When 20-year-old Kara Bennett moves to Boston to escape her post-high school drama with her daughter, she didn't expect to fall straight into it in the form of Austin Mayer.
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All Kara Bennett...
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I LOVED OPENING THE DINER.
My feet echoed against the floor, the keys rattled as I tossed them into the bowl on the back of the counter and the familiar dusty atmosphere hit me before I pulled the door open to let the fresh air inside. I entered the room across the kitchen to hang my coat and put on my apron, fitting my hair into a messy bun.
The click of the kettle accompanied the soft hum of the background music behind the counter. There were still a couple of minutes to flip the sign to Open yet. I grabbed a bag of tea from a drawer and dipped it into the mug filled with hot water. I was about to take my first sip when Sarah entered with a loud sigh. "Morning."
"Hey," I greeted her with a smile before taking a sip from my tea.
She flipped the sign and headed straight to the room to hang her coat, already removing it midway. When she was back, I noticed her tired eyes and unkempt hair. I'd come home relatively early last night so she must have been home by midnight. "I couldn't sleep last night," she explained. "The couple next door keeps fighting and the walls are so fucking thin that I hear every single word, every movement, everything. I'm afraid they will murder each other one day."
"Why didn't you call the police?"
"Police? It will only get me into trouble—I like to remain invisible." She was right; if they knew who called the police, they could bother her. She sighed, grabbing my mug to take a sip. "Casanova," Sarah said with a melodic cue, "how was your date?"
"Derek is nice," I commented shortly. "It was okay."
"When is your next date?"
"I don't know," I murmured, sipping on my tea. "We didn't text after it." Sarah's sigh signified her disappointment. I was about to say that the date went well and we may meet again to make her happy—because she'd made an effort to organize it—the ring above the front door chimed, informing the entrance of a customer.
That was actually two: Nick and Austin. When Austin glanced at me, I subconsciously gripped the edge of the counter and held my breath. He diverged in the opposite direction, sitting at one of the front tables instead of approaching me. His eyes didn't leave mine until he'd taken out his cell.
Then, I focused my gaze on Sarah and Nick. Sarah's cheeks went to flames whenever Nick was around and Nick looked like an ice cream under the sunlight—they were basically lovebirds and it'd only been two dates. I downed the rest of my tea, now mild, and went to put it into the dishwasher.
Austin had understood where I was coming from last night. It was the only meaning of his actions. He'd accepted to stay away from me, ignore me. It was for the best—it was already inconvenient enough to be running into him at every chance.
Sarah was sitting across Nick at a corner table when I returned to the stand. A smile tugged at my lips at the sight of my best friend living the best of her life—in love and happiness.
