Read Online Iced Romance by Whitney Boyd - Free Book Online Page B

to the ladies room.
    There are definitely a fair number of stains on this dress, but I plug my nose and eventually manage to pull it over my head without messing my hair too bad. It fits okay.
    I fold the outfit I wore in and glance around for a place to put it. I don’t want it to get dirty or stolen, but the bathroom has only two stalls and a small sink. I go back to the dining room where I see the lights have all been turned on. Leila is in the corner, fiddling with a juke box. Jazzy music fills the air.
    “Do you know where I can keep my dress?”
    Leila nods. “We have a communal locker in the back. It’s right beside the fridge in the kitchen. You can keep your wallet there, smokes, jackets, whatever.”
    “Thanks.”
    When I return to the dining room a few minutes later, I am surprised to see that a couple of customers have appeared. An elderly gentleman with a walker sits in a booth in the center, two women wearing heels are chatting at the other end of the room, and as I watch, the door opens and a tall, skinny man with glasses enters.
    I freeze. Do I say something to him? Leila didn’t specify if we have assigned seating or if people just sit where they want. I lick my lips, ready to walk over there when Leila pushes her way out of the kitchen, holding a pot of coffee and two ceramic mugs.
    “Sit anywhere you like,” she chirps to the man and then nods at me. “Newbie, go ahead and help the man in the middle, I’ll take the women and the guy who just came in. Sound okay?”
    I swallow once to get my wits about me and then walk up to the old man in the center booth. I don’t know what to say to him. From across the room I hear Leila say brightly, with just a hint of sarcasm, “Welcome to Maxie’s, my name is Leila. I’ll be your waitress today. Can I get you something to drink?”
    Perfect! That sounds good. I look down at the old man and smile. “Hello sir, my name is Kennedy and I’ll be your waitress today. Can I get you a drink?”
    He pulls a large, white handkerchief out of his pocket and blows his nose into it, honking like a Canadian goose. Then he folds it again, sniffs once, and squints up at me.
    “Kennedy, huh. Named after JFK, I’d imagine. Shame to waste a strong name on a woman though.”
    “I’m not sure who I’m named after,” I say after just a slight pause. Be polite, Kennedy, I warn myself. This is my first customer. Don’t blow it.
    The man sniffs and peers at the menu. “I would like a coffee, black, with hash browns and scrambled eggs.”
    I look around desperately. Don’t waitresses usually have something to write on? I see Leila talking to the skinny man, laughing and jotting things down on a little coil bound notebook. She has one.
    Crap.
    I guess I’ll just have to remember this and find a notebook after.
    “Okay, so a black coffee, hash browns and scrambled eggs. I’ll go place your order.”
    I walk away quickly and duck into the kitchen. “Um, Gary?” I say, not sure if I should just shout them out or if he needs me to write it down or something.
    I hear a grunt in reply and take that to mean that he acknowledges my presence. “I need a coffee and scrambled eggs and hash browns. Okay?”
    “I don’t do coffee. The rest, five minutes” is all he says, and mixes something in a bowl with a wooden spoon.
    Leila enters and rattles off her order, too. Gary grunts and Leila turns to me. “How’s it going?”
    “I need something to write on.” I point at her notebook. “Any chance there are more of these?”
    Leila nods. “Yep, we keep a whole bunch at the cash register. Just grab one whenever you need one. Anything else?”
    “Uh, yeah. Gary says he doesn’t do coffee,” I say, glancing over at him, a little ashamed to be talking about him right in front of him, “but my customer ordered some. How do I do this?”
    “Oh, right, sorry about that. Yeah, we do all the drink orders ourselves.” Leila guides me over to the counter and points out a soda