I crossed my arms over my chest, wishing for some semblance of control here. But there wasn’t any. It made me feel as if I should run again, just to escape what my life had become. The bored look she gave me made me want to scratch her pretty gray eyes—which matched her brother’s—right out of her head.
“Obviously that isn’t true.” She pointed to the bag. “For some unknown reason, my brother cares about you enough that he wants to help you. You not talking to him for the last two months made him want to even more so.” She shrugged while my heart raced and raced, blood pounding through my ears. But my voice was caught in my throat. I couldn’t say anything. “I think you know exactly what you’re doing, Kate. He’s the only guy you’ve slept with who you actually remember, so you pinned it on him.”
My mouth popped open of its own accord. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. Making a scene at work could lose me my job, and I needed it more than she knew. People were already looking at us. My other tables weren’t getting good service. A shit storm was rolling in, and I had to prevent it.
“I don’t need anything from your brother,” I told her through gritted teeth, unable to leash the entirety of my fury. “If you hate me so much, Ava, you didn’t have to come. I have other tables to look after, so please leave before you get me in trouble with Tim.”
“Kai will be mad at me if you don’t take this.” She pushed the bag at me when she got up from the booth.
The sweet girl I’d known, who’d lived with me for almost a year, was nowhere to be seen. I wanted to chalk it up to her being protective of her brother she wholeheartedly doted on. But I had the feeling she didn’t know him as well as she thought she did. I would have bet good money her twin sister knew him better. In fact, I would bet she didn’t even know her brother smoked like a freaking chimney. Naivety could be a beautiful thing, until it made you look a fool.
I couldn’t very well drop the gift where I stood when she walked away, so I held on to it and stormed off for the server’s station. It seemed as though every single person in the restaurant was watching me, including Tim, who was waiting for me at the station, lips in a tight line, chin jutting out. My stomach sank, every ounce of hopelessness bombarding me.
“Brittany will watch your tables. You take a minute to compose yourself” was all he said to me—which was when I realized I had tears running down my cheeks.
Damn hormones.
I rushed out the back door to be met by a couple of cooks taking their smoking breaks. The second they saw me, they put their cigarettes out and went back inside. Thank goodness for that, since the scent made me nauseous as hell, no matter how much Zofran was pumping into me.
I leaned against the brick wall, breathing deeply, wiping the tears away. Then I remembered the stupid blue gift bag I still held in my hand.
The urge to toss it in the trash was outweighed by my curiosity. I opened the envelope first and gasped. Inside it was a sizable amount of cash accompanied by a small note written in Ava’s perfect handwriting.
For doctor bills and baby stuff. From Kai.
He says he’s sorry and he wants to be involved with everything.
If you accept his apology, he wants you to call him.
Either way, the money is yours to keep.
The money made Ava’s frustration a bit more understandable. Her brother had her bring me money. I wasn’t sure if I was insulted or relieved. It was enough to get me by for a month and pay for a month’s worth of the Zofran crap. I couldn’t help the relief, no matter how infuriated I wanted to be. No matter how badly I wanted to handle things on my own. The relief of not having to work so hard when I was so freaking sick all the time was overwhelming.
The bag also contained a white muslin swaddle blanket with teal feathers all over it and matching baby jammies. Staring at the tiny jammies, I cried in earnest. Being responsible for someone so tiny in a little over five months was terrifying.
Kai was the first one to get the baby something. Even before me. Since I had been so hard up for cash, I could barely afford Dr. Pepper, let alone baby clothes. That thought made me cry even harder. I hugged the blanket and outfit to my chest, breathing deeply to get it under control.
When I finally stopped and had put everything back in the bag, Tim stuck his head out the back door, looking me over before approaching me.
“Britt is taking your tables,” he told me, looking at the bag, then at my face that had to be splotchy red and awful. “You can go home.”
My mouth hung open for a second while my stomach churned before I sputtered, “This wasn’t my fault! Ava sat at my table. She upset me. Please don’t fire me, Tim. You have no idea how much I need this job.” I wasn’t above begging apparently, which had me questioning every choice I had ever made in my life.
He jerked back, mouth twisting. “I’m not firing
