The Second Chance (Inferno Falls Book Three) Read Free Page A

just as with Ed’s inappropriate hands, I’ll bet I let it happen without saying a word.  
    I peek at the clock. Twenty-two minutes.
    The weather is fine. The park — the good one, not the shitty one near Little Amsterdam — has a great walking trail that circles the lake and heads into the hills. There’s a depot by the water where you can rent remote control boats. Mackenzie likes to watch people steer them, so maybe that’s what we should do. You can feed the ducks farther down, and I’ve already got my eye on some bread the Pit has earmarked to throw away.  
    Maybe, to make up for all the times I’ve disappointed M lately, we should rent one of the boats ourselves and steer it around for a bit. How much can it cost? Ten bucks tops? I’m not exactly hemorrhaging money, but I can swing ten bucks. The rent for our tiny house is cheap, and I’m excellent at stretching the food budget. I won’t take money from Mom and Dad, but we could definitely take them up on a dinner invite to save a few dollars. Mom’s a great cook. Dad’s a couch gourmand. They’re fine company and love Mackenzie to pieces. Everyone wins.  
    I’m in the back room. Stocking a tray. Time has become liquid as my thoughts stray to the good times coming … just sixteen minutes. For the first time in history, time is flying even though I’m not having fun. In an attempt to move things faster and forestall any possibility that Ed will charge me for the table 4 burger, I resolve to serve my ass off. To wait tables like my life depends on it. I can sprint through the rest of my shift. I can do this. If you could enter the Olympics as a waitress, I’d be determined to qualify.  
    I drop off the waiting orders. Nobody wants anything else, except for the birdlike guy who wants ketchup and honey, hopefully not for use on the same food. I refill coffees, even taking care of Roxanne’s customers just to rub her face in it a little. Table 4’s burger is up, so I take it to the table and manage to drop it off with a smile and a somewhat sincere “Enjoy!”  
    I refill water glasses.  
    I ring out a group that’s finished, then clear and wipe their table even though Travis, the busboy, is supposed to do it.  
    I’m riding high until I return to table 4 to ask Mr. Picky if he likes what he got after eating half of two separate things for free, and find the table empty.
    I’m clearing the order from the system when Ed comes up behind me, too close, his body right against my ass.  
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asks.  
    “I had a dine and dash.”  
    “Did you go after them?”
    “What, on my motorcycle with my gun out and my sirens blazing?” My tone is short. I’ve gone from low to high and back to low in no time at all. I feel like punching someone. Normally, this would be a case of deflection waiting to happen, but punching Ed would be spot on, since I want to punch him most times anyway.  
    “Very funny. What were they, friends of yours?”  
    “Yes. We’re very close.”  
    “You’re paying for their order, Sweetheart.”
    I spin. I was using one of the register pens to strike out the receipt, and nearly jab it into his neck by accident. Then I almost jab it into his neck on purpose.  
    “They ran out!”  
    “After you gave them two free meals.”  
    “They demanded those meals!”
    “Roxanne says you just handed them over. Didn’t even try.”  
    “Oh, Roxanne says it? Well whoopity fucking doo, Ed! I guess we’d better do what Roxanne says!”  
    “Watch yourself, Maya. You’re on thin ice.”  
    My temper flares. Not only am I catching shit for doing nothing wrong; now I’ve committed unknown sins in the past without experiencing them in the present. “Why am I on thin ice?”  
    “Friday, for one. You left early.”  
    “I had to pick my daughter up at school! Jen said she’d cover for me!”  
    “I didn’t approve that.”  
    My temper slips another notch. Ed didn’t