off until I heard him ask, “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I leaned into the room. “I was just going to grab a bite to eat. Can I get you anything?”
“No.” He held up a bag of chips. “I’m good.”
“Okay.” I pulled out a bag of Oreos and poured myself a glass of milk, then went back into the living room. “Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all.” He moved his feet, giving me a spot to sit, and once I was settled, he asked, “You gonna share?”
“Of course.” I grabbed a couple of cookies, then handed him the rest of the package. “Have you been up long?”
“Haven’t been to sleep yet.” He motioned his head towards the TV. “I got caught up in the movie.”
I looked over to the black and white movie playing on the screen, and it didn’t take me long to recognize it. “True Grit?”
“Yeah. Seen it a million times, but never get tired of watching it.”
“You sound like my dad.”
“I remember you saying he liked John Wayne movies. My ol’ man did too.” Beckett took an Oreo and shoved it in his mouth. “He’s probably the reason I like them the way I do. Seemed like he was always quoting some line from one of his movies.”
“Mine did that too. He did the same with Clint Eastwood movies.”
“Yep, he’s another great one.” Beckett looked over to me and asked, “Were you and your dad close?”
Yeah, I was pretty much a daddy’s girl. I was always so excited when he’d come home from a long haul on his truck. He was a really great guy. He had such a good heart. Sweet. Thoughtful. Always there when you needed him.” I smiled as I said, “You know ... you remind me a lot of him.”
“Aw, come on, now. You can’t be saying shit like that.” He chuckled as he said, “You’ll have me thinking you’ve got daddy issues or something.”
“Beckett!” I gave him a playful slap on the arm. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“I’m just saying.” He teased.
“I’ll have you know that I’m not one of those girls with ‘daddy issues.’”
“Mm-hmm. That’s what someone with daddy issues would say.”
“Are you being serious right now?”
A smirk crossed his face. “No, I’m just messing with you.”
“You’re a mess.”
“Yeah, but I got you to smile. That has to count for something.”
“It most certainly does.”
I settled back and continued to munch on my Oreos as we watched the rest of the movie. When it was over, I looked over to Beckett and found him sound asleep. Being careful not to wake him, I eased up off the sofa and headed back to my room. As I got into bed, I was feeling much better and even slept a little. When I woke up the next morning, I felt fairly decent. That didn’t mean I wasn’t still rattled over seeing Lucas. I remembered how much better Beckett had made me feel the night before and went into the living room to find him. To my disappointment, there was no sign of him—only a note saying that he had to get back to the clubhouse. I was just about to go get my phone to text him when I noticed the time. It was already almost nine, and having to be at work in half an hour, I raced to the bathroom and took the quickest shower of my life. I was so afraid that I was going to be late, but after moving around like a speed demon to get ready, I somehow managed to get there just in time. As soon as I walked into the employee locker room, I ran into Jack, one of the restaurant’s busboys.
“Cutting it kind of close, aren’t ya?”
“Yeah, I, uh … overslept.”
“Long night?”
“You could say that.” I opened my locker, placed my things inside, and reached for my apron. As I slipped it on, I asked, “What about you? Did you have a good night?”
“It wasn’t too bad. After you left, it got a little busy until the end of the dinner rush, then things were pretty chill.”
Jack was a couple of years younger than me, tall with red hair and green eyes, and like me, he was relatively new to Chez Philippe. Even so, he’d done what he could to help me get my bearings on my first day, and I appreciated it more than he could ever know. “Glad to hear it. I guess I better get going. I don’t want to be late.”
“Good luck