“Wait,” Molly said, grabbing my arm before I could head over. “Aren’t I shadowing you tonight?”
I released a laugh. “No. My first night they tossed me into the deep end, sink or swim.” When I saw her look of terror, I said, “Trust me, it’s not that complicated. The menu’s pretty limited, and there’s always a special. Just write the order down on a ticket, hang the ticket on the wheel, pick up the food about five to ten minutes later, depending on how busy we are, then serve the customers. The drinks are the same—you just take the ticket to the bar and Max’ll fill ’em.”
My explanation didn’t erase the panic on her face, and I didn’t want her to quit before she even started. “Okay. How about we work both of our sections together for a bit until you get the hang of it. Then we’ll split up, okay?”
She nodded but looked only slightly relieved.
This was going to be a long night.
Chapter Five
Molly was a quick learner, but Ruth was giving me the cold shoulder—likely for helping Molly—but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. I let her watch me take a few orders, babysat her through a few orders, then set her on her own, letting her handle the bar and a couple of tables.
We were well into the dinner shift when a family walked in with three kids. I was about to send them to Ruth’s section, but the little boy ran up to me and stared up at me with large brown eyes. “Are you the lady who’s good at math?”
It took me a second to figure out what he meant. “Oh. Are you friends with Zelda?”
The mother gave me an apologetic look. “I’m Annette. Annette Searcy. I heard you helped a girl in Eric’s class and her parents understand how to do yesterday’s math problems.” She gave me a helpless look. “I really don’t understand it.” Then she quickly added, “Don’t worry. We’re here for dinner too.”
I cast a glance at the busy dining room and then smiled at the mother. “I’m Carly, and I’ll be happy to look at your son’s homework and explain it to you when I get a chance. In the meantime, how about y’all find a table in this area, and I’ll be over to take your orders.”
I grabbed several menus and set them on the table they picked, then checked on my other customers. Molly seemed to be holding her own, so I headed over to Annette and her family. They ordered drinks and three of the special, and I told them I’d be back in a few minutes to look over Eric’s homework.
After I hung up their food ticket in the back, I headed over to the bar to get their drinks.
Wyatt was behind the bar, and he nodded toward Molly. “I see Max took my advice.”
“Molly was your suggestion?” I asked in surprise.
He frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re about to protest hiring her because I recommended her.”
I snorted. “Good help is good help, and so far she seems to be holding her own. I don’t care if she showed up on the recommendation of the Grinch, but at least that would explain why Ruth has her britches in a bunch that she’s workin’ here.” The look on Wyatt’s face suggested that he might understand the situation better than I did. “Spit it out. Why doesn’t Ruth like her?”
“That’s between Molly and Ruth.”
His words set a fire in my blood. “Don’t you dare pull that lame bullshit again,” I snapped. “Don’t you dare.”
He gaped at me in surprise, then said, “Molly is the younger sister of Ruth’s former best friend, May.”
“Why is that a bad thing?”
“The hell if I know.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Try again. Why does Ruth hate her?”
His gaze lifted to mine. “Ruth and May had a falling-out, but I don’t know many of the details. I’ll leave it up to Ruth to tell you.”
It seemed like another cop-out, yet I could see it being true. Men were often oblivious to the intricacies of women’s friendships, not to mention Wyatt and Ruth hadn’t been friendly for years.
I placed the family’s drinks on a tray, then slid it off the bar top. “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” I asked in a brisk tone.
He just grunted as I walked away.
I headed over to the Searcys’ table and passed out their drinks. “Why don’t you get your homework out, and I’ll take a quick look?”
Eric was in Zelda’s class, and his homework assignment was similar to the problems I’d worked on with Zelda. I squatted next to the table and showed him and Annette how to separate the ones and the tens before multiplying.
It took a few tries before they both got it, and I told them to try the next few problems and I’d be back to check on them.
A few more people had settled in at the bar, but Molly seemed to be doing okay. Jerry walked in and gave me a nod. I noticed he’d been coming in later than usual and not staying as long as he normally would, but he didn’t care much for strangers, and the tavern was full of them lately.
I checked on Eric and his family again, looking over the next math problem they’d finished, and corrected their missteps. We’d gotten busier, though, and I couldn’t stay for long.
“I’m so sorry, Annette,” I said. “We’re really slammed tonight.”
“I should be the one apologizing,” she said. “Helping us with Eric’s math is above and beyond.”
“I actually really enjoy doing it.” I paused, wondering if it was a mistake to
