Even if that wistful, not-quite-over-him-no-matter-what-he'd-done piece of me desperately wanted to.
"Hi, Risa," Manny, one of our newer waiters, said as I walked in.
"How's things going today?"
"A particularly insane lunch rush has been followed by this lovely lull."
"Enjoy it while you can," I said with a smile, "because it won't last long."
The afternoon rush usually hit between five and seven, when werewolves hungry from the afternoon spent at the werewolf sex club Blue Moon came in to eat, and those on their way to the club came in to fuel up.
I looked around for a moment, then added, "Where's Linda?"
"Apparently one of the kitchen hands didn't turn up today, so Tao's asked Linda to help with the dishes while we're slow."
I cursed softly. If there was one position we couldn't seem to keep filled long term, it was the damn kitchen hand. It paid well enough, but it was hot, grubby work, and it seemed the younger generation weren't inclined that way—it was all middle management and high starting salaries for them, or it was nothing.
Which was a comment Mom often used to make. I smiled, even as the wistful ache that she was gone swept through me again. No matter how close I was to my aunt Riley, she wasn't Mom and never could be.
I grabbed the banister and headed up. "I've got to go do some paperwork, Manny, but give me a yell the minute it gets busy down here."
He nodded, and I continued on up to the office.
I was near the top of the stairs when the kitchen exploded in flames.
Chapter 4
There was a gigantic whoosh; then the kitchen doors burst open and a fist of flame punched through them. I ducked instinctively, but the flames were sucked back into the kitchen almost as soon as they'd appeared.
It wasn't a natural action.