“Dee!” Ruby protested.
Deanna held firm. “That’s it. That’s my condition. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to convince me that Hank’s not at the bottom of your weird mood.”
Something that might have been a tiny flicker of relief passed across Ruby’s face, then gave way to an air of resignation. “Okay, okay. Geez, you are such a nag.”
Deanna grinned at her. “I should be. I learned from the best.”
Ruby shook her head. “Obviously I should have kept that lesson to myself.”
Sean and five other firefighters in uniform piled into Joey’s Italian Diner around six o’clock. Deanna was just coming out of the kitchen with an order when they arrived. She heard her son’s whoop of delight, but missed the fact that he was racing straight across the restaurant toward Sean. He bumped into her at full throttle, knocking her off-balance and sending the tray of spaghetti dinners tilting toward disaster.
“Whoa!” Sean said, rescuing the tray in midair and managing to keep Deanna upright at the same time. He stared down into her eyes. “Are you okay?”
Deanna gazed up into blue eyes bright with amusement and felt her knees go weak again. “Having you come to my rescue is getting to be a habit,” she told Sean, then turned to her son and scolded, “Kevin, you know you’re supposed to watch where you’re going in here.”
“Sorry, Mom!” Kevin said. “I didn’t see you. I was excited to see Sean.”
Deanna could relate to the feeling. A part of her hadn’t expected him to actually show up, not because he was likely to change his mind but because of the unpredictability of his job. “There should be a table for six opening up in a minute,” she told him as she reached for the tray. “Let me serve these dinners, and as soon as it’s clear, I’ll get it ready for you.”
Sean held tight to the tray. “Where do you want this? It weighs a ton.”
“I’m used to it,” she protested.
His stubborn gaze clashed with hers. “Where?”
She shrugged and gestured toward a stand across the room. “Over there, by that table in the corner. Kevin, go on back to your table, before someone else gets tripped up.”
Kevin regarded her with disappointment. “But, Mom…”
“I’ll see you before I go,” Sean promised him. “If your mom says it’s okay, you can come have dessert with me and the guys.”
Kevin’s eyes lit up. “Really? And you’ll tell me all about fighting fires? I want to be a fireman when I grow up, so I need to start learning stuff.”
This wasn’t the first Deanna had heard about her son’s career plans, but she wondered how Sean was going to respond to Kevin’s blatant hero worship. Glancing at him, she realized she needn’t have worried. He grinned and assured Kevin he could ask all the questions he wanted. The last traces of Kevin’s scowl promptly faded. Deanna had to admit, Sean had a definite way with her son. Still balancing the heavy tray on one hand, he ruffled Kevin’s hair with his other hand.
“Do what your mom said,” he urged Kevin. “I need to take this tray where she wants it, before she docks my pay.”
Kevin giggled. “You don’t work here.”
“Not usually,” Sean agreed. “But it’s always good for a man to help out a lady, even when she doesn’t think she needs any help.”
Deanna caught the subtle message about her independent streak. She didn’t say another word as Sean carried the tray across the room. She noted that several fascinated gazes followed his progress. Well aware of how the elderly regulars liked to take an interest in her social life, she knew she’d be hearing about the incident for days to come.
“I can take it from here,” she told him when he’d set the tray down.
Sean glanced at the tray, which held only specials. He winked at the elderly woman closest to him. “I imagine this is yours,” he said, then leaned down to whisper. “She doesn’t think I know what I’m doing, so help me out here okay?”
Mrs. Wiley beamed at him. “Crazy girl,” she said with a tsk for Deanna’s benefit. “I can’t imagine what she’s thinking, turning down the help of a big, strong firefighter. You put that plate right here, young man.”
Deanna stood back while he served all four women, who were giggling at his teasing as if they were thirty years younger. When all the dinners were on the table, he stood back and surveyed the results with evident pride.
“Not such a bad job, if I do say so myself,” he said. “I didn’t spill a drop.”
“Only one problem,” Deanna noted mildly, barely containing a grin. “These dinners were destined for that table over there.”
She gestured toward two couples who were watching the scene from the next table. Three of the four looked amused, but the fourth looked as if he were about to burst a blood vessel.
Mrs. Wiley patted Sean’s hand. “Oh, don’t mind them, young man. You did a fine job. We’ll send over a bottle of Joey’s house wine and they won’t complain.”
Sean looked chagrined. “I’ll buy the wine,” he said, turning to the other group. “Sorry. I was trying to be helpful.”
Amazingly, Mr. Horner, who usually complained about everything, simply shrugged, his anger defused. “Long as you don’t expect a big tip, I imagine we can wait.”
Sean winced and turned to Deanna. “Sorry.”
She was tempted to make him squirm, but he looked so miserable, she relented. “He’s a lousy tipper, anyway,” she whispered. “By the way, I see that Joey has cleared that table for you. It might be a good idea if you went over there now before I lose all my tips for the night.”
Sean retreated to the table where the other firefighters had been seated. Deanna had deliberately sent them to a table that was not part of her station, so she could escape Sean’s watchful gaze. Let Adele cope with them. There hadn’t been a customer born who could fluster her.
The tactic was
