Amelia replied with a nod. “I figured I’d let her sleep.” Amelia grabbed the phone. “I have to make a couple of phone calls anyway.”
She smiled at her mother and walked out onto the back porch. She dialed Susie’s phone number first. She had talked to Bailey last night after they watched 10 Things I Hate About You. They both agreed working at Susie’s this week would be a good idea. They decided it would help them make extra money.
“Susie’s Fine Diner. This is Ashley. How may I help you?”
“Hi, Ashley. Can I talk to Susie, please?” Amelia did not know who Ashley was, but she did know Susie would be at the restaurant. Susie worked every day, sun up to sun down.
“Yes. Can I tell her who’s calling?”
“Amelia Edwards. Thanks.”
“One minute.”
Amelia heard clattering and banging of dishes in the background. Within a minute, a familiar voice came through the phone. “Hi, Amelia! How have you been, girl?!” Amelia heard surprise and excitement in Susie’s voice.
“I’ve been doing great! Fairshore’s a great place!”
“That’s good to hear!”
“I’m home visiting for at least a week.”
“Wow! That’s awesome! Are you going to come visit me?”
“My parents mentioned you’re short-handed lately. I’d be happy to help out this week, if you’d like me to? I have a friend with me, too.”
“I’ve been very short-handed. Ever since you left, I’ve been losing waitresses and cooks left and right. Most of them moved or are going to college.”
“Oh, no! That’s not good!”
“So, yes, I’d love to have you and your friend here to help! Can you girls come by today to look over the schedule? Then we can decide on the days you girls can work.”
“Sounds like a plan. We can be there by eleven.”
“Thanks, Amelia.”
“See you soon.” Amelia hung up the phone. She was going to call Zach, but decided she would call him later. Right now, she needed to tell her mother and Bailey about Susie’s.
When she walked into the kitchen, her mother scooped breakfast onto their plates. Bailey sat at the table rubbing her eyes with her hands.
“Good morning, Bai,” Amelia said as she sat down.
“Morning,” Bailey replied in a groggy voice.
Amelia smiled and asked, “Are you ready for some good news?”
Amelia’s excitement did not faze Bailey. Bailey looked like she only slept for a few hours. Heavy, dark bags hung under her bloodshot eyes. Bailey nodded. “Let me hear it.”
Her mother walked over to the counter by the table so she could hear Amelia’s good news.
“I called Susie’s and asked her if she’d like us to help and she said yes!” Amelia clapped her hands and smiled. “She said we can come in today to look over the schedule.”
“That’s great news,” her mother said as she walked back to the stove to flip the pancakes.
Amelia looked at Bailey. “Did you sleep okay last night?”
Bailey nodded. “I think so. It’s just taking me a while to wake up.” She stood up. “I think I’m going to take a shower. That’ll hopefully wake me up.”
Her mother called out to Bailey as Bailey left the kitchen. “You better hurry. Breakfast will be done shortly.”
“Okay!” Bailey called back to her.
Her mother looked at Amelia. “I’m so happy you found such a great friend in Fairshore.”
“I am, too. It’s kind of scary moving somewhere and not knowing anyone.” Amelia opened a cupboard and grabbed four cups. “I love it there. Everyone’s so friendly. It’s like you don’t have to make friends, because everyone’s already your friend.” Amelia poured milk in each cup and told her mother about Fairshore. “Meeting Bailey on my arrival was a blessing in and of itself.”
Her mother placed a stack of pancakes on a plate. She placed the plate in the center of the table. “I agree. It seems to me like you two could almost be sisters.”
Amelia agreed. “It’s probably a good thing her and I aren’t sisters. I don’t think you and Dad could handle both of us.”
Amelia and her mother laughed. Her mother said, “You’re probably right.”
The sound of footsteps approached the back door. Her father walked through the door. He looked worn out and more tired than Bailey had looked this morning. Her mother approached him and gave him a kiss. “Just in time for breakfast. Did you have a good night at work?”
He gently kissed Amelia’s mother on her forehead. As he placed his lunchbox on the counter he said, “It was a very busy night.” He washed his hands and sat down at the table. “It was busier than it usually is, but I’m not complaining.”
Amelia loved how positive her father was. He was always given so many opportunities to rant or be negative and he never took them. He found the positive in everything.
Bailey walked into the kitchen .She looked like a different person. She smiled at Amelia. “I feel much better now.”
Her mother announced, “Let’s eat.”
Amelia ate and waited for Bailey to finish. “We’re going to go visit Susie after a while.”
Her father looked at Amelia. “Were you able to get ahold of her and ask if she needed help?”
“I called her this morning. She sounded surprised and excited I was home for a week to visit everyone. I told her you guys had mentioned she needed help and I told her I have a friend with me. She said for us to come in and look at the schedule.”
Her father chewed and swallowed before he said, “That’ll help you both earn extra cash.”
“I can’t wait. It’ll be good to see everyone again.”
“I’m sure they’ll enjoy seeing you. And they’ll enjoy meeting Bailey, too.” He smiled at Bailey. Bailey nodded and smiled.
Amelia stood up. She scraped the remaining food from her plate into the garbage. Bailey did the same with her plate. They placed the plates in the sink. Before Amelia reached for the phone, she hugged her parents and told them, “Don’t worry about the dishes. I’ll wash them when I get home.”
Bailey nodded. “I will, too.”
Her mother nodded. “Okay, but only if you girls insist.” She smirked at the girls.
Amelia grabbed the phone and dialed Zach’s number. She did not call him when she arrived at her parents’ house like he had wanted her to. She hoped he wasn’t mad at her for not calling. When he didn’t answer his home phone, she dialed the furniture store’s number. After no answer, she hung up the phone.
Bailey sensed Amelia’s worry. “Zach didn’t answer?”
“No.” Amelia stood by the phone and stared at it. She wondered where he could be. She shrugged.
Bailey attempted to ease the worry. “I’m sure he’s busy. He’s probably helping his grandma.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Amelia said. She turned around and walked to the doorway and hollered to her mother, “Mom, if Zach calls, tell him I’ll call him later.”
From the other room, her mother said, “I will. Have fun in town!”
Amelia grabbed her car keys. She walked past Bailey and asked her, “Are you ready?”
Bailey followed Amelia out to the car. They got into the car and Amelia drove into town.
Amelia’s worry filled the car. Complete silence hung around them.
“I’m not sure I’ll make a good waitress,” Bailey stated.
Amelia glanced to her right. “Why do you say that? I think you’ll make one hell of a waitress.”
Bailey laughed nervously. “What makes you say that?”
Amelia shrugged. “Because you’re awesome at everything else that you do.”
“That’s a biased opinion,” Bailey pointed out. Amelia sensed Bailey’s insecurities.
“No, not at all an opinion. It’s a matter of fact.” Amelia stated.
Bailey wringed her hands.
“You’ll be fine. I’ll be right there with you.”
Bailey smiled.
“I might drop plates or spill drinks.”
Amelia threw her head back and laughed. “Believe me when I tell you it’s been done a million times,” Amelia tried to convince Bailey. Without being completely sure she had Bailey convinced, she said, “Do you know how many times I’ve dropped the dishes?”
Bailey shook her head. It was obvious to Amelia that she was still nervous.
“I’m serious. I’ve done it half a million times. Imagine this girl,” she pointed dramatically at herself, “dropping plates and tipping drinks.”
Bailey finally relaxed and let out a laugh. “Okay, I’ll try it. I can’t promise dishes won’t break, though.”
“No worries. There’s a reason why Susie replaced the glass dishes with plastic dishes.”
Bailey smiled and nodded. “That’s a good choice she made. I’m sure when she sees me work, she won’t regret making the switch.”
“Oh, come on. You won’t be that bad. I promise.”
Amelia drove until she saw the old sign. It had big black block letters. Susie’s Fine Diner. Underneath Susie’s Fine Diner, in smaller black letters, Come dine, we close at nine.
“That’s a catchy phrase,” Bailey said as she pointed at the sign.
Amelia shook her head and laughed. “She’s had that sign since before I started working here.”
Bailey shrugged and stated, “Maybe it’s the sign that has kept her business open.”
Amelia parked the car. They got out and walked to the back door. Amelia opened the door and they walked inside the restaurant. “Never know.”
The restaurant had red booths with white tables which outlined the perimeter of the black and white checkered floor. The walls followed suit with wallpaper from the sixties era.
Bailey looked around. “I love the layout of this place. I really like the sixties theme.”
Amelia looked around. The booths showed wear and tear. The wallpaper was stained yellow from years of customers who smoked cigarettes. Even though the walls were stained yellow, the restaurant had a pleasant smell. A person would have a hard time believing this place had smokers visit on a daily basis. The ashtrays on the tables were cleaned nightly.
“Amelia Jean! Is that you?” Susie called out from behind the counter.
Amelia and Bailey walked to the counter. Before they reached it, Susie approached Amelia with her arms open wide. She embraced Amelia in a hug. “Amelia! I’ve missed you so much! You have no idea!”
She squeezed Amelia tight. Amelia tried to pull away, but was unsuccessful. “I’ve missed you too!” Amelia copied Susie’s enthusiasm.
Susie let go of Amelia and extended a hand to Bailey. “Hi! I’m Susie!”
Bailey shook her hand while Amelia introduced her. “This is Bailey Thomas. The best friend I met on my arrival in Fairshore.”
Susie smiled a wide, pretty smile. “It’s nice to meet you. How do you like Linford so far?”
“I like it. It’s a much smaller town than Fairshore, but it’s definitely a nice town.”
“So you girls are staying for a week?”
“We’re on vacation for two, but staying here for a week or so.” Amelia clarified.
“Okay.” Susie nodded. “Are you girls wanting to work as needed this week?”
Amelia and Bailey nodded.
“Okay! Great! Let me grab the schedule. You both can fill in wherever there are open spots.” She quickly walked into the back room to grab the schedule. She handed it to Amelia as she approached the counter.
Amelia and Bailey sat down on the red cushioned bar stools at the counter. They looked at the schedule. Amelia couldn’t help but notice all of the empty spots. The majority of the schedule had empty white slots.
“Susie, you have a lot of empty spots.” Amelia was shocked.
Susie leaned on the counter. She rested on her elbows. “I know. This schedule haunts me in my sleep.” She shook a cigarette from the Marlboro pack on the counter. She lit it with a red lighter and took a long drag off of it. She blew a cloud of smoke out of her mouth and said, “I’m trying to find help. But in a small town, it’s almost impossible.” Her facial expression was more depressed than it had been moments ago.
Amelia picked up a pen. She hated to see Susie stressed. “We can take these shifts.” Amelia said as she pointed to three days’ worth of shifts. Each shift covered eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. Amelia looked at Bailey. Bailey confirmed with a nod of her head. “That’s tomorrow and the next two days after.”
Susie smiled. “Thank you girls so much. I knew I could count on you, Amelia.”
Amelia grabbed a sticky note and wrote the shifts down with a pen. “Got them wrote down. We’ll be here. See you tomorrow.”
Susie walked around the counter. She wrapped an arm around each of them, and gave each of them half of a hug. “Thank you so much. You don’t have any idea how much I appreciate it.” She dropped her arms to her sides. “I’ll see you girls tomorrow. Have a good night.”
“You have a good night, too.” Amelia said as they left the restaurant.
As they rode back to Amelia’s parents’ house, they talked about their temporary job at Susie’s.
“What do we wear?” Bailey asked.
“Anything we want to. I usually wear black pants and a T-shirt. Then I wear my apron.”
“Will she have an apron for me?”
“Of course.”
“Okay.”
Amelia could tell Bailey was nervous again. She was a little sweaty and she twisted her ring around her finger.
“You’ll be okay. You’ll be right by me all day for all three days.”
Bailey nodded and took a deep breath. Amelia wondered if Bailey was going to have an anxiety attack. She changed the subject.
“What should we do for our last week of vacation?”
Bailey shrugged. “Not sure.”
“I was thinking about visiting your sister and your mom.”
Bailey gave Amelia a look of fear. “I don’t want to waste our vacation on them. What about your friends? I’m sure Alisa would love to see you.” Bailey shrugged. “Besides, I don’t know where to find my mom.”
Amelia knew she pressed the issue, but she wanted Bailey to reconcile her relationship with her mother. “Well, Alisa didn’t seem excited to talk to me when I called her. I don’t want to waste our vacation on so-called friends. I want us to enjoy it.”
Bailey sat in silence. Finally she said, “We won’t enjoy finding my mom. It’s no use finding her. The visit would be a waste of time.”
Amelia shook her head. “I don’t believe that.”
Bailey shrugged.
“Well, you have Kim’s number and you know where she lives. Maybe we could do a surprise visit?”
Bailey’s face went blank. No reaction. A blank stare.
“Bailey, what would it hurt?”
Bailey fought back tears and bit her lip. “A lot. It’d hurt a lot.”
Amelia tried to understand the situation. She knew the history of Bailey with Kim and her mother. Six years was a long time to live without each other.
“I don’t want to see Kim.” Bailey looked away.
Amelia looked out the front windshield as she drove. “Okay, I understand. What about your mom?”
Bailey looked at Amelia. Tears escaped one by one from her eyes. Bailey nodded and struggled to find words.
Amelia asked, “Do you want to see your mom?”
Bailey nodded. As she tried to talk, tears fell harder. She sobbed uncontrollably. Amelia pulled the car over on the side of the road, onto the gravel shoulder. Once the car was in park, she grabbed hold of Bailey and hugged her. She tried the best she could to comfort her. She let Bailey cry. She knew it was best to let it all out.
“It has to be hard not seeing your mom or knowing where she is.”
Bailey nodded. She grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes. “Ugh. Look at me. I’m such a blubbering mess.”
Amelia smiled. “A beautiful b
lubbering mess. My beautiful blubbering bestie.”
Bailey let out a laugh. “Ha!” She blew her nose into the tissue.
“I’ll help you find your mom. We’ll try to find her by the end of this week.” Amelia promised. “We can try to bypass your sister.”
Bailey smirked. “Good. She’s a real bitch.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The first two days at Susie’s flew by. The third day was slower. Not as many customers came in. The usual customers came in, at their usual times, with their usual orders.
Amelia watched Bailey. She floated smoothly between customers. She waited on each table of customers elegantly. Amelia walked over by Bailey. “I told you you’d be fine,” she whispered as she passed by Bailey. “You rock at this!” she called out over her shoulder.
Bailey held up both hands and said, “I guess I’m pretty good at balancing. Better than I thought I’d be,” she said while she balanced two full plates on her left hand and three glasses of pop in her right hand.
Amelia walked up to the back counter. “Order up!” she hollered to the back as she placed the order slip on the carousel and spun it.
Amelia looked at the clock. It was close to noon. Amelia knew this place would become crowded any minute.
Bailey walked up to the counter and placed an order to the back. She clipped her order slip on the carousel next to Amelia’s and spun it. “Order up!”
Amelia smiled. She was impressed by Bailey’s skills. Bailey was a great waitress. Amelia wondered if Bailey would find a job in Fairshore as a waitress. She made a mental note to recommend it to her later. “Get ready. A crowd will be coming in here any minute.”
Bailey looked at the door as it opened. At least ten people walked in. “Like now?” Bailey smirked. “Here we go.”
Bailey approached the crowd and seated them. Bailey took orders from the left side of the restaurant while Amelia took orders from the right side. Within ten minutes, they had orders taken for more than twenty people and had served their drinks. Customers left as soon as they were done eating. The crowd emptied the restaurant faster than they had entered. By the time Amelia and Bailey cleared the tables, more people walked in. Within an hour and a half only a few tables were left.
Second Chances (Fairshore Series Book 1) Page 14
