Heart Song Anthology by Carolyn Faulkner (summer reads txt) 📗

and made my way to the break room. The room is nothing fancy. There is a row of school-type lockers along one wall. We each had one assigned to us when we started working here, and it was up to us to either put on a lock or risk having something stolen while we were working hard to earn our pay. Cody made it clear that he wouldn’t tolerate thievery, but at the same time he thought it was foolish not to keep a lock on our locker. I agreed with him and made sure my lock was secure enough that it would take someone a while to crack it – not that anyone would try. I liked my co-workers for the most part. Eric could be a problem sometimes, especially if he’d been partying pretty heavily the night before. Reed missed work often, which created a problem sometimes, but Cody was patient and understanding. Reed’s wife was dying of cancer, and some days were really bad and he couldn’t leave her. Cody gave him a lot of leeway.

The break room was painted a cheerful yellow, and the table and chairs were old and made of wood. Some days those chairs felt awful hard, but they were better than standing. Still, I thought that Cody should put some cushions on the hard seats. I sat down and placed my steaming hot bowl on the table. I was hungry, and the French Onion soup at A Touch of Class was to die for. I took my first taste and wanted to swoon. The blend of sweet onions, the crispy French bread, the wine in the broth, and the Gruyere cheese blended all the flavors into one wonderful treat. I was in heaven. Of course, I’d made the soup, but it was from Cody’s own recipe. The man was a genius when it came to food. We’d urged him to compete on Chopped, positive he would win, but he said he didn’t have a thing to prove to anyone.

“I think we need to have a little talk, young lady.” Cody’s deep voice came from right behind me. “Your mom called me and raised hell all over me because I was forcing you to work on Valentine’s Day evening. I was a bit surprised to hear that I’d refused to give you the time off.” His dark eyes pinned me right to my seat and the mouthful of soup I was eating didn’t want to go down. “And I was equally surprised to hear how I was personally responsible for the fact that you aren’t dating anyone and finding someone suitable to marry and have babies with.”

“Oh my God! There are days when I would love to murder my mom even though I love her dearly! She treats me like a child!” I muttered, then felt my eyes widen as I thought of something. “Please tell me that you didn’t agree for me to take off Valentine’s Day! Please? I can’t possibly not work on Valentine’s Day! Mom is trying to set me up on a blind date and I would rather die than go out with Herman Fisher!” I was nearly hysterical at the idea. “Please, Cody, you didn’t agree to let me off, did you?” I begged him.

Cody frowned. “No, I didn’t say much of anything; your mother didn’t give me a chance. She was too busy raking me over the coals to listen to anything I felt like saying. Why did you lie to her and tell her you couldn’t get an evening off?”

I wasn’t about to reply to that question. The answer was simply too embarrassing. “How would you like it if your mom set you up on a date on Valentine’s Day?” I demanded.

“I would act like an adult and tell her that I prefer to choose my own dates.”

“That doesn’t work on my mom,” I argued.

“I don’t like being used in that way, Jenn. You lied to your mother and you lied about me. You made me seem like an ogre who is working you too hard and without a bit of sympathy to give you some time off to go on a date. In fact, the more I think on it, when was the last time you took a vacation day? Or a personal day?”

“I like my job, Cody!” I insisted. “I want to be here.”

“All work isn’t good for you, Jennifer. I insist you take Valentine’s Day off and enjoy yourself for a change.”

“No!” I protested. “No, that would be a terrible thing. Mom would insist I go out with Herman Fisher and I’d rather die first! I won’t do it. I won’t. And you can’t make me!” It wasn’t the smartest thing I could say to my boss. While I couldn’t read minds, I knew Cody pretty well, and his body language told me he was unhappy with my outburst.

“Do you know what you need, little girl?”

Yes, I knew. I needed time alone with Cody so that he would fall in love with me. I didn’t say that out loud, of course. I remained silent, waiting to hear what he had to say. Fortunately, or unfortunately, one of the servers was sent to take her break and she joined us in the room, full of chatter, and oblivious to the fact that she’d interrupted a fairly charged conversation.

“We’ll finish our discussion this evening when we close, Jenn,” Cody said quietly, but his dark eyes were full of fire and I knew that I was in for a serious scolding.

I tried to look positively at the situation; at least Cody was paying some attention to me!

Dinner service went well. Everyone was on top of his or her station, and we turned out quality food for our guests. The overall feeling was one of pride, and when Cody heaped praise on us for a job well done, we high-fived each other. I was especially proud because I’d taken over Reed’s specialty and handled myself well. One