Page 28 of Another Last Call
I wasn't ready to talk to him. And the fact that he'd just show up, that he'd come and find me at work when heknewI wouldn't be able to leave? That was such an asshole thing to do. Why should he get to dictate when I talked to him again?
Sighing, I closed my eyes briefly, then took a deep breath and squared my shoulders before walking out of the kitchen.
Caleb was sitting at one of the high tops. When he caught sight of me, his face brightened, a disgusting amount of hope in his eyes.
“Maggie,” he said. “I—”
“Welcome to The Sea Glass, happy hour’s on from now till six,” I said, slapping a menu on the table in front of him.
The hope faded instantly. I would’ve considered it a success, but a look that was reminiscent of a kicked puppy replaced it.
“Maggie, please,” he said. “Can we talk?”
“The Beach Burger’s on special for half price till five. I’ll be back in a minute for your order.”
“Maggie—”
But I turned on my heel and walked away, checking on every other customer before popping into the kitchen until Annie gave me a pointed look that said she knew I was slacking off. So I left the kitchen, checked on every customer again, then dragged myself to Caleb’s table.
“What are you ordering?” I asked.
“Just wait a second.” Caleb’s voice was quiet and his eyes begged silently.
“I can come back when you’re ready.”
He grabbed my wrist before I turned away. “Mags, please.”
“Don’t call me Mags.” I wrenched my wrist from his hand. “And don’t touch me.”
“Just tell me what I did wrong. I didn’t mean to offend you or upset you, and I think we’re both overreacting to a misunderstanding.”
“Just because you want an explanation doesn’t mean you’ll always get one,” I said, my teeth clenched. “That’s how the rest of us live our lives. We can’t always get what we want.”
“I’m not… when did I ever give you a reason to think I was like that?”
I stared at him incredulously. “Were we not at the same lake house last week, Caleb? Or were you still stuck in that alternate reality where you had some shitty ass cabin and thought I was so shallow that it would disgust me?”
“I don’t think you’re shallow!” he said heatedly. “And I’m pretty sure youknowthat. I’m not asking you to stop being angry with me or to change your mind, okay? I just want to knowwhyyou went from sleeping with me to screeching out of my driveway without even talking to me about it.”
I stuttered for a moment. Caleb held my gaze, his long sandy brown hair shifting as though it were blowing in the breeze. I could feel my cheeks flushing as I tried to come up with a response.
“You know what?” I finally said. “I was an idiot.”
“What?”
“I was anidiotfor thinking you’d understand. You come from a life where you can just quit your job to go renovate a lake house to work through your feelings, hoping some time away from the daily grind of getting anything you ever wanted will lead to some epiphany.” I snatched the menu off his table. “I, on the other hand, am a fucking waitress. That you’d think, even for a second, that your goddamn castle wasn’t good enough is an insult. Now, why don’t you get out of my bar and my life?”
“Maggie Myers, I swear to God.”
Caleb jolted but I full on jumped, whirling around as Mom stormed up behind me. I hadn’t even heard her come in, but then, why would I? She would’ve come through the kitchen door. She was still wearing her well-worn leather motorcycle jacket, her hair messier than usual from the wind outside, and her eyes full of fury.
“Caleb, hon, good to see you again,” she said, struggling to keep her voice steady. “Don’t leave. Whatever you want to order is on the house. Maggie, office. Now.”
She gripped my shoulder and practically dragged me from the room. As soon as we got into the office, she slammed the door.
“That was completely unacceptable,” she spat.
“You don’t know what—”
