The neatly folded newspaper lay on the table, and she had no choice but to open it and start looking.
Since she left high school, she had been employed by the library. Her mother had been so upset with her at the time, wanting to know why she was in such a boring job.
“Good men don’t go to the damn library. You are going to die a virgin and alone, Maddie French.”
Again, no mincing words from her mother.
She picked up her coffee and took a sip. It was delicious. Carl, the diner’s owner, took pride in his food not being stereotyped. If you wanted a good meal, even by candlelight, he would see to it. He was a trained chef who had returned to Carnage, taken over the diner from his father, and turned the once-crumbling building into a place of refuge for most of the townsfolk who didn’t want to cook for themselves.
“Hello, darling. You want something to eat?” Beatrice, Carl’s wife, came to her table to ask.
“Just some pancakes, please.”
“You look like you need someone to talk to.”
Maddie smiled. “I’ll be fine. Just lost my job.”
Beatrice winced. “Crap, Maddie. If I’d known that was on the cards, I wouldn’t have hired the two girls I just did to help out around here. You know I would have you in a heartbeat.” She put her hand on Maddie’s. “I will go and get those pancakes. I’ll get Carl to do his special on them. You may not have a broken heart, but you are upset. Oh, I think that could be a thing. Upset pancakes. What do you think?”
She couldn’t help but smile. “They sound right up my street.”
Carl had made it a thing right after Valentine’s Day to offer food with broken or sad names that were so heavy in fat, salt, and sugar, no one could resist. Of course, he also participated in detox months, offering soups. He was an all-rounder when it came to the food he offered.
The diner was a home in itself, a family.
Sipping at her coffee, she had no choice but to finally flick open the newspaper and start looking for work. Rent wouldn’t pay itself. She had a little put away in savings from the sale of her parents’ house, and she had donated some of it to help build new kennels for the animal shelter she volunteered at. She had already called them to see if there was an available payable position, which unfortunately, there wasn’t.
Glancing through the list of jobs, she reached into her handbag and pulled out a marker. She started to cross off the definite nos, circled the yes jobs, and then left a question mark by the maybes.
Beatrice came out with a stack of pancakes. They appeared to be dripping in maple syrup, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, sprinkles, and chocolate chips.
“This will give you the energy you need to start looking for that dream job.”
“Thank you.”
“On the house, sweetheart. You call me if you need anything else.”
Cutting into the stack of pancakes, Maddie took a bite. They were so sugary, but she didn’t care. The last diet she had been on failed. Who in their right mind gave up carbs? Bread and pasta were just some of the best foods out there. Not to mention pizza, and so many other good things.
There had been no weight loss, as usual.
Chewing on the pancakes, she pulled her cell phone out and started from the top of the yes pile to see which job was still available. The first three were not available, so she had no choice but to cross them off the list, and so it began. The hunt for a job wasn’t going to be easy. The job scene was always scarce.
She ate her pancakes, taking her time so she didn’t end up in a serious sugar rush. She had just finished a call with the sixth job and put a cross through it when someone sat down at her table.
Lifting her head, she saw Bull had taken a seat opposite her. She’d been so engrossed in her call and food, she hadn’t paid attention.
She turned her head toward the windows, and sure enough, there was a line of bikes. The rest of his friends had gone to sit in the middle. Some people left, which was just strange. Yes, Chaos and Carnage was not always a nice group of men, but it had been a long time ago that they started a fight, and if her memory served her well, it was with a bunch of tourists who weren’t being very nice to begin with. Bull and his men dealt with them, sending them out of town.
“Do you want me to move?”
“The pancakes look good,” Bull said.
Maddie frowned. She held on to her fork, then slid the plate across to him. “Have a try.”
He reached across the counter, took her fork, and cut into one of the fluffy but heavily drenched pancakes.
She watched a little too mesmerized as he started to chew on the sweet dessert.
Nibbling on her lip, she refused to think of his face or the simple action of chewing food as highly erotic, but she couldn’t help it, he made it seem so.
“Why are you eating the upset pancakes?” Bull asked.
“You know what they are?”
“Not from personal experience, but a few of the guys at the club knew about them. Talked about them as well. They’re what Carl offers to someone with a broken heart or sad news. You’re not upset about that guy standing you up, are you?”
“Wow, could you have shouted it any louder? I don’t think the people in the back heard you.” She hated that he pointed out so bluntly the lack of desire men had for her. It wasn’t blatant, but seeing as her date didn’t show, she could only assume the same thing. Her face slowly heated up under his scrutiny. This sucked.
“You’re upset.”
“Have you ever been stood up?” She burst out laughing. “Of course you haven’t. You’re like … this cool guy. There’s no way anyone would dare to stand you up. What was I even thinking in suggesting it?”
“You’re upset.”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve been stood up, and I doubt it will be the last time.” She groaned. That did make her sound pitiful. “I’m trying to find a job, okay? I lost mine at the library.”
“Why?”
“Funding cuts. People are more into ebooks than they are actual books. I don’t know. The town cut the funding.” She shrugged. “So I’m looking for a job. Beatrice knows and so she got Carl to make the pancakes for me. I’m not mourning that guy from last night. In fact, I no longer have an account with any dating app. I’m giving up on all of that.” She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.
She didn’t have many conversations with this man, but talking about her lack of success in life and in dating wasn’t a topic she wanted to share with him.
“You’re looking for a job?” He grabbed the newspaper right from under her hand and scanned through the list.
“Hey, that’s rude. I’m trying to do something here, Bull. Can’t you just leave me alone?” she asked.
“I’ve got a job for you.” He put the paper down.
“Really? It’s not in the paper.”
“I don’t advertise like that. It’s at the shop. Hours can be long. I’d want you in the shop from seven, and most nights I don’t leave ’til six.”
She frowned. “Are you offering me a job?”
“Yep. It’s yours if you want it.”
This was crazy. He took another bite of her pancake.