had just gotten seated. She seemed unperturbed by Finn or their party.

"Yeah, brother," Burke agreed. "There’s socially awkward and then there’s, well, YOU."

"Socially awkward is still netting me more girls than the celibate monk over there." Finn gestured broadly in Cormac's direction.

"It's called having standards. And taste." And a not unreasonable desire to avoid becoming an STD poster boy.

"Standards aren't much good when you're alone in the middle of the night." Finn leaned back in his chair. "I'm sure you and your hand will be very happy together."

Cormac opened his mouth to respond in kind, but Griff plunked three platters down in front of them. Then he slapped Finn on the back of the head. "Boy, you run off my waitress and we’re going to have a problem."

Cormac grinned again. His uncle Griff had an easy, open way about him and was much easier to deal with sometimes than his own father. It was a good quality in a Beta. "Your future wife ratted you out, buddy." He tucked into his steak.

Griff looked at him, laughing loudly. "Wrong there, Mac. She hasn’t said a word about it, just went about her business. Wish all of them were like that when you boys are around." He gave them each a look that said he knew the effect the three of them had on the younger members of the wait staff, stopping longest at Finn who was most likely to cause problems. "I noticed it in case I needed to intervene. The girl handled herself well." He turned a raised eyebrow on Finn. "Future wife, eh?"

Finn dramatically clutched his chest. "There’s no one else for me."

"At least until someone prettier comes along," his brother snorted between chews.

"Not likely," Cormac murmured. Three heads swiveled in his direction at the same time and he found himself flushing a little.

"We-ell," Griff said in an appraising voice.

Cormac realized what he’d said and how dumb it was to say it in this company. He knew everyone wondered about him, about when he’d bring home someone serious. Burke had been dating Lindsay for two years and it looked to last after they both graduated college next year. Finn always had a girlfriend, even if they only lasted a week or two. Cormac had dated—one seriously even, but no one that he could imagine being with long term. He found them just really…flighty. No substance to girls his age. He was nineteen but his mother often joked that he was going on forty.